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FOREWORD

Five voices of analogue synthesis, controlled and modulated polytimbrally. We’ve taken ideas from our decade of modular exploration, and reimagined how we reach into polyphony.

Each voice is shaped by its harmonic energy while three core timbre modes push into richer territory. From simple suboctave and noise waves, through frequency modulation, and landing in formant synthesis. All squeezed through a lowpass/gate combination, providing balance and occasionally emphasis.

No digital multi-effects here, just spectres in the machine. A novel configuration of three filters, two delays, and feedback. front and almost centre — this resonant body is meant to be played. sequenceable, modulatable, while feeding back not just sound, but shape for unfolding cybernetics.

And to modulate! Everything mappable to everything else, tactile input extended on the fly, mapping as a performance in itself. Sources are dynamically phased across voices, and stretched in relative duration. Gestures are captured into five recorders, extending play rather than overriding it, all twisted in time at your whim.

Atrium is deeply learnable, and for those moments of quick change, instantly recallable. Extensible with USB and MIDI and CV input.

A Players Manual

We wanted to make a manual that isn't just technicalities, but rolls in jumping-off points for your discovery. Atrium is quite a deep instrument and one shouldn't expect everything to be perfectly clear the first time around. Coming back to this document from time to time should be rewarding as certain elements require a degree of familiarity.

At the same time, you don't need to read through sequentially (though we do think it reads well in the presented order). Playing with Atrium will always be the best teacher, so if you have the instrument with you, make sure to work through the descriptions and examples on-device! Some things are hard to describe with words or even pictures.

Finally, this is a living document. As the project develops further, we'll be extending & updating this manual. Presently this refers to version 1.0.0 firmware (that which ships on the initial Atrium devices), and in the future we'll mention where things have changed.

A Note On Style

Throughout this manual, we'll use a few formatting tricks to help break up the text:

  • Features: whenever you see text in this color, it means we're talking about a core concept or feature of Atrium.
  • Hardware interactions with a feature: whenever you see text with this formatting, it intends to instruct you toward a physical interaction with Atrium.
  • These callouts provide broader context and technical information for what's being discussing.
  • These callouts provide instructions for additional play.
  • These callouts provide waypoints for additional reading within the Player's Manual.