Fractaos is unusually deep because it’s not just “oscillator + filter.” You’re modulating:
That means the best sounds come from stacked modulation with intention, not just wiggling one CV.
From the manual, the most important modulation destinations are:
Also note: - Depth and Primitive Depth are stepped and not CV modulatable - Drum/textures can only be the main fractal - Primitive can only be one of the 14 geometric fractals
So your live modulation focus should be on: Chaos, Primitive Chaos, Morph, Spread, Texture, Speed, Amount, Pitch
For Fractaos, strong patches usually use 3 modulation layers:
Fast envelope or trigger-shaped CV
For attack, hit, snap, growl, transient
Medium rhythmic modulation
Synced LFO, envelope follower, sequencer lane, random stepped CV
Slow drift
Slewed random, slow LFO, pressure, aftertouch, manual moves
A great rule for this module:
Fractaos has 5 dedicated drum fractals: - Kick - Tom - Snare - HiHat - Cymbal
These are not samples; they’re real-time models. That means modulation can make them feel much more alive than static drum voices.
This is probably the single most important drum modulation.
Patch: - send a random stepped CV or sample-and-hold per trigger - attenuate lightly - route to F-Chaos (main fractal chaos)
Why: - on drum fractals, Chaos changes roughness, instability, explosive character, internal detuning - even small amounts can make repeated hits feel human or violently synthetic
Use for: - snarls on snares - alternate kick dirt - varying hi-hat brightness/choke
Tip: clock a random source from the same trigger sequence driving the drum input.
Texture is not just brightness. It affects: - resonance - formant detection/application - micro-detuning - filter intensity
Patch: - envelope to Texture CV - medium attenuation - fast attack, short decay
Result: - each hit “barks” or resonantly tears open at onset - great for metallic snares, tearing hats, gnarly toms
If you want more destruction: - keep Texture knob already high - then modulate around that point with an envelope
That gives a more unstable, overdriven-feeling transient.
Drum curves can morph against a geometric primitive. The manual specifically notes: - Morph can blend percussive attack with harmonic tail or note-like body - FM has no effect on drum curves, but Morph still matters
Patch: - choose a drum main fractal - choose a geometric primitive like Mandelbrot, Rule30, Koch, Sierpinski, Dragon - send envelope or velocity CV to Morph
What happens: - low Morph = drum hit - higher Morph = drum plus tonal/ringing/fractal sustain - dynamic Morph = each hit opens into a pitched or metallic tail
Great pairings: - Kick + Fibonacci/Koch for tuned industrial kicks - Snare + Rule30 for digital reese-snare hybrids - HiHat + Hilbert for glitchy rectangular metallic hats - Tom + Dragon for torn membrane/bass percussion
Use the switch logic:
This makes primitive modulation retrigger per note/hit.
Then choose: - Morph ON and/or - Chaos ON and/or - Spread ON
Now each trigger restarts the primitive-shaped modulation curve.
This is huge for percussion because it creates: - identical attack contour with evolving spectral motion - “designed transient” behavior - almost like an internal modulation envelope per hit
Patch recommendation: - Drum fractal main - Primitive = Lorenz, Hénon, or Rule30 - moderate Speed - moderate/high Amount - switches: Trig ON, Loop OFF, Chaos ON, maybe Morph ON
Result: - every hit blooms into internal fracture and dirt - especially good for neuro-style snares and synthetic toms
The manual says Kick and Tom respond tonally to MIDI pitch.
Patch: - send a sharp downward envelope via pitch CV path externally, if available in your system chain - or sequence pitch changes rapidly over steps - combine with Chaos modulation
Since Fractaos has 1V/oct inputs per voice, one powerful move is: - send a main pitch sequence - mult it - send a brief negative envelope offset through a precision adder/mixer to create pitch drop on certain hits
This gives: - harder kick punches - rave tom drops - jungle-style tuned perc runs
Modulate: - random CV to F-Chaos - short envelope to Texture - accent CV to Morph
Sound: - body stays kick-like - transient tears and tail becomes metallic/tonal - ideal through external saturation/wavefolder
Modulate: - stepped random to F-Chaos - velocity/accent to Morph - envelope to Texture
Sound: - synthetic crack - noisy digital body - unstable metallic tail
Modulate: - Euclidean trigger variations - sample-and-hold to F-Chaos - subtle CV to Spread - accent envelope to Morph
Sound: - shifting metallic clusters - artificial open/close tone changes - beautiful when layered with analog hats
This is where Fractaos looks especially dangerous.
For bass, the key features are: - simplified FM mode - Chaos modulation - Morph sweeps - Texture resonance/formants - Spread detune - unstable fractals like Rule30, Lorenz, Hénon, Dragon
Manual setup:
This enables simplified FM mode.
