Mutable Instruments Plaits is one of the best-loved Eurorack oscillators – and for Ally from the YouTube channel The Unperson it is an all-time favourite. In this 24-minute video, Ally takes the plugin version of Elastic OSC for a spin: a polyphonic software synth built around the Plaits synthesis engines, running right inside the DAW.
From Eurorack module to polyphonic synth
Elastic OSC starts on the virtual analog model, just like the module. From there you can scan through all 24 synthesis models: the 16 original Plaits algorithms plus the eight that arrived with the later firmware. The familiar controls are all there – frequency, harmonics, timbre and morph – including the famous chord model with its inversions and chord tables.
Ally’s favourite trick with the hardware is running it in stereo, and the output section lets you do exactly that by choosing outputs A and B. Below the XY pad sit the low pass gate settings for the same snappy, plucky response, plus attenuverters that act like internal envelopes on pitch, timbre and morph.
Effects and modulation that bring the models to life
- Built-in reverb, a characterful distortion and a delay that can be clocked to your DAW – and glitches nicely when you move it around
- Four LFOs with adjustable speed and shape that can be routed to different destinations in the mixer section
- XY pads with a record button: move them while the sequence plays and Elastic OSC automates almost any parameter, from the filter to the main synth engine
More than the module
Elastic OSC plays as an eight-voice polysynth or in mono, has an arpeggiator and a hold function for endless drones, and adds performance options such as velocity, portamento and mod wheel assignments. As Ally puts it, it takes Plaits from a standalone module to a fully fledged synthesizer.
So, it has that nice mix of familiarity and exploration.
Ally, The Unperson
Presets, a drone jam and a rhythm jam
After a tour through the factory presets, Ally builds two jams entirely in the box. The drone jam layers a held chord patch with plenty of reverb, a touch of distortion and delay, a two-operator FM sine with a short, snappy low pass gate for a slightly sci-fi, vaporwave feel, and the filtered virtual analog model for bass notes and melody.
The rhythm jam shows off the percussive side of Plaits: a punchy FM patch based on DX7 presets with an ’80s flavour, the kick drum model – which can go long and distorted for an 808-style boom – a chord preset using one of the newer firmware algorithms, and another FM voice drenched in delay.
Video chapters
- 0:00 – Intro
- 1:50 – Overview
- 8:16 – Preset exploration
- 12:17 – Drone jam
- 18:40 – Rhythm jam
- 23:02 – Outro
Try Elastic OSC yourself
Elastic OSC runs as an AU and VST3 plugin on Mac and Windows, and as an app on iPhone, iPad and Android. Find all versions, prices and the free desktop trial on the Elastic OSC page.