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Silicon Antiques › Tant KS-2
Free Karplus-Strong synth · macOS · AU, VST3, Standalone

TantKS-2

A 23-voice Karplus-Strong string synth with two filters per voice, six effects, and a pin matrix you can morph between two complete patches.

tant · Welsh for a harp string

  • 23strings
  • 2filters per voice
  • 6effects
  • 1,518pins per set
  • A/Bpin sets, morphable
Get Tant KS-2 free Full specs

Free for macOS. AU, VST3 and Standalone. Windows: not yet.

Tant KS-2 panel: exciter, string and twin filter sections across the top, a joystick, and the 22 by 81 pin matrix on its String & Exciter page
The story

We were so taken with Mellt that we built Tant.

The second instrument. Same matrix, a very different engine.

At Tant's core is a Karplus-Strong synthesis engine. Again, we have paired it with a pin matrix. Again, we have found this leading us in new and exciting patching directions.

Like Mellt, Tant excels at the sounds we associate with the synthesis method at its core. There are pianos, sitars, guitars, basses, harps and mandolins. There is also a huge variety of wind instrument sounds: oboes, tubas, clarinets, and as yet to be invented brass instruments fall effortlessly from its patch tables.

But, like Mellt, Tant is capable of so much more, and the old skool interface inspires complex modulations not normally associated with Karplus-Strong.

Tant also adds a bank of onboard effects. As you would expect, all the effects controls are exposed as modulation destinations in the matrix.

Listen

Three sounds, thirty seconds each.

StringsHarp, sitar, mandolin, bass. Audio coming soon.
Winds that don't existOboe to tuba to invented brass. Audio coming soon.
Plucked by a drum loopExternal audio as the exciter. Audio coming soon.
Things you didn't expect

Not your usual plucked string.

There are no LFOs

Not by name. Set an envelope to Trapezoid, make it Free-running, and it loops. That's Tant's LFO: a shape you can draw, with every phase syncable to tempo. Three of the four envelopes default to exactly this.

Two pin sets, morphed

Tant holds two complete pin matrices, A and B, and a Matrix Morph control crossfades between them. Morph is itself a destination, so a macro, a follower or your DAW can sweep one patch into another. 3,036 depth values in all.

Pluck it with anything

The exciter is a white-noise burst with Length, Colour and velocity brightness. Blend in external audio from the Input or Sidechain bus, Gated or Continuous, and your drum loop plucks the string.

Era: scroll back through the past

Digital technology has evolved over the whole life of digital synthesis. Filter Era starts at today's technology and dials back through earlier eras. Dial in a sound, then dial in the era whose version of it you like best. Character adds Drive, Drift and Age.

Effects in the matrix

Six effects, one per slot, in any order: Harmonic Tremolo, Tremolo, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb. Eighteen of their controls are matrix destinations, so the effects are part of the patch, not something after it.

Look-ahead, and a LIVE switch

The limiter, flanger, delay and reverb all look ahead, which makes effects possible that analog can't do. Look-ahead adds a little latency, so LIVE mode removes it while you play. Switch it off once the take is down and Tant reports its delay to your DAW, so everything lines up at playback.

How a note starts

One exciter. Seven ways to shape it.

There is no menu of exciter types on Tant, and that's deliberate. Every note begins the same way: a fresh burst of white noise, generated for that note, optionally blended with your own audio, then shaped by a pick-position comb and high-passed into the string. The character comes from how you shape the burst, and from the string and filters after it.

