Arkinaut

Arkinaut is a fictitious electroacoustic instrument, inspired by ancient sounds and materials (zither, wood stone, glass and crystal), while employing modern synthesis techniques. It excels at producing timbres ranging from plucked and bowed strings to mallets and more. It was designed to create percussive and bowed articulations combined with idiophone transients and synthesizer modulations.

With an array of controls to set resonator type, transient characteristics, timbre tone and vibrational material, Arkinaut lets you sculpt a vibrating string instrument tailored to your taste. Choose from "Metal", "Wood" or "Elastic" resonators and use the "Mallet" to add struck bar transients such as those found in a vibraphone or marimba.

Arkinaut's internal workings employ Karplus-Strong algorithms fed into a soft overdrive. An optional ring modulator provides augmented and chaotic tone design that can create a wide palette of timbres. The final stage of the signal passes through a Moog-style low pass filter and a fixed delay "doubling" module that simulates string loosening.

Arkinaut Controls:

• MALLET - Strike transient level.
• MATERIAL - Timbre selection.
• PLUCK | BOW - Articulation and envelope.
• TIMBRE - Waveform type.
• TONE- Filter module.
• MOD RANGE - Modulator pitch.
• MOD AMOUNT - Modulator volume.
• SHAPER - Distortion circuit.
• DOUBLE - Fixed Delay.
• SPACE - Stereo ambience.

{See video at top of page}