User's Manual

Architecture of Chromaphone 3 11
2 Architecture of Chromaphone 3
Chromaphone is synthesizer built around the combination of acoustic resonators. The resulting in-
struments are played using a mallet or the signal from a noise source. It is very simple yet the range
of sounds it is capable of is surprisingly wide, from realistic reproductions of acoustic percussion
instruments to creative and innovative tones simply not possible with traditional synthesizers.
2.1 Signal Flow of the Chromaphone Engine
Available resonator types are: string, open and closed tube, plate, drumhead, membrane, bar,
marimba bar and a manual mode. Resonators can be configured to be in parallel or coupled mode
as shown in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 1: Signal flow of Chromaphone. Resonators in parallel mode.
In parallel mode, both resonators are excited by the sources and the output signal from the
resonators is a simple mix between the output of both resonators, the balance between the sources
being determined by the position of the Balance slider. In coupled mode, resonator A is excited and
energy is transmitted to the second resonator at their junction point. At first sight this configuration
could appear like a simple series configuration in which the signal from Resonator A is sent to
Resonator B but Chromaphone really takes into account the bidirectional nature of the energy flow
that occurs in real life when two objects are coupled. In other words, once energy is received
by Resonator B, it starts to vibrate which in return influences the motion of Resonator A. The
modeling of these complex interactions results in tones and timbres that reproduce the richness
of sounds from real acoustic instruments. The amount of coupling between the two resonators is
controlled with the help of the Balance slider.