
Dr. Russell Stoneback has released the Light Guitar plug-in, a new, free, Audio Unit plug-in that reproduces the behavior of the Light Guitar, a musical instrument that uses light to make music, and allows you to easily customize the sound of the instrument by adjusting various parameters. The plug-in is built on Core Audio. Simply plug in your instrument of choice, load the plug-in into Garageband (or equivalent) and enjoy.
Adjustable Parameters:
- The frequency multiplier slider effectively increases/decreases the size of the instrument, changing the sound of the guitar.
- Two different configurations were measured for the Light guitar, one that excites waves on the outer surface of the instrument and one exciting internal modes - both are included and independently selectable.
- The strings on an acoustic instrument have a large effect on the instrument's sound and the same effect applies to light instruments. However, a string for a light instrument is a coaxial cable. The real/imaginary impedance sliders allow you to easily alter the "string" connected to the light guitar.
- The impulse slider lets you change how long the light guitar effects music played through the plug-in.