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Physical Models

Three struck physical models ship with MAGDA: Marimba, Djembe, and Bell. Each is a modal physical model driven by a strike exciter, not a sample. The ring and decay come out of the model itself, so there are no loops or release samples.

All three are 16-voice instruments. Marimba and Djembe follow the played note for pitch. Bell is fixed-pitch: the note only triggers the strike.

Marimba

A struck tone-bar-and-tube model.

Parameter Range Default Description
Strike Position 0 to 1 0.3 Strike position on the bar (0 centre, 1 edge)
Strike Tone 500 to 12000 Hz (log) 7000 Exciter brightness
Strike Sharpness 0 to 1 0.25 Exciter transient hardness
Decay 50 to 2000 ms 100 Bar ring time (T60)

Djembe

A struck hand-drum membrane model.

Parameter Range Default Description
Strike Position 0 to 1 0.4 Strike location (0 centre, 1 edge)
Strike Sharpness 0 to 1 0.5 Exciter transient hardness
Decay 50 to 3000 ms 600 Lowest-mode ring time (T60)
Spacing 20 to 600 Hz 200 Modal frequency spacing (higher is more metallic)
Inharmonicity 0 to 1 0 Upper-mode spreading (0 even, 1 widest)

At low Spacing the Djembe reads as a pitched tom; raise it for a more metallic, gong-like character.

Bell

A struck, fixed-pitch modal church-bell model.

Parameter Range Default Description
Strike Position 0 to 1 0.3 Strike position on the bell (0 centre, 1 edge)
Strike Tone 500 to 12000 Hz (log) 7000 Exciter brightness
Strike Sharpness 0 to 1 0.25 Exciter transient hardness
Decay 300 to 40000 ms 8000 Ring time (T60); cathedral-long at the top, tine-short at the bottom

Macros, modulation, and presets

Each model is a standard MAGDA device, so its parameters accept macros and modulators, and patches save and recall through the preset system.

AI sound design

Click the AI icon in the device header and describe the sound you want. The agent reads this device's own parameters and their real-world ranges, then writes values into them. See Per-Device AI Panel.