Plucked String VSTi V4 Manual

Installation
Copy the Plucked String.vst file from the archive to your VST directory. If you host sequencer is open,
make sure to close and relaunch it, so that the VSTi appears.
In case theres problems, contact service@synapse-audio.com.

Introduction
The Plucked String recreates the sounds of actual stringed instruments, by using what is called "physical
modeling". A selection of several different string models are included, each of which have their own
distinct sound and character - ranging from sounds closely resembling real guitars and basses, to less
realistic and more imaginative sounds.
Some of the features include:

Five different string models

Up to 24 voices of polyphony
Damping filter section
Double and triple unison modes
Vibrato section

Controls
Oscillator Section
The controls on this panel adjust the parameters for the currently selected string model.
The COARSE control adjust the coarse tuning of the instrument's note pitch, from minus one to plus one
octave. The FINE knob finetunes the pitch, and also affects the amount of chorusing in DOUBLE and
TRIPLE voice output modes, as will be explained below.
The TIMBRE control adjusts the timbre of the sound - when turned towards the left, the sound will be
deeper and fuller sound, while when turned to the right, the sound becomes thinner and richer. This
setting could be compared to the body size of a real instrument - for example, a very deep and full sound
would come from a stringed instrument with a larger body, such as a contrabass, while a thinner and
richer sound would come from one with a smaller body, such as a banjo or a sitar.
The STRN parameter controls the strength of the strings. When turned to the left, the strings have little
strength and more elasticity, like for example a nylon string - turning the control towards the right, will
result in more powerful and less elastic strings, such as bronze or nickel, giving a more metallic sound.
The last parameter, PLUCK, can be used to modify the way in which the string is initially excited. A
higher setting means a harder excitation, as if the guitarist was using a plectrum; whereas a lower
setting means a softer excitation, as if using the bare hands. This parameter is only supported for the
NOISE, NYLON and ACOUSTIC models - for the STRING and GOURMET models, this parameter has no
effect.

Envelope Panel
These controls adjust the attack, decay and release of the string amplitude. ATK controls the attack
time, when you hit a key. When turning to the right, the sound gradually fades in slower. DEC adjusts
the time the note decays after the attack phase before. Set to max, the sound does not decay before
releasing the key. The REL parameter adjusts the decay time whenever you release a key.

Filter Section
A low-pass filter is built into this string synthesizer When the low-pass CUTOFF frequency is turned to
the left, higher frequencies get attenuated more. Turned to the right, more higher frequencies pass
through.
The DAMP control regulates the steepness of the filter - when turned to the right, the filter starts to
sound more "harsh", while higher frequencies decay more quickly.

Vibrato Panel
The vibrato effect can be used to make the strings vibrate during play - an effect that could be compared
that of a guitarist vibrating his finger slightly while holding the string to the fretboard, or perhaps by
shaking the guitar body.
The AMT knob controls the amount of effect that is applied to the string sound - when turned to the far
left, the vibrato effect is disabled, and the other two parameters have no effect.
The RATE setting controls the frequency of the vibrato effect - turning this control towards the right will
make the vibrato effect faster.
The DELAY control can be used to delay the vibrato effect - when turned to the far left, the vibrato effect
will begin instantly, while turning it towards the right will result in an increasingly longer delay before the
vibrato effect sets it.

Model Selection
A selection of five different plucked string models are available, each of which produce sounds with
different characteristics. For each model, try adjusting the controls on the WAVE panel - the individual
models react differently to these parameters, and can be used to create a wide variety of sounds.

Output Panel
The VOL setting controls the output volume of the instrument - normally, this is used for normalizing the
volume of different presets.
Three different voice modes are available. The voice mode setting, together with the polyphony setting
(see below), determines the number of notes you can play at a time.
SINGLE mode triggers a single voice per note - this gives the maximum number of notes playable
simultaneously.
DOUBLE mode triggers two voices, panned left and right, resulting in a pleasant stereo panorama. Note
that only half the number of notes will be playable at one time - for example, if polyphony is set to 8
voices, only 4 notes will be playable at a time.
TRIPLE mode triggers three voices per note - two voices panned left and right, and one voice in the
middle, resulting in a stereo panorama and a subtle chorus effect. Again, this will affect the number of
notes you can play at one time - for example, if you set polyphony to 9 voices, only 3 notes will be
playable at a time.
In DOUBLE and TRIPLE voice modes, you can use the FINE knob on the WAVE panel to adjust the
depth of the stereo spread and chorusing - when centered, the pitch distribution between the voices will
be minimal, while left/right settings will produce more extreme effects.

Settings button
If you click the SETTINGS button, a menu with some additional options will be displayed.
The Polyphony setting, determines how many voices can be played at one time - a higher number of
voices will consume more CPU power. As explained above, the setting on the OUTPUT panel will affect
the number of notes actually playable at one time, since DOUBLE or TRIPLE voice modes consume more
voices per note.
Make sure you use a suitably high number of voices for the type of music you're composing. For

example, if you're going to play interchanging chords of three notes each in Triple-Stereo mode, you
should set polyphony to at least 18 voices.
The Pitchbend Range parameter adjusts the range of the pitch bender control in number of semitones,
e.g. how drastically the instrument responds to the pitchbender. The effect of this will only be audible, if
you use the pitchbender on your MIDI keyboard, or if you automate the pitchbend parameter in your
sequencer.

MIDI Map
Below is a complete overview of every MIDI controller ID number, that the Plucked String can send
and receive. The model and voice mode switches should not be automated, and therefore are not
mapped to any MIDI controllers.

Legal Information
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