jasno

HANDBOOK
introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 03
how to install. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05
the interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07
electro-acoustic patches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
afterglow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
MPE support.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
MIDI map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
terms of use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
credits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
thank you for purchasing Jasno

My name is Tomek and I’m the father that not only didn’t look like it was Following the experience I had creat-
of Felt Instruments. I’d like to person- run over by a tank, but was actually ing my previous instrument - Lekko
ally thank you for purchasing Jasno restored to a near-mint condition by - I’ve sampled both the traditional
- a strange beast that sometimes the seller. plucking articulation and some ex-
sounds like a kalimba, sometimes tended techniques, including hitting
like a celeste, sometimes like a hang I wanted to have this instru- the tines with two different kinds
drum and sometimes like something ment since I’ve first heard it on of mallets and some improvisations
else entirely. a soundtrack to ‘The Assassination that work nice with the texture of this
of Jesse James by the Coward Rob- instrument.
Jasno is an intimate capture of the ert Ford’ by Nick Cave and Warren
Hohner Guitaret invented by Ernst Ellis. It was this super-gentle, almost The Guitaret was captured in in-
Zacharias in 1963 and produced for magical sound that was somewhat timate detail through a boutique,
only about two years. As you might familiar, yet not easy to identify. hand-made valve preamp inspired by
have guessed - it’s extremely rare I loved it. And now I had a chance to the original REDD design.
these days but my fiancée found one own it, too!
on this page I’m still very grateful

Every note was sampled imperfectly All of Felt Instruments’ projects I hope you’ll enjoy this little gem
with 5 round robins, which means (both present and upcoming) are as much as I do.
that you can play repeating patterns sampled this way.
and the sound will always be organic.
The library consists of two different
I mention the ‘imperfect’ aspect of sections - electro-acoustic articula-
the sampling because it’s something tions and something I call Afterglow.
I truly believe in. These are basically sound design
patches wrapped around the original
It basically means that every note is recordings.
performed in a slightly different way.
The volumes are not exactly what This is the textural part of the library
I would call consistent and little im- and the one I turn to when some
perfections are present. I feel it allows inspiration is needed.
to retain that human feel of someone
actually playing the instrument.
how to install
let’s go!

01. Grab the Pulse app 02. Grab the samples 03. Run the installer

Pulse is a brilliant app that Open the Pulse app. Click on Add After the download is complete, the
makes it easy to download your a Product, enter the code you got in installer will open automatically and
Felt Instruments’ libraries. Simply the order confirmation e-mail. Select guide you through the setup. Once
go to pulsedownloader.com and click Redeem. Choose a folder to which you’re done, the instrument is your to
on that big, nice download button. you’d like your samples installed. explore and enjoy.

Pulse is free to use and works on The download process might take Have fun!
both PC and Mac. a while. They say that good things
come to those who wait so please, be
patient.
the interface
main interface
As with all Felt Instruments’ releases,
the interface is designed for ease
of use. Everything you need to adjust
the sound is available on a single
screen, with just a few options
hidden in menus to avoid clutter.

On the following pages, you’ll see

how it’s layed out and what each
of the knobs and sliders does.
shapes Attack/Release

These knobs adjust the shape

of the amp envelope.

Echo/Reverb

Control for the send to the built-in

effects. They’re captured from a very
characterful hardware, specifically
selected for this project.

Tightness

The samples are edited to pre-

serve a bit of air before the note
hits. This causes some latency, but
allows some nice subtleties to shine
through. You can control the amount
of that using this knob.

Pedal Vol

The volume of the noise

of the sustain pedal.
 FX HP

This is a simple high-pass filter for

the effects send. It’s useful to have
because it allows you to keep the
patches wet and sexy without cloud-
ing the mix with too much of the
low-end content.

Noise

Volume of the tape noise, captured

from my portable Uher tape machine.

bottom section Expression

Afterglow patches allow you

to choose from three types of
controllers - CC1, which is your
standard Mod Wheel control, MPE
and Expressive E’s Touché.

EQ Echo type Reverb type

Out
This button opens the EQ panel, Three types of echo, all captured Again, very characterful captures
which allows you to shape the sound from vintage hardware. Due to the of vintage hardware. Dark, ambient The global volume control. It’s
using a very broad-stroke approach nature of these effects, they’re not and not anywhere near being realis- pre-mapped to CC11 if you ever
of a faithfully captured vintage EQ. tempo-synced. tic. But that’s the point! need to automate it.
changing
patches
To select an articulation, simply click
on the patch name on the top left
side of the interface. Then select the
sound you’d like to explore.
The top row is dedicated to Acoustic
patches, while the bottom is a home
of the Afterglows.
electro-acoustic patches
the guitaret performed
in various techniques

01. Plucks 02. Mallets 03. Unsynced Tremolos

This is the main patch of the library This is one of my favorite patches. For some reason, this one always
and one that represents the tradi- I performed the Guitaret with two dif- makes me laugh. Maybe because
tional playing style of the Guitaret - ferent kinds of mallets - felt and rub- I remember recording it, maybe be-
you pluck the tiny tines that protrude ber - and mapped them by velocity. cause it’s just so much fun.
from the body.
When you play softly, you’re getting I performed the Guitaret as though it
Five repetitions per note, four veloc- the felt version. It is extremely gentle was a banjo, playing some very loose
ity layers (from super-soft that’s ac- and to me - sounds like a cross be- tremolos. These are not even close
tually impossible to perform reliably tween a celeste and a hang drum. to being at any particular tempo or
live on the real instrument to louder rhythm. They just flow.
plucks). The rubber layer is cool as well and
you have both to get the ultimate One dynamic layer. These are very
control over texture. Five repetitions long captures so just hold a note and
per note, two velocity layers. enjoy.
the guitaret performed
in various techniques

04. Random Cloud

This patch takes a similar approach The controls will be described in detail
to the way that Lekko tremolos were in the tape section of this manual,
captured. I played a freestyle, rather but you can basically control the
sparse improvisation that creates speed of playback, it’s direction and
beautifully gentle clouds of notes if even add some lo-fi hiss and wow-
you play chords using it (hence the and-flutter for that slightly worn out
name). vibe.

However, I was really inspired by One dynamic layer, no repetition

tape-based music, so I’ve decided samples, yes tape controls.
to create another layer from these
performances and put it into a virtual
tape machine that you can use inside
the plugin.
afterglow
tape controls
THESE ARE
NOT BUTTONS!

The controls under the digital

reels are not buttons. They’re
sliders, giving you a very
smooth and precise control
over the sound. Simply click
and slide to adjust.

Digital Tape Loop Machine

Jasno features an amazing tape loop

machine. Inspired by Eurorack mod-
~ X1 →
ules such as the Make Noise Mor- Lo-Fi Control Speed Control Playback Direction
phagene, as well as forward-thinking
pedal manufacturers like Chase The first control allows you to dial When working with analogue tape, This control allows you to play the loop
Bliss, it allows you to control (and in some modelled pitch wobble, speed of the playback is directly forward (arrow to the right), back-
perform!) not only the volume of the subtle speed imperfections and associated with it’s pitch. This slider wards (arrow to the left) or just stop
loop, but also it’s speed, direction tape noise, sampled from a real allows you to adjust it in musical it all at once. Experimentation might
and overall texture. analogue tape. intervals of octaves and fifths. lead to some beautiful textures!
slowed down, mangled, messed up,
beautiful.

The sound design of Jasno was 01. Echoes

inspired by techniques used by the
pioneers of electronic music and This sound was created by using The resulting sound is very soft, even
the ambient modular scene. These things the wrong way. First, I sam- ghost like. It sounded even cooler
patches are all about creating ghosts pled the noise of tape going through when run through the modular setup
of sounds, dusty textures and organic a vintage German graphic EQ, so I’ve sampled that, too. It’s called
sonic manipulations, ranging from boosting all the bands for some nice Glow and it runs as a digital tape.
beautiful to quite scary. They’re like color. Then I took this sample, hand-
a faded memory of what the original drawn the volume envelope so that it Five round robins per key, four
instrument used to be. Or something kind of plucks and decays and THEN lengths controlled by velocity.
else altogether. put some convolution reverb on it.
The reverb part is where I did it the
(purposefully!) wrong way. Instead
of placing the noise in a church, I’ve
loaded in the samples of the humble
Guitaret played with mallets.
slowed down, mangled, messed up,
beautiful.

02. Becoming Ocean 03. Piano Drop

This patch was inspired by ‘Become Mod wheel introduces some dirt to Inspired by a Tim Hecker piece of the
Ocean’ by John Luther King and the waves and a lower, darker Tide same title, this patch takes two random
it’s flowing orchestration. It’s also underneath the lighter waves. pieces of the same dirty and heavily mod-
become my favourite pad sound and ulated loop and smashes them together
I’m already using it as we speak. There’s also a short loop of the waves using tempo-synced LFO. You can control
(Looping Waves), playing back over both the speed and intensity of the LFO
I took the original Guitaret material and over in the digital tape ma- as well as the stereo spread of two layers.
and run it through the whole stu- chine. If you pitch it using the speed
dio until it sounded like a ghost of controls, you might get some nicely Mod wheel introduces a lot of dirt (print
the signal (tape helped here a lot!). evolving tidal textures. to cassette: hot!) as well as a brassy pad
Then I modulated the volume with which I didn’t expect to happen when
a recordings of ocean waves of varying I plugged my tape echo into the middle
lengths. There are four variants in total of the chain. It sounded cool so I sam-
and you control these with velocity. pled it anyway and it’s there.
slowed down, mangled, messed up,
beautiful.

04. Disperse

Maybe it should be called tilt-shift Now, to make things more complex Crazy.
because this is what it’s inspired by. - the Guitaret plucks actually have
two layers as well. One is very diffuse
Imagine having two abstract layers (it’s present when the pad layer is in
of sounds and shapes, suspended in focus) and the other is more, well, in
space. By using the mod wheel, you focus. But then each of these runs in
can choose your point of focus be- it’s own digital tape machine so you
tween a multi-layered pad that goes can do all sorts of crazy things like fo-
from super-dirty to super-soft and cus between layers that play back at
short looping Guitaret plucks. two different speeds and directions.
All of the Afterglow patches support MPE.
Once you enable the MPE button on the
bottom panel, you can perform every note
MPE support
with unique polyphonic expression. Please
note that not all DAWs support MPE natively.

Please, see this list to make sure your does.

The MPE controls are mapped per

Roli specifications.
MIDI map
CC20 Attack CC29 Tape 2 / dirt
CC21 Release CC30 Tape 2 / speed
CC22 Echo CC31 Tape 2 / direction
CC23 Reverb CC39 FX Highpass
CC24 Layer A / volume CC43 EQ Low
CC25 Layer B / volume CC44 EQ High
CC26 Tape 1 / dirt CC45 EQ Air
CC27 Tape 1 / speed CC50 Tune
CC28 Tape 1 / direction CC11 Global Volume
terms of use

License agreement You may not Refunds

The Jasno library is licensed, not sold to - Make copies of this Library, as Downloaded Libraries cannot be
you. This license is personal and cannot a whole or in part, with the intention returned, so we can’t provide refunds
be transferred. By downloading Jasno, of re-distributing, selling or giving or exchanges. Please be aware that
you agree to the following terms: them away. This includes making as soon as you’ve redeemed your
any of the content of the Library download code, you can’t return the
You may available on a network through any Library.
file sharing services;
- Use the Library and included sounds - Re-use or re-package any of the Responsibility
in your own compositions, either Jasno content in another virtual
personal or commercial, without any instrument, sample library, sound Using this Library and any supplied
additional fees or restrictions; effect library or loop or effect library software is at the licensee’s own risk.
- Install Jasno on multiple computers of any kind; Felt Instruments holds no responsi-
as long as you are the only owner of - Re-sell the license to another per- bility for any direct or indirect loss
these machines and are not sharing son without written consent of Felt arising from any form of use of this
your Jasno license with others. Instruments. product.
credits

Jasno was performed, recorded, edited,

mangled, programmed and designed
by Tomek Ślesicki between late 2019
and early 2020.

Manual designed by Dorota Piskor.

Handcrafted in Warsaw, Poland.

Built with Hise.

feltinstruments.com