simplesynth

▶ Play it live on a touch keyboard

Aeolian harp

Strings played by the wind. Each string sheds vortices at a rate set by wind speed and its thickness, and sings whichever of its harmonics is nearest. Several strings of different thickness, tuned to one note, sing different harmonics at once; gusts move them around. Louder = more wind = higher harmonics.

drone: choir

Two long notes with four strings and slow gusts: listen to the harmonics swap on their own.

drone: storm

Rough, breathy whistling in gusty wind.

melt: harp

The swell phrase: harmonics climb as the wind rises within each note.

melt: choir

melt: still

One thick string in a light breeze: a pure hovering tone.

twinkle: harp

twinkle: choir

twinkle: still

Liquid glass

Bowed glass whose overtones melt toward a harmonic tone as the bow presses harder, and drift on their own. "Melt" is a slow phrase with swells inside each note, so you can hear the glass change under the bow.

melt: liquid

Glass harmonica that melts into a pure, harmonic tone the harder you press.

melt: bowl

Singing bowl: paired modes beat slowly; pressing hard merges the pairs.

melt: inverted

Impossible bar: highs outlast the fundamental, modes drift between tunings.

twinkle: liquid

twinkle: bowl

twinkle: inverted

twinkle: crystal

Hard, bright tuned bar with a grabby bow; barely melts.

range: liquid

Arpeggio C3 to C6 and back.

Clarinet

Twinkle Twinkle (soft start, swell, loud return, fade) in each preset, plus a few register tests.

ethereal

Dark, breathy, slow vibrato, slides between notes, long hall.

clarinet

Plain woody clarinet in a small room.

bright

Bright and buzzy (small reed opening), fast shimmer, long bright tail.

hollow

Very dark and soft, almost flute-like.

wind

Mostly air: heavy turbulence on a fragile tone.

ethereal, an octave down

Bass-clarinet register.

bright, an octave up

range: ethereal

Arpeggio C3 to C6 and back.

range: clarinet