《ThePhonoLoop – themkI v1.1.0》是一款以 1970 年代經典電動機械鍵盤為靈感核心的 Kontakt 音源庫，通過 16 層動態採樣與真實機械雜音，捕捉這台古老樂器的每一絲「缺陷之美」。不僅如此，開發團隊還利用 Eurorack 模塊、磁帶循環、物理建模合成等方式對原始素材進行再創造，額外製作出 60 種聲音設計源，為聲音探索提供豐富延展性。整個音源運行在支持 MPE 的雙核心粒子引擎之上，兼顧漸進演化與即時控制，適合構建氛圍感十足、質感獨特的電子或實驗音樂作品。
該音源包含超過 12,000 個採樣、500 組預設，並支持雙層獨立調製、粒子播放與步進音序器編輯功能。你可以將其視為一個可深度挖掘的聲音「實驗室」，既可演奏出溫暖復古的複音樂句，也能實現顆粒化微循環等高級音色表現。採樣內容包括三種錄音來源（乾淨直錄、兩台老式卡帶機）、真實機械動作、踏板噪聲與多類別環境噪音，為聲音注入鮮活人性與年代質感。如果你熱衷探索模擬顆粒、復古氛圍與聲音紋理的極限，《themkI》將是一件令人驚喜的聲音創作工具。
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The Phonoloop themkI v1.1.0 KONTAKT – 9,6 GB
下載連結：https://www.52timbre.com/1016.html
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A canvas for exploring the beautiful imperfections of an old machine
An electro-mechanical keyboard classic from the 』70s with 16 dynamic layers, and a set of 60 additional sound design sources created by mangling the original material using Eurorack modules and tape loops, embellished with resonators and physical modelling synthesis.
All of this is housed in an MPE-compatible sound engine with two independent looping / granular cores, designed for both slow, evolving textures and fast bursts of sound. Further expandable by loading your own samples.
Go ahead, embark on an adventure far from well-worn paths.
An exploration of a 70s classic
We’ve long wanted to capture the essence of this electro-mechanical classic – and by essence, we mean all the mechanical clicks, noises, and beautiful imperfections of a machine over 50 years old.
At first, we saw it as a natural evolution of our Cassette series, taken few steps further: 16 dynamic layers, release and mechanical samples – all still passed through tape in the end. Then, out of curiosity, we loaded the raw samples into the Tapes engine and started playing around – and it quickly became clear how we should shape its final form.
The result? A deeply sampled, expressive instrument – a playground of evolving textures, all housed in a sound engine built for discovery and experimentation.
Just the way we like it.
Two independent granular engines
While themkI builds on the engine introduced in Tapes.01, it’s not meant to be version 2. Instead, it takes things in a different direction, better suited to the sampled material.
Animated mode (known as Swarm mode in Tapes) now features polyphonic modulation, with each layer running on its own independent engine (which also makes it MPE compatible). This setup allows you to combine standard polyphonic playback (Single mode) with sequenced / granular, two Single modes or two sequenced / granular.
We’ve also introduced a system of instrument modes, 16 at the moment, designed to keep things simple and fun while still encouraging deep sound exploration.
Two independent sequencers
Each layer has its own 16-step sequencer, available in both Animated and Single mode, where it can act as a voice-specific modifier. For example, you can set it to play one sound source on notes 1–3, another on notes 4–6, shift every third note up an octave, reverse every fifth note, detune the last few notes, or set a unique sample start position per note. The list goes on.
Another example, first layer might play single notes with a classic 』70s soul vibe, while the second is faded in via the mod wheel or an MPE controller, scanning through the waveform in a granular fashion or playing micro-loops with duration and position set by the voice sequencer / modifier.
Update 1.1
Version 1.1 brings sharper contrast for better visibility, along with new GUI colour options. Customise the look using the new menu in the top-right corner of the Options section.
It took a lot of work, plenty of trips back to the drawing board, and a good dose of nerdy joy to bring this instrument to life – and we genuinely hope it』ll inspire you as much as it inspires us.
Feel free to check out the videos below, where we show a few ways to work with the instrument.
DI
Captured clean through a Universal Audio tube preamp and Apogee Symphony. Pristine sound that’s perfect for catching every little imperfection.
Deck A
Recorded on an old cassette deck used in schools, adding noticeable noise (especially on the transients) and a little bit of saturation.
Deck B
Captured using a malfunctioning old Polish Unitra cassette recorder (the same we used in our Cassette series), introducing a healthy dose of wow and flutter, along with other tape imperfections.
Specifications
– 10.50GB Size (after NCW compression)
– 500 Presets
– 12507 Samples
– Main sources:
+ clean (DI through tube preamp) plus two recorded on different cassette decks (deck A, deck B)
+ 16 dynamic layers
+ 16 dynamic layers release samples
– Mechanical samples:
+ 6 dynamic layers
+ 6 dynamic layers release samples
+ 4x round robins
+ additional pedal noise samples with 4x round robins
– Sound design sources:
+ 60 sound sources in 7 categories: stacked, tape loop, pulses, mechanical, slices and one shot
up to 5 dynamic layers
+ Noise samples
– 126 noise samples in 5 categories: hardware, tape loops, vinyl, industrial and natural
