SUPERBOOTH 2024: Koma Elektronik - Chromaplane Electromagnetic Synth

At Superbooth 2024, Chris showcased the Chromaplane*, an electromagnetic synthesizer developed with the support of *KOMA Electronic*. The instrument features 10 electromagnetic fields emitting from specific points on its surface, which are played using two pickup coils. The sound is detected by the coils, passing through a low pass filter and delay, creating a unique modulation effect. Additionally, the *Chroma Plane includes an envelope follower output and an external input for playing external audio sources.
The concept of the Chroma Plane originated from Chris's experience as a musician and visual artist, leading to the development of a smaller version of the instrument for live performances. After more than 100 concerts worldwide, Chris and KOMA are working towards making the Chroma Plane available as a commercial product in the coming months. Stay tuned to the Koma website for updates.
koma-elektronik.com/
|--------|
Thanks to our sponsors:
Soma Synths somasynths.com
UVI Quadra Modular uvi.net/quadra-modular
SoundToys soundtoys.com
Arturia _the sound explorers arturia.com
More exclusive Superbooth 2024 content / sonicstate
Subscribe to Sonicstate on KZbin for new content!
bit.ly/SonicYTSub
Watch Sonicstate's Exclusive Series:
Sonic LAB: bit.ly/SonicLab
Meet The Makers: bit.ly/SonicMakers
Sonicstate Performances: bit.ly/SonicPerformances
Sonic TALK Podcast: bit.ly/SonicTalk
Website: sonicstate.com
Twitter: #!/sonicstate
Facebook: / wwwsonicstate
Instagram: / sonicstateuk
Podcast/iTunes: goo.gl/4uOFA5

[@hakonsoreide]

Many nice things for ambient and experimental musicians this year.

[@jaygilligan]

i'm so surprised this is the only longer look at this instrument from superbooth that i can find online!? its such a cool instrument, would love to see more, especially external audio coming into the one channel

[@asynchronicity]

This is cooler than I expected it to be….🤔

[@localhost4460]

Super cool instrument. I really hope that they bring some flair to that large chrome panel (art, wood veneer, etc.)

[@aaiieenn]

Coolest thing at Superbooth this year

[@AbyssalPantheon]

This is right up my alley. I love working with my EMF microphones for sound design. This will be great for Sci-fi sound design!

[@ottsch]

This is so cool

[@thomasyon4332]

I like the form of it. And it sounds pure pleasure.

[@DawlessHouseMusic]

I would like this to stand on its side to be played like a harp.

[@mchest7000]

Super!

[@robertsyrett1992]

Very interesting indeed.

[@valdir7426]

that's cool; at some point I made a live set with old electronics and those magnetic coil pickups; I had like a VHS player and an old laptop and got very interesting sounds

[@jasonbeatty831]

Wow, I wasn’t expecting much from it but this is really interesting.

[@euglossine4ever]

Passepart duo are some of my favorite artists

[@MarcasLancaster]

Hot for this.

[@alban6101]

👌👌👌💙💚🧡❤💛 if i could, i would married this "machine" !!! Sure !

[@RND_ADV_X]

Love the idea. Will be looking at it once there's a price. Do agree with others that knobs or sliders would be better than a screwdriver, would facilitate some cool on the fly retuning.

[@delfiobacco7156]

this is what i usually do live with an electrosluch and the power supplies for the other gear :) but i suppose here you can tune the different electromagnetic fields with those small screws...

[@jakobymaster]

0:25 is this a pov of mark corrigan? Is this actually a new season of peep show?!

[@mCKENIC]

I love the idea and sound of this! I wonder if there might be a way to 'starve' the EM field I wonder what that might sound like... VERY interested in where this goes! Thanks for showing us!

[@distorson]

Very cool concept. But can the note which are played via those electro magnetic fields be changed? Or will those always stay at the same pitch? I don't see many knobs or anything where one could change the pitch. And if the pitch stays the same, that would be pretty limiting 🤔

[@Th3LordZalor]

It's those tiny holes and a screwdriver

[@jhl96]

Reminds me of the technique holly herndon was using that involved “playing” her laptop via contact mics. Obviously a totally different method of synthesis (mechanical vs electromagnetic) but similar no doubt.

[@fentanyljones6956]

Gimme it

[@ronniewong6728]

What is the price on this instrument?

[@deastman2]

He didn’t mention being able to tune the EMF coils. Hopefully you’ll be able to create different scales.

[@PassepartoutDuo]

Thanks for checking this out! I'm the designer of this instrument and so I wanted to give a note about the tuning since it wasn't mentioned in the video :) There are ten oscillators on the instrument which are represented through ten fields emitted from its surface. You tune each of those oscillators using the screw set on the top surface of the instrument. There's one adjustment screw per oscillator, and each row of oscillators has a distinct range (bass, mid, and treble). The overall range is from around 5 to 3000 Hz. These are fully analog and unquantized oscillators, so the scale of the instrument is just set by you in this way. I made this instrument first for my duo as a performance instrument for our live set - it's been our main musical partner for the last three years or so. You can see some of our video performance on this account, and in that case we're using one of our favorite tunings from which the live set is based.

[@PCoyte]

@@PassepartoutDuogreat instrument! Look forward to seeing the completed version

[@deastman2]

@@PassepartoutDuoThanks for explaining that. Looking forward to the released version!

[@colombebeau]

⁠​⁠@@PassepartoutDuo those tone adjustment screws would be great as knobs! Perfectly flat instrument is practical when travelling, but access to functionalities on the fly when performing should be prioritised (in my opinion). And it would become even more expressive with one more knob transposing the whole tuning. This has so much potential, you’re almost there!!

[@RobBlakeSound]

​@@PassepartoutDuo as others said, you really should consider making tuning work via knobs. As a studio person, I really want to be able to easily tune this thing. I'd also be curious to see what fun ways the emitters can overlap or influence each other.

[@soupforare]

Very interesting! At this point in their existence, I'm inclined to trust Koma's faith bringing something to market. How's the discrimination on those pickups? Is it unusable in a hot (RF) environment?

[@tonystephen6312]

Easy to filter out RF..

[@soupforare]

@@tonystephen6312 yes, I’m asking if they did

[@PassepartoutDuo]

Hey! It's very usable in every environment - the instrument was designed around those pickups, so they work well together and we've never encountered any noise issues in lots of different circumstances (we have regularly toured with this instrument for around 3 years).

[@soupforare]

​@@PassepartoutDuo excellent! will keep an eye out.

[@ERYKJACKNIFE]

The soma terra destroys this thing.

[@ERYKJACKNIFE]

We will see jo cee. We will see. 😂

[@SingularityMedia]

Concept is nore interesting than the sound it makes.