Karplus-Strong Plucked String Model

In its simplest form, physical modeling involves creating DSP components that combine to behave like their physical counterparts, such as a pendulum or a resonating mass-spring system. The theory may be used for modeling strings, tubes, or struck-metal plates, or practically any other acoustic/mechanical system or effect, such as a piano or the reverb effect. The Karplus-Strong algorithm is a specific kind of plucked string model and has undergone improvements and modifications over time. The algorithms here are a combination of some of these modifications. The plucked string algorithm has been augmented over the years, with numerous extensions and improvements. An excellent source used as a starting point is Valamaki, which documents the additions and contains a plethora of references and sources for more information and study. This chapter references here also contain information about hammered and bowed-string models, which include coupling between resonator and exciter, and involve scattering junctions.