How to add guitar a like pickey attacks?

[kortezzzz]

Hi all.
Does anybody knows about a good technic to add some punchy and pickey attacks to the poly signal?
or maybe there is no technic, and it should be added by some effects After the event?
keeping the ADSR's attack knob on zero may not always give the wanted results.

thanks.

[strangeChild]

Search the net for Karplus Strong algorithm.

It's actually quite easy to implement in FlowStone but you'd have to look at the SynthMaker site for examples and it seems to be down right now.


In general plucked strings start with lots of harmonic content (and even non-harmonic content) that gets simpler in the first milliseconds of the decay as the fundamental and first few harmonics are strongly favoured.

So maybe a low-pass filter tied to an envelop generator and scaled to the pitch that gets more restrictive as the envelop fades.

Also saturation effects (distortion) can add harmonic content when the signal clips in the early part of the envelope but you should apply the effect while it's still in poly so it affects each note separately.

[joejoe]

From messing with various synths I find to get the pluck character You have to set the Attack and Decay for both filter and amp to a specific "sweet spot" Not sure what synth your trying to do this in. Obviously your Attack on your amp needs to be 0 and for filter must also be very close but I find where you really get the pluck sound is by adjusting the decay for filter and amp to be just right I would say the filter decay needs to be shorter than the amp decay around %15 - 25% with the amp just longer. You must set your Amp sustain to be very short with a longer release. The filter settings on the envelope should also be similar to the amp in regards to sustain and release.

What synth are you using? Perhaps I could get you a good sound.

[kortezzzz]

Thanks for the responses guys.
strangeChild, I have searched the net for that karplus thing but have not found something usable.
anyway, nothing that matching my poor knowldge in coding...
tried to get deeper in to the SM explanation (there was a post about it there), but could not realy understand
that.

joejoe, your solution was much more clearer and its realy works fine! using filter deacy put some lovely
punch in to the sound and makes it picky. i still hope that someone who knows that karplus thing good enought, will build a very basic schematic that demos it and upload it here. i'm very Curious to see how is it works.

Thanks

[strangeChild]

Actually joejoe's explanation is essentially what I was trying to say in my comments about using a low-pass scaled and tied to an envelope generator but he just did a much better job of it.

Karplus-Strong is a really cool algorithm for making plucky sounds but it's likely not what you were looking for.

[kortezzzz]

Thanks for your response, strangeChild.

Karplus-Strong is a really cool algorithm for making plucky sounds but it's likely not what you were looking for

mm.. you mean, this karplus thing is something else? not based on filter envelope's deacy?
anyway, as there are few ways to do the trick, and i understand at least one of them,
couldn't be happier

Thanks again!

[KG_is_back]

Karplus strong algorithm is the most basic physical modeling synthesizer. It works by creating a digital model of the string to create the sound. The string create sound when it is excitated by a pulse (a finger or pick to pluck the string, hammer to hit a string of a piano, bow of a violin etc.) that is basically a short noise burst (in case of bowing it's continuous). the pulse then propagates through the string and bounces of the ends moving in a loop. This loop is simulated by an interpolated delay line that is 2*period long (the wave must bounce there and back). And finally, as the wave propagates it is damped, however higher frequencies are damped faster and also propagate through the string a little slower. That is simulated by and low-pass filter in a delay line (note that all frequencies must be damped by a filter - if a single frequency gents busted by it the loop gents unstable).

Here is also an example:

You can set the cutoff frequency of the filter lower the sound will be much more muted. You can also put and amp with envelope follower inside the loop to make it fade away after certain time - to isolate the pluck sound only.

[strangeChild]

you mean, this karplus thing is something else?

Karplus Strong is a method of generating a sound. It takes a burst of noise or other complex sound and simplifies it over the duration of the envelope as it is fed-back through a delay.

My first post was three different suggestions.. which I did not make clear:

1) Karplus Strong - cool but requires DSP understanding

2) what joejoe said... just not as clearly or helpfully

3) you could try a distortion effect while the signal is in poly (white) as then the distortion (which is a form of adding higher-order harmonic content) will be focused in the attack and very early decay phase.

Here's what I meant by 3) in a very simple form (with an A/B selector so you can hear with the distortion is doing for the timbre of the sound). The distortion module is an old stock one from SM and really doesn't achieve what I'd hoped to show.

[kortezzzz]

great examples and great explanations, guys! super cool thanks a lot.

now, thinking on how to Combine that methode in a kind of classic synth:
maybe making a special "string oscillator" that only boosts the pickup effect and add with the Traditional waveforms? a kind "banjo synth" would be a great result
going to play with it tonight... Probably all night