MALLETS

Controls

• ModelMarimba / Xylophone / Vibraphone / Glockenspiel / Tubular Bells / Timpani — The instrument: Marimba, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells or Timpani.
• Mallet0 to 100% — How hard the mallet is: soft yarn gives a round, dark tone, hard plastic a bright, clicky one.
• Strike0 to 100% — Where the mallet hits: the centre gives a pure tone, the edge brings out more overtones.
• Resonator0 to 100% — How much the tube (or the timpani's kettle) under the bar reinforces the lowest note: louder and shorter as it rises.
• Decay10 to 400% — How long every note rings, from 10 % to 4 times as long.
• Key UpRing / Damp — Ring lets every note ring out; Damp mutes it over Damp Time when the key comes up, unless the sustain pedal holds it, as on a vibraphone.
• Damp Time10 to 3000 ms — How fast a note is muted when Key Up is Damp.
• Motor0 to 12 Hz — The vibraphone's motor: a tremolo at this rate (0 = off).
• Velocity0 to 100% — How much the velocity changes the level and the mallet's hardness (0 % = every note the same).
• Width0 to 100% — How far the notes spread across the stereo field by pitch.
• Volume−24 to +12 dB — The output level (-24 to +12 dB).

Best uses

• Marimba and xylophone for film, games, pop and world grooves
• Vibraphone with the motor and the damper pedal for jazz and lounge
• Glockenspiel and tubular bells for orchestral, holiday and cinematic cues
• Timpani rolls and hits for orchestral builds and trailers

Properties

An instrument: MIDI in, stereo out, no samples, 24 voices (the same key struck again takes a new voice and the old one keeps ringing; a 25th voice takes the oldest one, released ones first, after a 2 ms fade). Each strike excites six damped resonators at the model's mode ratios, each with its own level and decay; the mallet's contact time (3 ms soft to 0.24 ms hard) rounds off the high modes and sets the onset, the strike position silences or brings out the antisymmetric modes, and higher keys decay faster. Key Up Ring lets every note ring out, Damp mutes it over Damp Time (the sustain pedal, CC 64, holds it); all notes off (CC 123/120) fades every key. The voices are spread by pitch over Width, then the vibraphone motor (a level tremolo). Sample-accurate and the same in the JSFX, the GFX version and the VST3/CLAP.

Formats

• JSFXJSFX for REAPER, with REAPER's own sliders
• GFXJSFX GFX for REAPER, with its own interface
• VST3VST3 for any DAW
• CLAPCLAP for any DAW
• LV2LV2 for Linux DAWs such as Ardour, Carla and Qtractor

Factory presets

Soft Marimba · Bright Marimba · Concert Xylophone · Wooden Pop · Jazz Vibes · Dry Vibes · Ambient Vibes · Glockenspiel · Music Box Glock · Tubular Bells · Church Chimes · Timpani · Timpani Roll Hits · Hard Timpani