# Instrument V, Karplus-Strong Synth Bowed and plucked string sounds can be made easily using the Karplus-Strong synthesis technique. The idea is that you have an exciter, or an element that generates bursts of noise, and a resonator, or a network of delays, that transform the exciter signal into musical notes. > [!cite] Lore > ![[5-viscera.png]] > Viscera (art by Dead Carcosa) ## Karplus-Strong Guitarist From [[Signal Music IV, More Sources of Randomness]]. I borrowed the `[gen~]` patch from `gen~.karplus_strong` example file and made some modifications to get more control. I then created a `[rand~ 1.]`-varied phasor, and five `[stash~]`es to control various parameters (velocity, gate, MIDI note, decay, and dampening). This gave a fairly convincing nylon-string guitar sound. I added a BEAP Gigaverb to add some room sound which helped make it sound more convincing. > [!example] > ![[image-41.png]] > A patch that makes nylon-string guitar-like sounds and plays them in a somewhat naturalistic way. You can see the internals of the `[gen~]` patch here. It is a slight modification of the patch from the `gen~.karplus_strong` example. > [!example] > ![[image-47.png]] > The `gen~` patch used in the above example. > [!example] > ![[example-3.mp4]] > An example of using the Karplus-Strong Synth to create string-like sounds. ([[example-3.mp4|Click here to view, if it's not displaying]])