Unofficial alternate firmware for Mutable Instruments Plaits — v1.0 — by Narti Live

SEQ PLAITS

All 24 stock Plaits 1.2 engines, played by a built-in generative sequencer. Every note in a minor key. Clock it from TRIG, or let it run at 130 BPM on its own. V/OCT picks the key.

Flash from this page Firmware .wav What every control does

Unofficial firmware — not made, tested or supported by Mutable Instruments. Use it at your own risk.

24 STOCK ENGINES16 STEPS130 BPM INTERNALALWAYS MINOR
00

Flash from this page

The update travels as audio: this page plays it into your Plaits. Unofficial firmware, use at your own risk.

  1. Unplug all cables. Audio out of your computer or phone → Plaits MODEL jack.
  2. FREQUENCY at 12 o’clock. Hold the left button and power on.
  3. Volume about 80 %, notifications off, press Play.
  4. Wait 2:39 — the module restarts into SEQ PLAITS.
More details
  • While it plays, LEDs 1–4 are a level meter: both green LEDs lit is right, yellow may flicker, red should stay off.
  • All LEDs blink red: press the left button, adjust the volume, play it again from the start.
  • Your calibration is kept. Your saved engine and settings start fresh once.
  • Going back: flash the official Plaits .wav, or DUB STAB PLAITS, the same way.
0:002:39

Ready. The file (15.2 MB) loads when you press Play.

01

What it is

Stock sound

The 24 engines, HARMONICS, TIMBRE, MORPH and the low-pass gate are the official Plaits 1.2 code, untouched.

A melody that writes itself

16 steps over a chord progression, always in a minor key. Hold LEFT for a new one.

TRIG = clock

16th notes from your clock. Start it and the pattern plays from step 1. No cable: 130 BPM.

V/OCT = key

0 V is C minor. Every semitone up is a new minor key, so a sequencer can change the key.

02

What every control does

Tap the picture to open it full size.

SEQ PLAITS: the Plaits panel with every function labelled — green / red bank and NEW on the buttons, envelope on FREQUENCY, density / length / speed on the small knobs, clock in on TRIG, key root on V/OCT — and the list of the 24 stock engines
Download the cheat sheet
Every control in words
FREQUENCYThe envelope: left a short pluck, noon a medium note, right a long note; the last third adds a soft attack that always fits in the step. Hold LEFT + turn: octave 1–5 (one LED).
HARMONICS · TIMBRE · MORPHStock, for each engine. Hold LEFT + TIMBRE: low-pass gate colour. Hold RIGHT + HARMONICS: fine tune ±1 semitone (centre = in tune).
Small knob under TIMBREDENSITY: how many of the 16 steps play (fully left = silent). Off-beats come first.
Small knob under FMLENGTH: 1–16 steps.
Small knob under MORPHSPEED: 1/2 · 1/4 · 1/8 · 1/8T · 1/16 (centre) · 1/16T · 1/32 · 1/32T steps per clock.
Small knobs with a cableWhen their CV jack (TIMBRE, FM, MORPH) is patched they are the stock attenuverters again, and the sequencer keeps its last setting.
Tap LEFT / RIGHTStock: LEFT steps through the green engines, RIGHT through the red. Tap both together to switch to stepping through all 24 (LEFT back, RIGHT forward), for the yellow engines.
Hold LEFT 1 s, releaseNEW pattern (the LEDs pulse green while you hold, then sweep).
Hold both 2 sStock CV calibration.
LEDsThe engine, in its bank colour; it blinks on every note. Moving a control shows its value for a second: envelope = yellow bar, density = green bar, length = yellow bar, speed = one LED (red for triplets).
TRIGClock in, 16ths. When the clock stops for 4 clock periods (0.5–4.5 s) the pattern goes back to step 1 and waits; plugging the cable in does the same. No cable: 130 BPM.
V/OCTThe key: 0 V (or nothing) = C minor, +1 semitone = C♯ minor, +7 = G minor… Taken on every step.
LEVELA VCA after the envelope: the sequence keeps playing.
MODEL · HARMO · OUT · AUXStock. MODEL CV is taken on each note.
03

How it plays

  1. Harmony. Each pattern has 1, 2 or 4 sections on minor-key chords (mostly i, iv, v, VI, III).
  2. Melody. A random walk over two octaves of the scale on top of them, landing on chord tones often.
  3. Ranks. Every step gets a rank; DENSITY plays the steps ranked below it, so turning it up adds notes without changing the ones you hear.
  4. Accents. Some steps are accented (a little louder and brighter, like the stock LEVEL accent).
  5. Saved. Engine, octave, fine tune, colour and the pattern come back at power-on.
04

Downloads

SeqPlaits-v1.0.wavFirmware for the module · 15.2 MB, 2:39 to flash Cheat sheet .jpgEvery control + the 24 engines SeqPlaits-v1.0.binRaw image for SWD / ST-Link (at 0x08008000)
Checksums and version

wav a70574520ec26f882e317e9ed0fb998851f3a3c6413c4892633860093a631f6f
bin 52fdf393e54cc5668807edb086b27370d0665ed7927324f24d842ed9a7f85938

v1.0
First release: the official Plaits 1.2 engines with a generative melody sequencer. Tested in a Cortex-M4 emulator: boot, panel, clock, save / restore, every engine (no added clipping: the modal and snare engines clip on loud accents exactly as stock Plaits does), the same CPU load as stock Plaits, 5 KB of stack to spare.

Built from the open-source Plaits firmware by Émilie Gillet (MIT). Not affiliated with Mutable Instruments.

05

By Narti Live

Also: DUB STAB PLAITS, dub techno chords for Plaits, and MONSOON VHIKK for the After Later Audio Monsoon.