User Guide

CHAPTER 22. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 380
The Excitator Section
Tension's Excitator
Section.
The modelled string can be played using different types of excitators in order to reproduce
different types of instruments and playing techniques. The excitator is selected using
the Type chooser, and the choices available are Bow, Hammer, Hammer (bouncing) and
Plectrum.
Bow - this excitator is associated with bowed instruments such as the violin, viola or cello.
The bow sets the string in sustained oscillation. The motion of the bow hair across the string
creates friction, causing the string to alternate between sticking to the hair and breaking free.
The frequency of this alternation between sticking and slipping determines the fundamental
pitch.
The Force knob adjusts the amount of pressure being applied to the string by the bow. The
sound becomes more scratchy as you increase this value. The friction between the bow
and the string can be adjusted with the Friction control. Higher values usually result in a
faster attack. Velocity adjusts the speed of the bow across the string. Finally, the Vel and
Key sliders below these three controls allow you to modulate their behavior based on note
velocity or pitch, respectively.
Hammer and Hammer (bouncing) - these two excitator types simulate the behavior of soft
hammers or mallets. Hammer models a hammer that is located below the string and strikes
it once before falling away. This type of mechanism is found in a piano, for example.
Hammer (bouncing) models a hammer that is located above the string and is dropped onto
it, meaning that it can bounce on the string multiple times. This playing mode can be found
on a hammered dulcimer, for example.