Image line releases Sakura (and updates most other VST plug-ins)

1st October 2009 - KVR Audio News

Image line has announced the release of Sakura (v1.0.2), a string physical modelling instrument. It costs $99 and is available for Mac OS X and Windows in VST and AU instrument plug-in formats. Also, Image Line has updated most of its range of VST plug-ins to bring them in line with their counterparts in FL Studio.

Sakura
Like the transient beauty of Sakura (Japanese for Cherry Blossom), the sound of stringed instruments blossoms and fades. Image-Line brings you 'Sakura', the string physical modelling instrument, to express the delicacy and beauty of stringed sounds.

Virtual modelling in Sakura follows a 5 stage "hanami-process":

Contact: An impulse, the mechanical contact with the string, is first generated then shaped to simulate plucks, picks, scrapes, hammers, taps or humble fingers.
Vibration: Sakura's dual string model then gives the operator control over a wide range of parameters such as damping, tension, positioning and string properties.
String interaction: The dual strings are then mixed, panned and enveloped to simulate interactions.
Resonance: The string/s vibration then interacts with an 8-resonator 'body simulator' to create the size, material and shape of the instrument
Acoustics: Virtual acoustic space is then simulated with chorus, delay and reverberation effects.

Sakura can reproduce the delicate pluck of a single string, a violin's bowing or the sonorous resonance of a grand piano. Most importantly, the curious musician can take control of every aspect of the simulation to create fantastic instruments. Ever wanted to know what a 20 foot guitar sounded like? Or a bowed piano? Now you can find out, Sakura opens up a world of string modelling possibilities.

Other Updates
These are the plug-ins that have been updated: