# Kaona Instruments — Fractaos - [Manual PDF](../../manuals/DocFractaosEN-V1.5.pdf) --- [Fractaos User Manual v1.5](#) # Using Fractaos to create melodic components in a Eurorack system Fractaos is a **4-voice polyphonic, multitimbral fractal oscillator/synth voice** for Eurorack. From a musical perspective, it is not just a sound source—it can be the core of an entire **melodic layer**, from mono leads to poly chords, tuned percussion, drones, and evolving harmonic textures. Since only one manual was provided here, I’ll focus on **how this module can be used in a system** to create melodic material and how to patch around its strengths. --- ## What Fractaos is good at melodically Fractaos is especially strong for: - **Polyphonic melodies** via MIDI or 1V/oct + trig - **Chords and harmonic beds** - **Animated leads and arps** - **Layered multitimbral parts** - **Hybrid melodic/percussive parts** - **Drone-based harmonic movement** - **Expressive, evolving timbres that stay pitch-related** Its sound engine is unusual: each of 4 voices contains a **driver oscillator + follower oscillator**, with fractal algorithms creating the waveform structure in real time. That means melodic parts can be much more animated than a typical subtractive oscillator, especially when using: - **Morph** - **Spread** - **Chaos** - **Texture** - **Primitive-derived modulation/LFO/FM** --- # 1. Core melodic use cases ## A. Monophonic lead voice Use one voice as a lead by driving Fractaos from: - a MIDI keyboard - a CV sequencer into one of the 1V/oct inputs - corresponding trig/gate into one trig input ### Best settings for leads Choose more pitch-coherent geometric fractals such as: - Julia - Mandelbrot - Sierpinski - Rössler - Fibonacci - Koch These are likely to give the most stable harmonic behavior for melodic lines. ### Useful controls for lead shaping - **Morph**: moves from a more direct tone toward a more modulated/complex tone - **Spread**: in non-Drone mode, detunes driver vs follower; great for widening a lead - **Texture**: adds formants/resonance/organic micro-detuning - **Chaos**: adds instability and spectral complexity - **Amount + Speed**: create internal animation for vibrato-like or timbral motion ### Musical result This gives you a lead that can move from: - clean and glassy - to vocal/formant-like - to unstable, metallic, or quasi-acoustic That makes Fractaos great for **melodies that need motion without extra modulation sources**. --- ## B. Polyphonic chords Fractaos supports **4-voice polyphony**, so it can function like a complete poly synth voice in a rack. You can play chords through: - **MIDI polyphonic mode** - **4 separate 1V/oct + trig inputs** - a polyphonic sequencer or MIDI-to-CV setup ### Why it works well for harmonic music Each note has: - its own oscillator pair - its own ADSR envelope - its own resonant fractal filter So chord voicings have internal separation and movement rather than sounding flat. ### Good chord strategies For stable harmonic content: - Keep **Chaos moderate** - Use **geometric fractals** - Use **Spread subtly** - Use **Texture carefully** for resonant color For lush pads/chords: - Use **Texture fractals** as the main oscillator - Add a geometric primitive - Slow **Speed** - Medium **Amount** - Long ADSR attack/release This is ideal for: - ambient harmony - synth-pop chord beds - cinematic sustained harmony - slow-moving generative tonal clusters --- ## C. Arpeggios and sequenced melodic lines Fractaos should shine with: - gate sequencers - pitch sequencers - MIDI arp sources - generative CV Because the sound source is internally animated, even simple note patterns can feel complex. ### Patch idea Feed: - pitch CV to one voice or several voices - synced triggers to the trig input(s) Use: - **Loop OFF / Trig ON** for note-retriggered modulation - **Speed** to control modulation cycle - **Amount** to control how much the primitive shapes each note event This makes every note articulate with a slightly different internal contour, which is very useful for: - plucky arps - pseudo-acoustic phrases - animated ostinatos --- # 2. Best Fractaos parameters for melody writing ## Fractal Type This is the main sound identity. ### Best for pitched melodic use The manual suggests the **14 geometric fractals** are the most spectrally defined and reproducible. Especially melodic: - **Fibonacci**: warm, useful general-purpose tone - **Koch**: crystalline highs, brass-like lows - **Julia**: softer and smoother - **Mandelbrot**: bright and harmonically rich - **Rössler**: deformed-sine character - **Sierpinski**: odd harmonic brightness ### More experimental melodic use - **Lorenz** - **Hénon** - **Rule30** - **Collatz** - **Hilbert** These can be good for melodies when you want notes to feel unstable, percussive, or semi-atonal. --- ## Primitive Type This is the secondary fractal used as modulation source. For melodic clarity, use primitive shapes that: - complement the main fractal - don’t destabilize pitch too much - animate articulation rather than overwhelm it A good practical approach: - choose a stable main fractal - choose a more animated primitive - then adjust **Morph**, **Amount**, and **Speed** This creates melodic tones with movement while preserving note identity. --- ## Morph For melodic use, Morph is one of the most important controls. It is not just a blend; the primitive still modulates the main fractal, so this affects both tone and behavior. ### Musical uses - **Low Morph**: more direct, clearer pitch - **Mid Morph**: expressive hybrid tones - **High Morph**: more complex, transformed, animated tone For melodies, the sweet spot is often **low to mid Morph**, where pitch remains clear but timbre is alive. --- ## Spread In normal mode, Spread detunes the follower relative to the driver. ### Musical uses - subtle chorus on melody lines - intervallic widening - richer harmonics on basslines or hooks For melodies: - low Spread = stable pitch center - medium Spread = animated doubling - high Spread = more dramatic harmonic shift Because the follower can rise toward +1 octave, Spread can make simple melodies sound layered and “composed” rather than bare. --- ## Texture Texture acts like a fractal filter/resonance/formant extractor. ### For melodic applications Use it to make lines feel: - vocal - resonant - organic - hollow - nasal - wind-instrument-like Texture is very good for turning simple sequenced notes into musically expressive phrases without needing an external filter. --- ## Chaos Chaos adds instability and can be quantized depending on fractal type. ### Melodic advice For tonal music: - keep Chaos lower for basses, hooks, and chords - increase Chaos for transitional phrases, fills, and lead intensity A very effective technique is to **modulate Chaos slowly** so a melody evolves over time while staying on the same pitch sequence. --- # 3. Internal modulation as melodic expression Fractaos has an LFO/envelope behavior derived from the primitive and controlled by switches: - Loop - Trig - Morph(FM) - Spread - Chaos This matters a lot musically, because you can make a melody behave differently depending on note articulation. ## One-shot per-note articulation Set: - **Loop OFF** - **Trig ON** Each note retriggers the primitive modulation contour. This is great for: - plucks - mallet-like synth lines - expressive phrases - repeatable note attacks This behaves somewhat like a timbral envelope on every note. ## Continuous movement Set: - **Loop ON** Good for: - pads - sustained harmony - long melodies - legato-style evolving parts ## Simplified FM mode Set: - Loop OFF - Trig OFF - Morph ON - Spread OFF - Chaos OFF Now **Amount** becomes bipolar around center: - below center: internal feedback - center: neutral - above center: primitive modulates frequency of main fractal ### Musical uses of FM mode - metallic bells - sharp leads - glassy keys - clangorous tuned percussion Important note from the manual: - FM does **not** work when the main fractal is a Texture - FM has **no effect on Drum curves** So for melodic FM sounds, stick to the geometric fractals. --- # 4. Using Drum fractals melodically One of the most interesting parts of Fractaos is that its **Drum fractals are pitched and real-time synthesized**, not samples. Available drum models: - Kick - Tom - Snare - HiHat - Cymbal The manual explicitly says MIDI pitch still affects them: - **Kick and Tom** behave fairly tonally - **Snare, HiHat, Cymbal** shift more in color/resonance than strict pitch ## Melodic uses for Drum fractals This means Fractaos can do: - tuned tom melodies - pitched kick-bass lines - hybrid percussive arps - melodic strikes layered with tonal tails ### Especially useful trick Because **Morph** can blend a Drum curve with a geometric primitive: - you can create a note that starts as percussion - then blooms into a pitched harmonic body That is extremely useful for: - marimba-like lines - synthetic kalimba - tuned techno percussion - melodic IDM hits This is one of the most distinctive melodic capabilities in the module. --- # 5. Drone mode as a harmonic composition tool Drone mode turns Fractaos into a continuously sounding 8-oscillator harmonic instrument. In this mode: - oscillators no longer act as simple voice pairs - all 8 oscillators run simultaneously - Spread has a special chord/microtuning behavior ## Why Drone mode is useful melodically Even though it’s called “Drone,” it’s really also a **harmonic composition mode**. ### Spread zones in Drone mode - **0–0.02**: unison - **0.02–0.50**: linear spread up to +1 octave - **0.50–1.00**: scans through **13 predefined chords/microtunings** These include: - major triad spread - minor triad spread - sus4/fifths - major 7th - minor 7th - add9 - add11 - add13 - just intonation - 7-limit flavor - 19-TET slice - Bohlen-Pierce subset ## Melodic/harmonic applications Drone mode can be used for: - harmonic pedal tones - chord drones under a sequence - evolving intros/outros - ambient tonal centers - modal beds for improvisation ### Powerful technique Use the **1V/oct inputs or MIDI notes** to transpose the individual voice pairs while in Drone mode. That means you can: - hold a fractal chord cluster - then move parts of it melodically - or transpose the whole harmonic field This lets Fractaos behave like a **moving chord machine**. --- # 6. Multitimbral mode for layered melodic arrangements MULTI mode is where Fractaos becomes especially compositional. You can assign: - a different preset to each of the 4 voices - or leave some voices in LIVE mode Each voice can respond to its own MIDI channel. ## Practical melodic uses ### A. Bass + chord + lead + percussion from one module Example assignment: - Voice 1: bass preset - Voice 2: chord stab preset - Voice 3: lead preset - Voice 4: tuned tom/snare hit preset Now one Fractaos becomes a **mini ensemble**. ### B. Counterpoint Use separate MIDI channels or CV control to play: - one slow sustained line - one faster arpeggio - one chord voice - one accent voice Because each voice can have a different preset, timbral separation is built in. ### C. Layered melodic splits Use LIVE on one voice for hands-on tweaking while the other voices play stable preset-based roles. This is very useful in performance: - one fixed harmonic bed - one improvisable lead voice ## Important Spread behavior in MULTI In MULTI mode: - outside Drone mode, preset voices keep their saved Spread - the panel Spread knob only affects LIVE voices So for arrangement: - save precise spreads in presets for stable parts - use LIVE voices for manual expression In Drone mode: - global Spread takes control of all 8 oscillators, including preset voices That means an entire multitimbral setup can be swept into chordal motion together. --- # 7. Envelopes and melodic phrasing Fractaos includes one ADSR per voice, with shared settings across voices. Parameters: - Attack: 1 ms to 8 s - Decay: up to 8 s - Sustain - Release: up to 12 s - Curve: linear, exponential, logarithmic ## Melodic implications ### Short attack + medium decay Good for: - plucks - sequences - bass lines - arpeggios ### Slow attack + long release Good for: - pads - chord swells - ambient melodic overlays ### Sustain at 0 Interesting note from the manual: Release still matters even with Sustain at 0. This is useful for: - struck notes - pseudo-percussion - expressive decay tails - melodic phrases where early note release changes the articulation That makes Fractaos good for **dynamic phrase shaping**, especially from a MIDI keyboard. --- # 8. CV patching ideas for melodic systems Fractaos has: - 8 CV inputs with attenuators for major parameters - 4 x 1V/oct inputs - 4 x trig inputs - MIDI input ## Good melodic patch roles around Fractaos ### Pair with a sequencer Send: - pitch to one or more 1V/oct inputs - gates/trigs to matching trig inputs Then use Fractaos internally for timbral motion. ### Pair with modulation sources Since Fractaos already has internal movement, external modulation works best for **slow macro changes**: - slowly scan **Texture** - gently modulate **Morph** - animate **Pitch** for vibrato/gliss - sweep **Spread** for widening ### Pair with precision CV Because melodic use depends on pitch coherence, accurate 1V/oct sources will matter if using CV rather than MIDI. ### Pair with utilities Useful helpers in a system: - quantizer - sequential switch - clock divider - logic - performance mixer - stereo effects Fractaos already outputs stereo, so it pairs especially well with: - reverb - delay - stereo chorus - spectral processors These can elevate melodic parts from “synth voice” to “full arrangement layer.” --- # 9. Practical melodic patch examples ## Patch 1: Fractal poly pad - MIDI keyboard into Fractaos - Polyphonic mode on one MIDI channel - Main fractal: Fibonacci or Julia - Primitive: Mandelbrot or Rössler - Slow attack, long release - Loop ON - Medium Texture - Low to medium Chaos - Slow Speed, moderate Amount **Result:** lush evolving polyphonic harmonic bed. --- ## Patch 2: Metallic melodic sequence - CV sequencer to 1V/oct input 1 - Trigger sequencer to trig 1 - Main fractal: Koch or Sierpinski - Primitive: Julia or Dragon - Simplified FM mode enabled - Amount just above center - Short envelope - Moderate Texture **Result:** tuned metallic melody, great for IDM/electro/experimental techno. --- ## Patch 3: Tuned drum melody - Main fractal: Tom or Kick - Primitive: geometric fractal - Send melodic CV sequence - Trigger with rhythmic gates - Use Morph to blend attack and tonal tail - Medium Depth - Moderate Chaos **Result:** tuned percussion line that reads as both rhythm and melody. --- ## Patch 4: Four-part multitimbral arrangement - MULTI mode - Voice 1: bass preset on MIDI ch.1 - Voice 2: chord preset on MIDI ch.2 - Voice 3: lead preset on MIDI ch.3 - Voice 4: percussion preset on MIDI ch.4 **Result:** one module handling multiple melodic roles in a track. --- ## Patch 5: Drone harmony with transposed movement - Enable Drone mode - Use Spread in upper zone to select Major 7th, Add9, or Just Intonation - Feed slow CV transpositions to selected 1V/oct inputs - Use long evolving modulation internally **Result:** harmonic drone that still produces melodic motion through transposition of partial groups. --- # 10. Best musical roles in a track Fractaos can cover several melodic roles: ## Bass Use: - Fibonacci - Rössler - Julia - Kick/Tom hybrid patches Keep: - low Chaos - moderate Morph - controlled Texture ## Lead Use: - Mandelbrot - Koch - Dragon - Sierpinski - FM mode Great for: - solo melodies - hooks - expressive improvisation ## Chords Use: - geometric fractals for harmonic clarity - texture fractals for atmosphere - long ADSR - low/moderate Spread ## Arps and ostinatos Use: - trig-retriggered primitive behavior - short envelopes - moderate Amount - rhythmic sequencer input ## Hybrid percussive melody Use: - Drum fractals + Morph toward geometric primitive - short to medium envelopes - sequenced pitch and rhythm --- # 11. Performance advice ## Use presets as song sections Because presets save: - knob values - switch states - envelope parameters You can prepare: - verse pad - chorus lead - bridge percussion melody - outro drone ## Use LIVE mode for expressive performance Preset voices can stay fixed while LIVE voices are tweaked manually. ## Use MIDI velocity and aftertouch The manual notes: - MIDI velocity can be enabled/disabled - aftertouch affects internal movement/timbral variation That makes Fractaos especially playable as a melodic instrument from a keyboard. --- # 12. Overall assessment for melodic use Fractaos is best understood as a **polyphonic fractal synthesizer voice with unusually rich internal animation**. For melody creation, its strengths are: - stable enough for tonal work when using the right fractals - deep enough for evolving and expressive timbres - flexible enough to cover lead, bass, chord, arp, and tuned percussion roles - powerful in multitimbral arrangements - uniquely good at drone-based harmony and microtonal chord fields If your goal is to create **melodic components** rather than just sound design experiments, Fractaos is strongest when used in these ways: 1. **Geometric fractals for tonal parts** 2. **Moderate Chaos for pitch clarity** 3. **Morph and Texture as expressive tone shapers** 4. **Per-note primitive retriggering for articulation** 5. **MULTI mode for layered song arrangement** 6. **Drone mode for harmonic and modal foundations** 7. **Drum fractals for tuned rhythmic melody** If you want, I can also turn this into: - a **“best melodic patches for Fractaos” cheat sheet** - a **quick-start guide** - or a **genre-specific patch list** for ambient, techno, IDM, or cinematic music. --- [Generated With Eurorack Processor](https://github.com/nstarke/eurorack-processor)