Pladask Elektrisk FALMA

The Pladask Elektrisk FALMA is a random modulation pedal offering both tremolo and vibrato. Instead of the repeating sine or square wave of a conventional tremolo, its amplitude and frequency modulation come from noise that has been shaped into modulation sources, so the depth and speed of the wobble never settle into a fixed pattern¹.

The maker describes the thinking behind it in the manual: unpredictable systems appear lifelike, and random modulation is often used to apply context or history to a sound, like an impression of instability or old age. The project came from a desire to investigate methods for random waveform generation, using linear interpolation, accumulation and recursion to shape noise into what the designer considers pleasant modulation sources².

Random tremolo and vibrato from a digital clock

The FALMA is digital, built around a digital signal processor. What makes it unusual is that the system clock is exposed as a knob. The CLK control sets the DSP's clock frequency, which sets both the sample rate, meaning audio fidelity, and the character and modulation speed of the AM and FM functions. Turning the clock down degrades the audio and changes how the modulation behaves, and low clock settings produce background noise on the wet signal path that can be removed with the TONE parameter¹².

The modulation itself is random amplitude modulation for the tremolo side and random frequency modulation for the vibrato side. On the original FALMA, the AM modulation source is a linearly interpolated noise stream, so the volume swells follow a wandering contour rather than a fixed LFO¹.

The controls

The original FALMA and the v2 share a control set, with slightly different names on the knobs.

Two things are worth noting as a player. First, the depth knobs on the original sit at zero at noon, so turning them either way adds depth, counterclockwise giving relatively slow modulation and clockwise fast¹. Second, the v2's VOL knob means the pedal can add up to +16dB of gain, so it can serve double duty as a boost, where the original has no volume control of its own².

The original FALMA, the v2 and the stereo version

The pedal has gone through three stages. The original FALMA drew 100 mA and measured 126 x 60 x 67 mm¹. The v2 kept the same concept and power requirements but drew 150 mA, measured 126 x 66 x 60 mm, and added the VOL master volume control².

The current version is the STEREO FALMA [BLOMAR], which the maker describes as two pedals in one: FALMA is a random vibrato, tremolo and panning effect, while BLOMAR is an octave and pitch shifting effect achieved through low latency, dual grain granular synthesis. Stereo expands the concept by allowing asynchronous modulation between the channels, so the two outputs can wander independently. Input and output are stereo TRS³⁴.

The two faceplates are the only difference between the stereo FALMA and BLOMAR versions. As the maker puts it³⁴:

Both stereo versions offer stereo input and output via TRS connections³⁴. See the Pladask Elektrisk STEREO FALMA [BLOMAR] page for the stereo pedal in full.

How it differs from the Draume

The FALMA shares its parameter names with Pladask Elektrisk's Draume reverb pedal, but the maker states that the waveforms of the modulators are different from those found in the Draume, even though the knobs read the same. The Draume is a reverb with post reverb processing, while the FALMA is a dedicated modulation pedal with no reverb of its own¹.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions