Plectra Series 5 Guzheng Manual
An Impact Soundworks Instrument for Kontakt Player 5.7
INTRODUCTION
Guzheng is the 5th installment in our acclaimed Plectra Series. Also known as the Chinese zither, the
guzheng is an ancient instrument comprised of 21 strings stretched over a long, decorative wooden body with
movable bridges for tuning. It’s traditionally tuned to a D major pentatonic scale and can be plucked or bowed.
This library was created in collaboration with classically-trained musician and sound designer Qianqian Jin,
who lent her guzheng expertise to the project.
Plectra Series 5 Guzheng requires the full version of Kontakt 5.7 or above and includes 18 authentic
performance techniques and 3 recorded mic positions, housed in a brand new engine that features our TACT
(Total Articulation Control Technology) and Console mixer & FX.
INSTALLATION
1. Install the Pulse application if you don’t already have it. Pulse is a cross-platform desktop app that lets you
download and install your libraries with blazing speed!
https://pulsedownloader.com/
2. Once Pulse is installed, open it and enter your Plectra Series 5 Guzheng download code. Follow the
instructions to download and install the library.
3. Finally, load the included Guzheng NKI in Kontakt. No activation is needed, as this is not a Kontakt Player
instrument.
Optional: Please see our Kontakt workflow tutorial for information on adding instrument files to the faster
Quickload window or the Kontakt Database.
SNAPSHOTS & SCRIPT TABS
Plectra Series 5 Guzheng uses Kontakt’s native “snapshots” feature to handle various types of presets. We’ve
extended this feature allowing you to save and load specific types of snapshots without overwriting your
entire patch.
To support this, Plectra Series 5 Guzheng uses three separate scripts for instrument editing, mixing & effects,
and articulation mapping.
Each of these tabs can save or load its data independently! For example, you can load a mixer setup from
Console without affecting your mapping, or load a specific performance preset without affecting your FX.
At the bottom of each tab’s UI, you’ll see two icons in the lower left and lower right: a Lock, and a Camera.
When the Lock icon is enabled (white), the contents of that tab will not be overwritten when you load a new
Snapshot. When the Camera icon is enabled (white), the contents of that tab will be saved when you save a
snapshot.
Snapshots in the factory library are split into three categories: Main Controls, Console, and TACT. Each
snapshot has been saved with data from one specific tab. However, you can save your own snapshots using
whatever combination of tabs you’d like. Make sure to check your Lock/Camera settings when saving and
loading.
MAIN CONTROLS
IMPORTANT: Virtually every slider and button on the interface can be MIDI learned! Simply right click and
then move the desired MIDI CC to create a link.
Also, you can hover over any control to see help text at the bottom of the Kontakt UI. Try it!
Articulations Panel
This panel displays a list of the 18 different articulations included in Plectra Series 5 Guzheng, as well as how
to trigger them. Triggering rules can be customized using our powerful TACT (Total Articulation Control
Technology), but more about that later.
Settings Panel
This panel contains controls for setting various performance preferences. Let’s run down what’s here:
Sustain Pedal Mute: When enabled, sustain pedal will mute all playing voices (effectively muting all strings of
the guzheng). When disabled, sustain pedal will sustain voices as usual. If any articulation has a PEDAL rule
active, sustain pedal is completely disabled.
Extra Dynamic Filter: Toggles the additional lowpass filter used for smoothing out the changes in dynamics
on/off.
Scale Lock: Toggles the locking to a particular fixed scale from one of available options on/off.
Release Retrigger: Toggles repeating the played note upon releasing a key on/off.
Scale Type: Selects which scale will be used when scale locking is enabled.
Scale Root: Adjusts the root key used for the scale locking feature.
Vel Sensitivity: Adjusts the overall velocity sensitivity of the instrument (for articulations not controlled via a
continuous controller).
Bend Range: Adjusts the pitch bend range. Please set to 0 if using pitch bend as one of conditions for
articulation triggering on TACT page!
Vibrato Speed: Adjusts the speed of emulated vibrato.
Vibrato Depth: Adjusts the depth of emulated vibrato.
