STRING 0.8.0: OS 1.54, works with digimono and digislicer

STRING now runs on OS 1.54 as well as 1.53, and installs alongside every Digitakt mod in elekloader's shop, digimono and digislicer included.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This modifies your instrument's firmware. Back up your projects and sounds, and keep your stock OS file for recovery.

Which file?

Your OS	STRING (needs core)	STRING-fast (needs core + digihealth)
1.53	digistring-0.8.0.elemod	digistring-fast-0.8.0.elemod
1.54	digistring-0.8.0-os1.54.elemod	digistring-fast-0.8.0-os1.54.elemod

Install one of STRING or STRING-fast, not both: elekloader refuses the pair. Use core 2.1 built for your OS (core-2.1.elemod or core-2.1-os1.54.elemod).

What changed

• OS 1.54. The 1.54 files are the same code with the firmware addresses that moved in 1.54.
• Works with digimono. 0.7.0 and digimono hooked the same two instructions, so elekloader refused the pair. STRING now hooks the render one instruction earlier, and the LFO DEST box's name one instruction later.
• Fits with digislicer. STRING now uses 17 KB of RAM instead of 33 KB. With digislicer, 0.7.0 went over the 128 KB that all mods share.
• NEIGHBOR can play a STRING track. STRING's render now runs before NEIGHBOR's.
• Low notes: to save that memory, the string runs at the full rate down to F#1 (47 Hz) instead of F#0 (23.5 Hz). Below that it slows down, as it already did below F#0. It still plays down to about 1.5 Hz without octave jumps, but notes between F#0 and F#1 may sound a little darker.
• Controls, ranges and saved sounds are unchanged.

Tested on a Digitakt

• OS 1.53: STRING with digihealth, and STRING-fast with digihealth: five tracks at about 95% DSP load with FAST AUDIO on.
• OS 1.54: STRING-fast with digihealth (five tracks at about 95%), and with each of these sets: digichain + digimono + digipoly; digineighbor; digislicer.
• The plain STRING 1.54 file was not flashed on its own. It has the same hooks and addresses as STRING-fast 1.54, and STRING-fast runs the same code while FAST AUDIO is off.
• Sophie and the other shop mods were checked with elekloader's lint only.

Install

1. Download the .elemod for your OS below (and digihealth for STRING-fast).
2. In elekloader, select your own stock OS with Change stock firmware.
3. Install from file, enable it with core 2.1 (and digihealth for STRING-fast; other mods can be enabled too), Build Firmware.
4. Send the generated .syx with Elektron Transfer.

Upgrading from 0.7.0: install the new .elemod in place of the old one and rebuild; saved sounds are unaffected.

The .elemod files contain only this project's code, not Elektron's firmware.

STRING 0.7.0 + STRING-fast

This release adds STRING-fast, a second build of STRING for people who also run digihealth. STRING itself sounds and works exactly as in 0.6.1.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This modifies your instrument's firmware. Back up your projects and sounds, and keep a stock OS 1.53 file for recovery.

Which one?

	Needs	What it does
digistring-0.7.0.elemod (STRING)	core	The STRING machine.
digistring-fast-0.7.0.elemod (STRING-fast)	core + digihealth	Same machine; while digihealth's FAST AUDIO is on, its per-sample loop runs from the Digitakt's fast on-chip memory.

On one Digitakt, five STRING tracks played without crackles at about 95% DSP load with FAST AUDIO on, and went over 100% with it off.

Install one of the two, not both: elekloader refuses the pair.

digihealth for STRING-fast

digihealth is a separate GPL mod, not part of this project:

• digihealth 1.0.1 from Sophie's repository: FAST AUDIO starts off; switch it on in SETTINGS > FAST AUDIO.
• the original irpina/digihealth: FAST AUDIO switches itself on after boot.

Install

1. Download one of the .elemod files below (and digihealth for STRING-fast).
2. In elekloader, select your own stock OS 1.53 with Change stock firmware.
3. Install from file, enable it with core 2.1 (and digihealth for STRING-fast; Sophie can be enabled too), Build Firmware.
4. Send the generated .syx with Elektron Transfer.

Upgrading from 0.6.x: replace the old .elemod and rebuild; saved sounds are unaffected.

The .elemod files contain only this project's code, not Elektron's firmware. More on the website.

STRING 0.6.1

Fix: the four EXC icons (BOW, HIT, NOISE, PLUCK) were drawn upside down on the Digitakt's screen. They now match the designs shown on the website. Sound and controls are unchanged from 0.6.0.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This modifies your instrument's firmware. Back up your projects and sounds, and keep a stock OS 1.53 file for recovery.

Install

1. Download digistring-0.6.1.elemod below.
2. In elekloader, select your own stock OS 1.53 with Change stock firmware.
3. Install from file, enable STRING (with core 2.1; Sophie and digihealth can be enabled too), Build Firmware.
4. Send the generated .syx with Elektron Transfer.

Upgrading from 0.6.0: install the new .elemod in place of the old one and rebuild; saved sounds are unaffected.

The .elemod contains only this project's code, not Elektron's firmware.

STRING 0.6.0

STRING is a Karplus-Strong plucked string SRC machine for the original Digitakt (Mk1), OS 1.53. It runs through the normal AMP, filter, mixer and sends, and works alone or alongside Sophie for Digitakt.

USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. This modifies your instrument's firmware. Back up your projects and sounds, and keep a stock OS 1.53 file for recovery.

Install

1. Download digistring-0.6.0.elemod below.
2. In elekloader, select your own stock OS 1.53 with Change stock firmware.
3. Install from file, enable STRING (with core 2.1; Sophie and digihealth can be enabled too), Build Firmware.
4. Send the generated .syx with Elektron Transfer.

Controls

Knob	Control	What it does
A	TUNE	Pitch (an untransposed note plays C4)
B	EXC	Exciter, shown as icons: BOW, HIT, NOISE, PLUCK
C	STIFF	From an ideal string to a bell-like tone
E	POS	Pluck position
F	SOFT	Darker, softer attack
G	TONE	Damping: 0 warm, 3 bright, 4 open
H	DECAY	Decay time, 0.07 s to ~17 s, endless at the top, same on every note

In this release

• Own SRC page names and values, EXC icons, menu icon and LFO destination names
• Equal-tempered tuning from about 1.5 Hz up, with no octave jumps on low notes
• DECAY as a T60 and a note-tracking TONE, following the String model of Mutable Instruments Rings
• Ranges and defaults are SLICE's: STRING borrows its parameter slots

CPU load has not been measured; the optional digihealth mod shows it on the instrument. The .elemod contains only this project's code, not Elektron's firmware.