Then: - Amount becomes bipolar: - 0–50% = internal feedback - center = neutral - 50–100% = primitive modulates main fractal frequency
This is one of the best bass engines in the module.
Now perform Amount slowly or sequence it with CV.
Results: - below center = sharper, denser, feedback bass - above center = metallic fractal FM growl - near transition point = sweet spot for talking / ripping timbre shifts
Important idea: sequence or modulate Amount rhythmically to move between feedback bass and FM bass within a phrase.
Morph is not a simple blend; it changes how the two fractals interact.
Patch: - synced triangle LFO, envelope, or sequencer lane to Morph - medium attenuation - slow for evolving growl - fast per-note for talking bass
Best with: - main = Cantor, Dragon, Rule30, Koch - primitive = Lorenz, Mandelbrot, Rössler
Sound: - bass opens and mutates instead of just filtering brighter - more “resynthesis” than subtractive sweep
This is one of the strongest “dubstep vowel” controls in the module.
Chaos can be subtle on some fractals, extreme on others.
Patch: - mod wheel / aftertouch / envelope / sequencer lane to F-Chaos - use small attenuation first
Best fractals for bass chaos response: - Dragon - Rule30 - Lorenz - Hénon - Logistic - Hilbert
Use: - slow swept Chaos for evolving movement - accented Chaos for specific aggressive notes - random Chaos for “alive” reese movement
This creates: - tearing harmonics - unstable sidebands - pseudo-formant breakups - dirt without external distortion
Outside Drone mode, Spread detunes driver and follower, up to +1 octave on follower.
Patch: - slow LFO or envelope to Spread - keep attenuation modest
Use cases: - low amount: reese phasing / beating - medium amount: ripping upper harmonic bloom - envelope modulation: bass attacks widen then settle - audio-rate-ish external modulation is probably too much, but medium speed can be nasty
For DnB: - use low-mid Spread plus high Texture - then modulate Chaos - gives moving reese texture without relying only on filter detune
Texture is essential for modern bass.
Patch: - assign an envelope or synced LFO to Texture - sweep around medium-high settings
Why it works: - formant extraction / resonance emphasis gives vocal-like edge - combined with Morph it can produce “talking” movement - combined with Chaos it becomes savage
A very strong combo: - Texture as the macro vocal motion - Morph as the internal identity shift - Chaos as the destruction amount
Set: - Loop OFF - Trig ON
Then enable one or more of: - Morph - Spread - Chaos
Now every note retriggers the primitive modulation shape.
This gives consistent, designed bass articulation: - same growl contour every note - great for sequenced neuro bass - almost like a wavetable scan envelope, but stranger
Patch: - 16th-note bassline into MIDI or 1V/oct + trig - Primitive = Lorenz or Hénon - Speed = synced by ear - Amount = medium-high - Morph switch ON - Chaos switch ON
Result: - each note bites, twists, then settles - very useful for DnB “one-shot growl phrase” programming
Modulate: - LFO to Morph - envelope or second LFO to Texture - accent lane to Chaos
Sound: - vocal movement - squelchy/formant-rich opening - good for half-time wobble
Modulate: - slow CV to Spread - sequencer lane to Chaos - envelope to Texture - subtle random to Primitive Chaos
Sound: - layered beating - internal tearing - snarling upper mids - works beautifully through external lowpass + distortion
Modulate: - slow CV to Amount - envelope to Texture - performance control to Chaos
Sound: - solid sub root - moving metallic overtones - can move from clean to mutant fast
Fractaos is built for this. The six texture fractals plus Drone mode and chord Spread are where the module becomes a real atmosphere machine.
Texture fractals: - Cloud - Storm - Aliasing - String - Ensemble - Cluster
These are only available as the main fractal, which makes sense.
Use: - Drone mode - slow modulation - high Texture - subtle Morph animation - chordal Spread zone - CV pitch offsets on voices if available
Drone mode changes architecture: - 8 oscillators all run continuously - Spread becomes: - unison zone - linear octave spread - predefined chords / microtunings
This is gold for pad work.
The upper half of Spread in Drone mode scans predefined chords and tunings.
This means Spread becomes a macro harmonic control: - unison cluster - major/minor spreads - sus/fifths - 7ths - add9/11/13 - just intonation - 7-limit - 19-TET - Bohlen-Pierce subset
Patch: - enable Drone - main fractal = Cloud, Ensemble, Cluster, or String - slowly modulate Spread CV - use a slewed random or very slow LFO
Result: - harmonic fields morph over time - chord transitions smear due to detune slew - eerie tuning systems create haunted, non-keyboard atmospheres
Best weird zones: - Just intonation - 7-limit flavor - 19-TET slice - BP subset
These are especially good if you want “beautiful but wrong.”
Even though the main fractal is a texture, the primitive remains geometric.
Patch: - main = Cloud, Storm, String, or Cluster - primitive = Hilbert, Rössler, Fibonacci, or Koch - slow LFO to Morph - medium-low depth
What it does: - injects a geometric skeleton into the noisy texture - creates emergence/disappearance of tonal traces - feels like spectral ghosts inside the pad
Great combinations: - Cloud + Fibonacci = mournful, floating harmony - Storm + Hilbert = broken digital weather - String + Koch = bowed artifact haze - Cluster + Rössler = unstable choral machine
On texture fractals, Chaos changes internal motion and can create dramatic textural shifts.
Patch: - very slow random or LFO to F-Chaos - tiny attenuation - optional second slow CV to P-Chaos
Why: - too much fast modulation can make pads feel busy - very slow Chaos changes create “breathing architecture”
This is especially effective with: - Storm - Cloud - Ensemble - Cluster
Set: - Loop ON - Trig OFF
Now the primitive-derived modulation runs freely.
Then enable: - Morph and/or Chaos and/or Spread
This is ideal for pads because the motion is not tied to note events.
Patch: - Drone mode ON - Loop ON - Morph ON - Chaos ON - Speed very low - Amount medium
Result: - independent internal life - long non-repeating-seeming shifts - evolving soundscape instead of cyclic synth pad
For best results: - choose unstable primitive like Lorenz or Hénon - keep amount moderate so it feels organic rather than seasick
Texture on texture fractals can get very expressive.
Patch: - very slow triangle LFO or envelope follower to Texture - keep base knob around medium-high - modulate subtly around that point
Result: - formants and resonances bloom and recede - apparent distance changes - pads go from soft wash to haunted vocal shimmer
If you have a joystick or expressive CV source: - assign one axis to Texture - assign the other to Morph or Chaos
That turns Fractaos into a live atmosphere instrument.
Manual says 1V/oct pitch CVs of the 4 voices and MIDI notes can still transpose individual pairs in Drone mode.
That means you can: - send slightly different pitch CVs to each voice - create drifting clusters over the global 8-oscillator drone - build pseudo-polytonal or suspended harmony
Patch ideas: - send same root pitch to all four voices - offset one voice +7 semitones - offset another +12 - add subtle slewed random to one voice only
This creates huge, filmic moving harmonic beds.
Modulate: - slow LFO to Morph - subtle random to Chaos - very slow CV to Spread
Sound: - spectral choir - shifting intonation - ghostly consonance/dissonance
Modulate: - slow random to Spread - slow envelope follower or LFO to Texture - subtle CV to Primitive Chaos
Sound: - weather, bells, broken harmonics, digital ruin - very strong for dark ambient
Modulate: - slow LFO to Morph - subtle random to Spread - aftertouch to Chaos if using MIDI
Sound: - fragile bowed/plucked illusion - changing harmonic skeleton - excellent with reverb
Because Fractaos already has complex internals, it responds best to a few source types:
If you can place a VCA on the modulation before Fractaos, it becomes much more playable: - trigger envelope opens VCA - random CV passes through only on certain hits - gives controlled chaos instead of constant chaos
Main fractals: - Rule30 - Dragon - Cantor - Koch - Sierpinski - Hilbert - Lorenz for unstable experimental bass
Primitives: - Lorenz - Hénon - Rössler - Mandelbrot - Fibonacci
Main fractals: - Cloud - Storm - String - Ensemble - Cluster
Primitives: - Fibonacci - Hilbert - Rössler - Koch - Lorenz
For drums or bass: - steady sequence to pitch/gate - accent trigger fires envelope - envelope opens VCA carrying random CV - VCA output goes to Chaos or Texture
Only accented notes get extra mutation.
This is perfect for: - dubstep bass phrase punctuation - snare fills - broken kick patterns
Assign: - Morph = macro movement - Chaos = damage - Spread or Texture = slow drift
This keeps patches musical. If you modulate everything aggressively, Fractaos can become shapeless fast.
For usable madness: - pick a relatively stable main fractal - pick a more unstable primitive - use primitive motion to destabilize the sound indirectly
Examples: - Main Koch, Primitive Lorenz - Main Sierpinski, Primitive Hénon - Main Cloud, Primitive Hilbert
This often sounds better than unstable-on-unstable.
Use presets for sound families, not finished tracks
Fractaos seems ideal for storing starting points, then returning to LIVE and performing panel changes.
In LOAD mode, you can align knobs to preset state and then jump back to LIVE. That’s very useful for recovering a patch and then improvising from it.
In MULTI mode, you can combine:
That could make Fractaos a whole mini track-generator inside one module.
Drone mode Spread is a feature, not just detune
Treat it like harmonic composition control.
Texture is not just a finishing touch
On this module it’s central to signature sound design.
If you want, I can also make you: - a “best fractals by genre” cheat sheet - a CV patch plan using common modulation modules - or 10 exact Fractaos patches for techno, dubstep, ambient, and IDM.