chaos
six channel aleathoric brain
"Chaos is the hidden force that moves everything around us. It’s a random stream of events, whose correlation is impossible to understand.
Despite it all, we are used to influence chaos in a very deterministic way by setting the limits of its dynamic behavior: in this way we can predict events and make them possible. That’s exactly what our Chaos does. A continuous stream of gates and voltages is produced by a sophisticated random engine controlled by a series of parameters that can be set to define its acting behavior."
Dimensions: 12hp
Power consumption:
+12 rail: 115 mA
-12 rail: 0mA
+ 5 rail: 0 mA
the brain of your system
Chaos is excellent for modulation purposes or as a clock multiplier/ divider, but that's only scratching the surface... It takes a different approach to writing sequences than traditional sequencers, as it is built on six touring machines combined with an effective pattern and clock generator.
One of the biggest challenges in electronic music production, especially when it comes to sequencing, is finding that sweet spot between hands-on control and possibilities.
It can be frustrating because many sequencers with lots of fun and playable controls don’t always pack the punch you need.
On the flip side, you have those bigger menu-based sequencers with tons of options but can feel overwhelming with all the programming they require.
That’s where Clank Chaos comes in!
It’s designed to help you overcome these challenges and make your music-making experience smoother and more enjoyable, whether you're jamming or writing a song you want to execute live.
Typically, a sequencer starts with a blank canvas. However, with Chaos, you begin with all possibilities at your disposal and can easily narrow them down to fit your vision with just a few adjustments. This makes creating a sequence that conveys a specific mood quick and straightforward.
Once you have established this initial mood, you can loop it from the last step to step 32 whenever you hear something you like. At this point, you can choose to modify the entire loop or adjust the parameters of any individual step.
There is no need for extensive menu navigation; simply pressing a button and turning the encoder gives you control over parameters such as gate time, gate probability, gate width, gate ratcheting, gate swing, notes, scale, slew, and slew amount.
The LED bar continuously displays the voltage output of the selected channel, as well as the gate and each parameter's value, eliminating the need for a screen.
You can save and recall the entire sequence of its six channels at any time. Additionally, there is an internal function that allows you to randomize all parameters or just a select few within a specified range, helping you discover new melodies to work with.
Chaos is an endless reservoir of tunes and is incredibly quick and powerful for composing sequences, gate patterns, or modulation.
In a short time, it will become the brain of your system.
workflow
CHAOTIC STATE
TAME THE CHAOS WITH THE OPERATORS
ESTABILISH THE MOOD
LOOP IT IN A SEQUENCE
MODIFY THE SEQUENCE GLOBALLY
EDIT EVERY STEP
Clock Generator
Thanks to its 6 gate outputs, Chaos can be used as your system's quick and effective clock manager and gate pattern generator.
Chaos also provides a stable master clock (10mS to 10Sec) from a separate output and can be clocked from external devices.
On every channel, you can set Probability, Width, Swing, Ratcheting, and Time as a multiplier/divider of the master clock or unquantized in mS.
Voltage Generator
Six CV outputs can be used for a wide range of applications; everything from chaotic modulations to fine-tuned sequences can be obtained.
Thanks to its interface you can quickly adjust the voltages from where the random engine picks new values and then edit them in every aspect.
In addition, Slew amount, Quantization, and external sampling are available on every channel.
Randomness
If you’re more into generative stuff or want to add a bit of craziness to the patch, you can use the Chaos function to randomize all the parameters on a channel. A sophisticated control named entropy is available on every parameter to set the distance of the new value from the last one.
Looping
You can freeze the last 1 to 32 steps of randomly generated CVs and Gates in a locked loop when you hear something you like.
Loops are not static; every parameter of Chaos can be used again to change the loop behavior in a non-destructive way.(for example, speed it up or transpose it)
Sequencing
Entering sequencer mode means taking control of every aspect of the looped sequence generated by the random engine.
You can change time, width, probability, ratcheting, slew, slew amount, note, note deviation, etc., for each of the 32 steps of all six channels.
External integration
Thanks to the external input, you can substitute the random generator with external voltages, transpose a sequence on the fly, and a lot more.
Save & recall
Chaos can save and recall 10 slots where you can save entire sets or preferred channel behavior. Recall can also be done with an external voltage.
engine map
Panel Overview
[1] Clock Gate in
[2] Loop Gate in
[3] External CV in
[4] Chaos Gate in
[5] Clock Gate out
[6] Ch. Gate out
[7] Ch. CV out
[8] Ch. bar LEDs
[9] Ch. value bar LEDs
[10] encoder
[11] modifier buttons
[12] loop button
[13] input assign button
[14] quant / slew button
[15] save & recall button