Tides Unleashed: The Unperson Turns Mutable’s Modulator into a Sonic Street Weapon

Let’s get this straight: Mutable Instruments Tides v2 is usually filed under modulation, but The Unperson is having none of that. Right from the jump, we’re told Tides has more up its sleeve than envelopes and LFOs—it’s a proper VCO if you know where to poke. The video wastes no time showing how to get Tides cycling, crank it into audio rates, and patch up a sequence. No hand-holding, just straight to the point.

What’s refreshing is the lack of reverence. The Unperson skips the usual worship and dives into the controls: shape morphing, slope for pulse width vibes, and a smoothness knob that flips from low-pass to wavefolding. It’s a quick, dirty tour of the basics, but you get the sense that this isn’t about ticking boxes—it’s about seeing if Tides can actually stand up as a main oscillator, not just a background mod source.

Now for the real meat: Tides’ four output modes. The Unperson jumps into different amplitudes mode, where all four outputs spit out the same waveform, but you can shift which one’s active. On its own, it’s a bit vanilla, but route each output through a different effect and suddenly you’ve got a patch that’s more chaos than choir.

Sample and hold modulation on the shift control turns this mode from snooze to bruiser. Each output gets its own flavour—bitcrush, reverb, whatever’s in the rack. The result? A sequence that’s way more dynamic than any polite VCO. The Unperson admits it takes a bit of setup, but the payoff is a patch that’s twitchy, unpredictable, and full of attitude. If you want a paint-by-numbers oscillator, look elsewhere.

Next up: different times mode. Here, all four outputs share a waveform and frequency, but you can shift their phase. The Unperson pushes the harmonics, twisting the shift control for sync-like tones and surprise textures. There’s a lot more sonic territory here than you’d expect from a module that’s supposed to be an LFO.

Envelope modulation on the shift control keeps things lively, and the exploration gets deep—without ever feeling like a lab experiment. The Unperson’s approach is all about feel and musicality, not just technical flexing. Pitch tracking is tight, and the module responds with the kind of precision you’d want from a main oscillator. If you’re after clinical, sterile waveforms, you’ll be disappointed—Tides is all about movement and grit.

The final mode—different frequencies—spits out four outputs at four different pitches, and suddenly Tides is a chord machine. The Unperson points out that the chord structures here are unique, not just a copy-paste from Rings or Plaits. This isn’t your standard triad generator; it’s got its own weird logic.

With a melody layered on top, the patch turns into a full-on progression. The Unperson keeps things musical, showing how Tides can anchor a track or just add strange harmonic spice. It’s a reminder that this module isn’t just for modulation nerds—it can be the backbone of a proper tune if you’re willing to get your hands dirty.