Burst Length0.2 to 200 ms. The length of the noise burst, with soft edges so it never clicks.
Burst Colour−100% to +100%. Below zero a low-pass darkens the burst; above zero a high-pass brightens it; zero is white. Power-matched, so it changes tone more than level.
Exciter LevelHow hard the string is hit. Velocity drives it by default, so Tant plays like an instrument from the first note.
Velocity BrightnessA second low-pass driven by velocity: open at full velocity, closing by up to nine octaves for the softest note.
Pick PositionOff to 50%. A comb on the excitation, as if plucking at that fraction of the string's length: the harmonics with a node there disappear.
Noise / Ext Blend0 is the noise burst alone, 100% is your external audio alone. Anything between is both.
Ext ExciterGated: your audio is shaped by the burst's envelope, a pluck made of your sound. Continuous: it drives the string the whole time the key is held.

Pick Position, Burst Length, Burst Colour, Exciter Level and the Blend are all matrix destinations, and the burst's own envelope is a matrix source. The external audio is never heard directly, only through the string.

Tant KS-2 top panel: Exciter, String, Filters and Joystick sections
Left to right: exciter, string, filters, joystick. The signal flows the same way.
Specifications

The numbers.

Everything on the panel, in one table.

SynthesisKarplus-Strong. One string per voice: a delay line closed through a loop filter, with a one-pole low-pass for Brightness, a DC blocker and a fractional allpass (Lagrange) read
ExciterA fresh white-noise burst per note, with Length, Colour and velocity brightness. An external-audio exciter, Gated or Continuous, blended with it. Pick Position
Polyphony23 voices, plus 16 spares for click-free voice stealing
Unison1 to 8, with Detune and Width
OutputStereo, with an output limiter
Filters2 per voice, in series or parallel. Four types (Ladder LP, State Variable, Comb, Formant) plus Off, each with Morph. Character (Drive, Drift, Age) and Filter Era
Envelopes4, with six modes (AD, ASR, ADSR, AHDSR, DADSR, Trapezoid), Key or Free trigger, tempo sync. Default: Trapezoid
LFOsNone as such. A looping Trapezoid envelope is Tant's LFO
Envelope followers3. Bus: Input, Sidechain or Both. Channels: Stereo, Left, Right, Sum or Difference. Filter: Off, Low-pass, High-pass or Band-pass
Other modulatorsExt In (external audio as a source), joystick X/Y with motion recorder, 4 macros, mod wheel, aftertouch, keytrack, slide, noise
Effects6 slots, one fixed effect each, reorderable: Harmonic Tremolo, Tremolo, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb. Look-ahead in the flanger, delay, reverb and limiter, with a LIVE mode
Voice modesPoly / Mono / Legato, glide, re-strike, pitch bend range. Vibrato
MPEYes. Note bend range 12, 24, 48 or 96 semitones
BusesStereo output. Two stereo inputs, Input and Sidechain, feeding the envelope followers and Ext In
MIDIMIDI Learn, so your existing controllers give hands-on control
Presets28 factory presets
FormatsAU, VST3 and Standalone. macOS
The matrix

22 sources. 81 destinations. Two of everything.

1,782 holes in the grid, 1,518 of them usable pins. The 24 shared columns (18 effect settings and the six follower times) take the 11 global sources. Pins are per cell with their own amount, one source can drive any number of destinations, and the whole set exists twice, A and B, morphed by Matrix Morph. Velocity to Exciter Level starts at full, so Tant plays like an instrument from the first note.

  • 22sources
  • 81destinations
  • 1,518pins per set
  • 2sets, A and B
  • 3,036depth values

Sources 22

  • String
  • Exciter
  • Noise
  • Ext In
  • Env 1
  • Env 2
  • Env 3
  • Env 4
  • Follower 1
  • Follower 2
  • Follower 3
  • Joystick X
  • Joystick Y
  • Velocity
  • Mod Wheel
  • Aftertouch
  • Keytrack
  • Slide (CC 74)
  • Macro 1
  • Macro 2
  • Macro 3
  • Macro 4

Destinations 81, on four pages

String · 10

  • Pitch
  • Decay
  • Brightness
  • Release
  • Pick Position
  • Burst Length
  • Burst Colour
  • Exciter Level
  • Noise / Ext Blend
  • Unison Detune

