1 minute read

Deadline

Saturday, Feburary 21, 2026, at 11:59 PM

Overview

Last week, we used:

  • <bach.roll- for event generation
  • <poly~- for polyphony
  • a simple sine wave engine inside a <poly~- voice abstraction

For this brief assignment, your task is very simple, conceptually:

  • Replace (or extend) the sine wave engine with a string synthesis model
  • and drive it using <bach.roll- through <poly~-.
  • Create your own notes, chords, or other events inside <bach.roll- to drive your new synth.
  • Make a simple patch that does this and be prepared to share this in our next class.

You may use:

  • Karplus–Strong
  • Allpass string model
  • Or some hybrid of both

The key requirement:

  • The string synthesizer must be controlled by <bach.roll-
  • and instantiated using <poly~- inside our scaffold patch structure.

What To Do

1. Use the Scaffold Structure

You must work inside:

  • _scaffold.v01.maxpat (or your updated scaffold)
  • Your own <poly~- abstraction for voices
  • Your own <bach.roll- object for event sequencing

This assignment is about integration, not inventing something totally from scratch, so you should recycle our previous templates and combine things.

You can also use <line- and <function- to control synthesis parameters in addition to pitch and rhythm.

It shouldn’t occupy much of your time to do this.

2. Build (or Adapt) a String Voice Abstraction

Inside your <poly~- voice patch:

  • Implement a Karplus–Strong or allpass string model
  • Accept pitch, velocity, and duration from <bach.roll-
  • Use proper gain staging
  • Avoid clipping

Your string voice must respond correctly to:

  • note-on
  • note-off (or duration-based decay)
  • velocity scaling