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.