Filters & amp · 13

  • Filter 1 and 2: Cutoff
  • Resonance
  • Drive
  • Morph
  • Filter Balance
  • Filter Era
  • Ext In to Filters
  • Level
  • Pan

Modulators · 38

  • Env 1 to 4: Delay
  • Attack
  • Hold / On
  • Decay
  • Sustain
  • Release
  • Off
  • Level
  • Follower 1 to 3: Attack
  • Release

FX & perform · 20

  • Glide
  • Matrix Morph
  • Harmonic Tremolo: Depth, Rate
  • Tremolo: Depth, Rate
  • Chorus: Amount, Mix
  • Flanger: Depth, Rate, Feedback, Mix
  • Delay: Feedback, Mix, Transform Amount, Prism
  • Reverb: Size, Decay, Mix, Shimmer
What it sounds like

Strings first. Then things with no name.

  • pianos
  • sitars
  • guitars
  • basses
  • harps
  • mandolins
  • oboes
  • tubas
  • clarinets
  • brass instruments yet to be invented

Twenty-eight factory presets, and six effects that live inside the patch.

The panel

A walk round Tant KS-2.

The Vintage panel, as it ships. Click any shot for full size.

Tant KS-2, MATRIX view
MATRIX. Exciter, string, filters and joystick above; the String & Exciter matrix page below.
Tant KS-2, ENVELOPES view
ENVELOPES. Four envelopes. Six modes each. Trapezoid by default.
Tant KS-2, INPUTS view
INPUTS. Ext In and the three envelope followers: bus, channel and filter per follower.
Tant KS-2, EFFECTS view
EFFECTS. Six slots, left to right, in any order: Harmonic Tremolo, Tremolo, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb.
Tant KS-2, Matrix, FILTERS & AMP page view
Matrix, FILTERS & AMP page. Cutoff, resonance, drive and morph for both filters, plus balance, Filter Era, level and pan.
Tant KS-2, Matrix, MODULATORS page view
Matrix, MODULATORS page. Envelope stages and follower times as destinations, so one envelope can reshape another.
Tant KS-2, Matrix, FX & PERFORM page view
Matrix, FX & PERFORM page. Eighteen effect controls and Matrix Morph itself, all patchable.
Tant KS-2, PERFORM view
PERFORM. Joystick, macros and the morph control, full size.
Tant KS-2, Preset browser view
Preset browser. Twenty-eight factory presets.
Tant KS-2, MIDI Learn view
MIDI Learn. Click a control, move a knob on your hardware, done.
Questions

Before you download.

Is Tant KS-2 really free?

Yes. Tant is a free download. We ask for your email address so we can send you the link and tell you about new instruments.

Does Tant run on Windows?

Not yet. Tant is macOS only for now, as AU, VST3 and Standalone.

Where are the LFOs?

There aren't any by name. Set an envelope to Trapezoid, make it Free-running, and it loops: that's Tant's LFO, with a shape you can draw and every phase syncable to tempo.

Does look-ahead add latency?

Only when you want it. Switch LIVE mode on and the look-ahead latency is removed for responsive playing. Switch it off once the take is recorded and Tant reports its delay to your DAW, so playback stays in sync.

Can I automate the pin matrix?

Tant's pins are stored in the plug-in state rather than as host parameters. Instead you morph between two complete pin sets, A and B, and Matrix Morph is itself a destination you can automate.

Can I pluck the string with my own audio?

Yes. Feed audio into the Input or Sidechain bus and use the external exciter, Gated or Continuous, blended with the noise burst.

Free download

Get Tant KS-2.

Free for macOS. AU, VST3 and Standalone.

Get Tant KS-2 free
The other two
Mellt FM-1FM synth. 7 wavetable operators, 23 voices, 12 algorithms on a pin matrix. Tonnau WT-3Wavetable synth. 3 oscillators, Era per oscillator, 6 effects.