Envelope & Velocity Panels
The Envelope panel features Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release sliders as well as a menu for selecting the
articulation for which the volume envelope will apply. The Velocity panel is where you can adjust the velocity
curve to your liking, either by drawing it in manually or adjusting the three sliders on the left, right and bottom.
These sliders change the maximum and minimum levels as well as the slope of the curve.
CONSOLE & TACT
The second and third tabs at the bottom of the GUI, as mentioned earlier, are where you can find Console (our
extensive mixer and effects rack) and TACT (our powerful articulation control customization system). Since
these are extremely deep in scope and features we’ve created separate manuals for each, which are also
included in your download files. They can also be downloaded here:
Console Manual
TACT 2.0 Manual
CREDITS
Lead Producer: Andrew Aversa
Programming: Mario Kruselj & Nabeel Ansari
Editing: Anthony Mena
UI Design: Dickie Chapin
Recording & Performance: Qianqian Jin
ABOUT THE PERFORMER
Qianqian Jin is a multimedia performance artist and designer with a strong passion for innovative sound design
and composition. She began her Eastern classical training as a Guzheng player at the age of eight and
received an education in Western music specializing as a digital composer at the San Francisco Conservatory
of Music. Over the summer of 2017, she recorded over 50 GB of Guzheng samples using various techniques
and tools to augment the capacity of the traditional Chinese instrument so it is available to more composers.
She is currently inventing a customized midi controller for the Guzheng and frequently uses Arduino boards
with various sensors. Read more about her at www.qjin.xyz
TROUBLESHOOTING
Having trouble with Plectra Series 5 Guzheng? Use it in a project you want to tell us about? Drop us a line via
our Contact page (but be sure to read the FAQ first!)
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE AGREEMENT
The following license is granted non-exclusively to all purchasers of our products. This version
(updated December 4, 2017) supersedes any prior printed or digital versions of our license.
Overview
All sound recordings, performances, scripting and/or code contained in this product is the intellectual property
of Impact Soundworks unless otherwise noted, and remain the property of Impact Soundworks after the
product is purchased. When purchasing an Impact Soundworks product, you are purchasing a non-exclusive
license to use, edit, perform, or otherwise utilize these recordings, performances, scripting and/or code for
commercial and non-commercial purposes as defined below.
Authorized Users
Depending on the type of customer and usage scenario, authorized users of this license will vary. ALL
purchases fall into category A or B.
A. Individual Purchase
This license is extended to customers who are purchasing as the primary user of the product, OR are
purchasing on the behalf of another primary user (i.e. as a gift).
The licensee (primary user) MAY install the product on as many computer systems as he or she has
access to. However, ONLY the licensee may use the product. No other users are authorized.
B. Corporate, Academic, Institutional Purchase
This license is extended to customers who are purchasing for a multi-user setting, such as a shared studio,
networked workstation, computer lab, etc. In this case, the licensee is the institution and not any one user.
In contrast with individual purchases, an institutional license applies to ONE computer / workstation. All
users of that workstation who belong to the purchasing institution (licensee) shall be considered
authorized users.
However, at no point may multiple authorized users access one license simultaneously. Multiple licenses
must be purchased if the product is to be used by multiple users simultaneously.
Scope of License
The licensee is entitled to the use and unlimited editing of the product within the scope of music production,
performance, recording, and composition. This includes both non-commercial and commercial usage of all
types, including, but not limited to, film scores, television scores, music libraries, video game soundtracks,
digital and physical music releases, albums, compilations, etc. Exceptions to this scope are listed below.
The licensee MAY NOT use the product in the production of any other sample library or virtual instrument
products.
The licensee MAY NOT sell individual sounds from a product in any context.
For clarity: The licensee MAY use sounds from the product to create individual sound effects (SFX) for use in
film, TV, advertising, and video games. However, the licensee cannot sell these sounds individually via
marketplace, stock music/stock audio site, etc.
Ownership, Resale, and Transfer
Redistributing, reselling, electronically transmitting, uploading, sharing, or renting the product in any way,
shape, or form is prohibited by law. The licensee may create a physical backup copy of any digitally purchased
and downloaded product. This backup copy is subject to the same limitations as the original copy of the
product, and may not be transferred to any other individual for any reason.
Copyright © 2018 Impact Soundworks, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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