Alessandro Guardascione has announced the launch of PLICATA — the first in a line of “Trambustissimo” virtual instruments. It’s a patchable, monophonic instrument built for touch, sound design and performance, and runs as standalone or AUv3 on iOS/iPadOS. A beta Android version is coming.
The analog-style voice is formed from a morphing oscillator, interval SUB, wavefolder and resonant filter. The 28-socket patch field opens audio, CV and events. An XY keyboard adds microtonal performance, and there’s a 32-step arpeggiator with scenes, probability, ratchets and live mutation.
The 13 key keyboard spans C4-C5. Each key can be independently tuned by ±100 cents, or the whole keyboard set to equal temperament, Pythagorean and quarter-tone scales.
Horizontal movement adds pitch expression up to ±24 semitones, while vertical movement maps each key to as many as eight sound parameters or performance macros.
The interface looks really nice, and the method of playing, which easily integrates microtonal performance, seems natural. Of course it takes advantage of the touch screen.
Features
- Morphing oscillator, wavefolding and pulse-width shaping
- Independent SUB oscillator with interval and eight waveform modes
- Resonant filter, ADSR articulation and drive
- 28-socket audio, CV and event patch system
- 13-key microtonal XY keyboard with independent tuning
- Dedicated PERFORMANCE view with expanded keyboard
- 32-step arpeggiator with nine styles and three clock modes
- Per-step pitch, octave, velocity, gate, probability and ratchet
- HOLD, FILL, rotate, MUTATE/FREEZE and seven ARP scenes
- Six performance macros plus editable IGNITE
- MIDI/MPE input and microtonal MIDI output
- Factory and user presets with complete-state recall
- Complete-state generation with GEN
- Standalone and AUv3 operation
