Operation Manual

Introduction 9

1 Introduction

The Tassman is a modular software synthesizer based on physical modeling. The modular archi-

tecture of the software reproduces the very powerful features of vintage analog synthesizers letting

you construct instruments “

a la carte” by patching modules together. The module library includes

many analog-type objects but also modules simulating acoustic objects and instruments. The Tass-

man makes no distinction between different object types which means that you can reproduce your

favorite vintage analog synthesizer, recreate or invent acoustic instruments but also combine analog

and acoustic modules and create very innovative hybrid instruments.

The Tassman generates sound by simulating the different modules through physical modeling.

This technology uses the laws of physics to reproduce the behavior of an object. In other words

the Tassman solves, in real-time, mathematical equations describing how an object functions. The

Tassman uses no sampling or wavetable, it just calculates the sound as you play in accordance

to the controls it receives. For example, if you choose to hit a plate with a mallet, the Tassman

simulates (1) the impact of the mallet at a particular point, (2) the resulting displacement of the

plate due to wave motion (taking into account the geometry and physical parameters of the plate

related to its material), and (3) sound radiation at a particular listening point.

Physical modeling is a very general and powerful approach since the result is obtained by

reproducing how an object generates sound rather than trying to reproduce the sound signal itself

using, for example, wavetables, additive synthesis or samples. This implies that a module can

generate very different sounds depending on the driving signals it receives. For example, different

sounds will be produced by a plate of a given geometry and material, depending on the strength of

the mallet impact and its impact point. It will behave differently again if you hit the plate when it

is at rest or when it is already vibrating. Physical modeling takes all these parameters into account

naturally since it reproduces the behavior of the real object. This results in very natural and realistic

sounds and reproduces the control musicians have on real acoustic instruments.

The Tassman software is comprised of three tightly integrated views, in a single window. In-

struments are created in the Builder by patching together modules imported from the Browser.

Modules are just “building block” having inputs and outputs which you connect together using

wires. The fully modular architecture of the Tassman lets you expand the Browser library by letting

you deﬁne groups of modules as sub-patches for later inclusion in your constructions. Instruments

created with the Tassman can be exported as short text ﬁles, which means that you can very easily

exchange them with other users.

Once an instrument has been constructed, the Player is opened, displaying the instrument’s

controls. The Player interprets the ﬁles generated in the Builder and automatically generates the

playing interface and the computational code corresponding to a particular instrument. The panels

of the different modules were inspired by vintage hardware making them very easy to use. All the

controls appearing on the screen can be moved with the mouse and keyboard but can also be linked

to external MIDI controllers. As with sub-patches, and modules in the builder view, presets for

each instrument can be easily “drag and dropped” from the browser, which means you don’t have

to worry about searching through an endless stream of “load” dialog boxes to ﬁnd the components