Different Instruments PartialString is a new free FDTP-based physical modeling Synthesizer plugin for macOS, Linux, and Windows.
I like physical modeling synths, and I’m excited about every new release. Any release? Okay, not every release, especially those where the description or UI screams “AI slop”. Here’s something new that doesn’t do that.
Different Instruments has released PartialString, a small cross-platform physical modeling synth plugin.
Different Instruments PartialString
PartialString is a free physical modeling Synthesizer plugin for macOS, Linux and Windows. According to Christian Baker of Different Instruments, he worked the last few years on it. It all started in 2022 with the GoString Synth which is on GitHub.
Four years later, there is a finished plugin called PartialString. The engine simulates the vibration of a plucked string by numerically solving the one-dimension wave equation in real time using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) mdethod. Here how it works:
The string is represented as a list of displacements in memory. A lower note requires a longer string, which needs more points to represent it.
You can then excite the string at any point along its length, and the FDTD scheme will compute how that change in displacement propagates. A pickup measures the displacement at a chosen location, and this generates the audio output.
Not a classic method for physical modeling synthesis where the relationship between exciter and resonator is the main focus.
PartialString supports up to 10-voice polyphony (up to 10 simulaneous strings) but can be adjusted dynamically based on your computer’s capabilities and the length of the string being simulated.
String Sound Design
The GUI is simple and original. GUI resizing is not currently available but hope he will add this in an update because it’s rather small. It has various control sections: string state, decay, pickup LFO and model accuracy.
In the string state, you can the position and shape of the excitation, both velocity-sensitive. You can choose between a pluck and hammer as exciter. Then, the string’s decay time is adjustable, with or without dampers applied.
An LFO can sweep the pickup position, up to audio rate for AM-like sidebands. So Different Instruments PartialString also has a crazy, noisy side. Next to this is the model accuracy that can be constant for all notes or proportional to string length.
Reduce the accuracy to achieve more unrealistic, inharmonic sounds. It is particularly computationally intensive when playing many lower notes, says the developer. To prevent CPU overloads, he has implemented an automatic limitation of sound voices on less capable systems.
First Impression
A nice free physical modeling Synthesizer with a slightly different engine concept. Not as performant as Chromaphone, the soon-to-be-released Rippler, or other commercial PM synths, but a lovely release nonetheless.
Different Instruments PartialString is available now as a free download. It runs as a VST3 and AU plugin on macOS (native Apple Silicon + Intel), Linux, and Windows.
More information here: Different Instruments
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