Ecaroh wrote:Hi,
Quickly tested Singular, seems quite nice!
What I maybe miss here is filter (different types, Cutoff and Resonance, + perhaps ADSR envelop and LFO options for filter). At least to me filter is always there when I use synth strings or pads with or without piano sound. In live usage filter is typically routed to Exp pedal or Wheel.
There are not filters per se in Syngular (none that I could find). I can't speak for the developers, but I would guess that's because of the model being "a string that gets hit" - and in that model there is nothing that would correspond to a filter. Any changes in timbre over time seems to be controlled by two settings:
<Decay> (which has two settings: cutoff and slope). This different from the "decay" in ADR. <Decay> controls decay of upper harmonics over time.
<Blooming>.This is the only thing I found which allows for upper harmonics to INCREASE over time (which you can easily achieve with a filter). Try increasing the energy, and with some inertia you can start to hear an auto-wah effect (unless the attack is slow, in which case you might miss it).
Why no sustain? From the manual (14.6. Tutorial 6: Syngular envelope control):
"Syngular does not offer a direct Sustain parameter. This is because different frequencies decay at different rates based on Pianoteq's physical model of coupled strings, resulting in a more organic sound"
With regard to oscillators. Again, the model is that a string is oscillating (after being hit by something). In the Pianoteq model there seem to be 4 things that affect the initial timbre of the string:
1. Plucking brightness (ths is turned way down in the Sine wave preset). That seems analogous to hammer hardness on a piano.
2. Spectrum profile (e.g. turn down all the harmonics except the fundamental (#1) and you get a sine wave).
3. Strike point (i.e. where the hammer hits the string). When I compared the saw vs. square patches, this was the main difference (to the far left for saw; to the far right for the square).
4. Harmonicity (the lower, the more "out of tune" bell-like harmonics you get). This can interact in strange ways with the spectrum profile (maybe that's why this is "experimental").
Also from the manual:
"Unison Width introduces natural beating between the virtual strings, much like what happens in real piano tuning. As a secondary effect, when you choose a narrow unison, Direct sound duration lets you determine the strength of the initial part of the decay."
"the Smear parameter adjusts the soundwaves to soften or sharpen the attack’s timbre."
