Reference Manual
CHAPTER 22. LIVE INSTRUMENT REFERENCE 328
22.3 Electric
The Electric Instrument.
Electric is a software electric piano based on the classic instruments of the seventies, and
developed in collaboration with Applied Acoustics Systems. Each component of these
instruments has been modeled using cutting edge physical modeling technology to provide
realistic and lively sounds. Physical modeling uses the laws of physics to reproduce the
behavior of an object. In other words, Electric solves, in real time, mathematical equations
describing how its different components function. No sampling or wavetables are used
in Electric; the sound is simply calculated in real time by the CPU according to the values
of each parameter. Electric is more than a simple recreation of vintage instruments; its
parameters can be tweaked to values not possible with the real instruments to get some
truly amazing new sounds that still retain a warm acoustic quality.
The full version of Electric is not included with the standard version of Live, but is a special
feature available for purchase separately.
22.3.1 Architecture and Interface
The mechanism of the electric piano is actually quite simple. A note played on the keyboard
activates a mallet that hits a fork. The sound of that fork is then amplied by a magnetic
coil pickup and sent to the output, very much like an electric guitar. The fork is made of
two parts, called the tine bar and tone bar. The tine bar is where the mallet hits the fork
while the tone bar is a tuned metal resonator, sized appropriately to produce the correct
pitch. Once the fork is activated, it will continue to resonate on its own for a long time. But