The Karplus-Strong Guitar Algorithm

Delay Lines
Resonators
Noise
Published

March 22, 2024

Modified

December 30, 2025

Error in `theme_set()`:
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Inspiration!

Here is the GUI for a guitar created in JavaScript (not p5.js).

What is the Karplus-Strong Algorithm?

What is a Delay Line?

What is Feedback Oscillation?

Karplus-Strong Guitar in Code

Let us code up our guitar and see how it works!

References

  1. Karplus, K., & Strong, A. (1983). Digital Synthesis of Plucked-String and Drum Timbres. Computer Music Journal, 7(2), 43. doi:10.2307/3680062. https://sci-hub.se/https://doi.org/10.2307/3680062
  2. Julius O. Smith. PHYSICAL AUDIO SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR VIRTUAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS AND AUDIO EFFECTS. https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/pasp/pasp.html
  3. Euphonics: The Science of Musical Instruments.https://euphonics.org/about/
  4. Karplus-Strong Guitar in PureData (pD). https://youtu.be/xEpbMWpz65E?si=Mkz-eQ4UTMrYR3Fu
  5. Amid Fish.(May 2017). Karplus Strong String Synthesis. http://amid.fish/karplus-strong
R Package Citations
Package Version Citation
ambient 1.0.2 Pedersen and Peck (2022)
mosaicCalc 0.6.4 Kaplan, Pruim, and Horton (2024)
plot3D 1.4.2 Soetaert (2025)
Kaplan, Daniel T., Randall Pruim, and Nicholas J. Horton. 2024. mosaicCalc: R-Language Based Calculus Operations for Teaching. https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.mosaicCalc.
Pedersen, Thomas Lin, and Jordan Peck. 2022. ambient: A Generator of Multidimensional Noise. https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.ambient.
Soetaert, Karline. 2025. plot3D: Plotting Multi-Dimensional Data. https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.plot3D.
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Citation

BibTeX citation:
@online{2024,
  author = {},
  title = {The {Karplus-Strong} {Guitar} {Algorithm}},
  date = {2024-03-22},
  url = {https://mathforcoders.netlify.app/content/courses/MathModelsDesign/Modules/35-Media/100-KarplusStrong/},
  langid = {en}
}
For attribution, please cite this work as:
“The Karplus-Strong Guitar Algorithm.” 2024. March 22, 2024. https://mathforcoders.netlify.app/content/courses/MathModelsDesign/Modules/35-Media/100-KarplusStrong/.