Download Physical Modeling for Spatial Sound Synthesis This contribution combines techniques for sound synthesis and spatial reproduction for a joint synthesis of the sound production and sound propagation properties of virtual string instruments. The generated sound field is reproduced on a massive multichannel loudspeaker system using wave field synthesis techniques. From physical descriptions of string vibrations and sound waves by partial differential equations follows an algorithmic procedure for synthesis-driven wave field reproduction. Its processing steps are derived by mathematical analysis and signal processing principles. Three different building blocks are addressed: The simulation of string vibrations, a model for the radiation pattern of the generated acoustical waves, and the determination of the driving signals for the multichannel loudspeaker array. The proposed method allows the spatial reproduction of synthetic spatial sound without the need for pre-recorded or pre-synthesized source tracks.
Download Wave Digital Modeling of the Output Chain of a Vacuum-Tube Amplifier This article introduces a physics-based real-time model of the output chain of a vacuum-tube amplifier. This output chain consists of a single-ended triode power amplifier stage, output transformer, and a loudspeaker. The simulation algorithm uses wave digital filters in digitizing the physical electric, mechanic, and acoustic subsystems. New simulation models for the output transformer and loudspeaker are presented. The resulting real-time model of the output chain allows any of the physical parameters of the system to be adjusted during run-time.
Download Inverting the Clarinet Physical-modelling based sound resynthesis is considered by estimating physical model parameters for a clarinet-like system. Having as a starting point the pressure and flow signals in the mouthpiece, a two-stage optimisation routine is employed, in order to estimate a set of physical model parameters that can be used to resynthesise the original sound. Tested on numerically generated signals, the presented inverse-modelling method can almost entirely resynthesise the input sound. For signals measured under real playing conditions, captured by three microphones embedded in the instrument bore, the pressure can be successfully reproduced, while uncertainties in the fluid dynamical behaviour reveal that further model refinement is needed to reproduce the flow in the mouthpiece.
Download A Modular Percussion Synthesis Environment The construction of new virtual instruments is one long-term goal of physical modeling synthesis; a common strategy across various different physical modeling methodologies, including lumped network models, modal synthesis and scattering based methods, is to provide a canonical set of basic elements, and allow the user to build an instrument via certain specified connection rules. Such an environment may be described as modular. Percussion instruments form a good test-bed for the development of modular synthesis techniques—the basic components are bars and plates, and may be accompanied by connection elements, with a nonlinear character. Modular synthesis has been approached using all of the techniques mentioned above, but time domain finite difference schemes are an alternative, allowing many problems inherent in the above methods, including computability, large memory and precomputation requirements, and lack of extensibility to more complex systems, to be circumvented. One such network model is presented here along with the associated difference schemes, followed by a discussion of implementation details, the issues of excitation and output, and a description of various instrument configurations. The article concludes with a presentation of simulation results, generated in the Matlab prototyping language.
Download Physically-based synthesis of nonlinear circular membranes This paper investigates the properties of a recently proposed physical model of nonlinear tension modulation effects in a struck circular membrane. The model simulates dynamic variations of tension (and consequently of partial frequencies) due to membrane stretching during oscillation, and is based on a more general theory of geometric nonlinearities in elastic plates. The ability of the nonlinear membrane model to simulate real-world acoustic phenomena is assessed here through resynthesis of recorded membrane (rototom) sounds. The effects of air loading and tension modulation in the recorded sounds are analyzed, and model parameters for resynthesis are consequently estimated. The example reported in the paper show that the model is able to accurately simulate the analyzed rototom sounds.
Download Energy and Accuracy Issues in Numerical Simulations of a Non-linear Impact model A physically-based impact model – already known and exploited in the field of sound synthesis – is studied using both analytical tools and numerical simulations. It is shown that, for some regions of the parameter space, the trajectories of discretized systems may drift from analytically-derived curves. Some methods, based on enforcing numerical energy consistency, are suggested to improve the accuracy and stability of discrete-time systems.
Download Simplified Guitar Bridge Model for the Displacement Wave Representation in Digital Waveguides In this paper, we present a simplified model for the string-bridge interaction in guitars or other string instruments simulated by digital waveguides. The bridge model is devised for the displacement wave representation in order to be integrated with other models for string interactions with the player and with other parts of the instrument, whose simulation and implementation is easier in this representation. The model is based on a multiplierless scattering matrix representing the string-bridge interaction. Although not completely physically inspired, we show that this junction is sufficiently general to accommodate a variety of transfer functions under the sole requirement of passivity and avoids integration constants mismatch when the bridge is in turn modeled by a digital waveguide. The model is completed with simple methods to introduce horizontal and vertical polarizations of the string displacement and sympathetic vibrations of other strings. The aim of this paper is not to provide the most general methods for sound synthesis of guitar but, rather, to point at low computational cost and scalable solutions suitable for real-time implementations where the synthesizer is running together with several other audio applications.
Download Pitch glide analysis and synthesis from Recorded Tones Pitch glide is an important effect that occurs in nearly all plucked string instruments. In essence, large amplitude waves traveling on a string during the note onset increases the string tension above its nominal value, and therefore cause the pitch to temporarily increase. Measurements are presented showing an exponential relaxation of all the partial frequencies to their nominal values with a time-constant related to the decay rate of transverse waves propagating on the string. This exponential pitch trajectory is supported by a simple physical model in which the increased tension is somewhat counterbalanced by the increased length of the string. Finally, a method for synthesizing the plucked string via a novel hybrid digital waveguide-modal synthesis model is presented with implementation details for time-varying resonators.
Download Score based real-time performance with a virtual violin This paper describes the implementation of a violin physical model tied with the control of music scores to enable the real-time performance of music pieces. The violin model is made of four strings, which allows the performance of double stops, chords and specific resonant effects that can be encountered in violin playing. A graphic tablet is used to control the bowing parameters and to trigger automatically note events contained in a specifically formatted MIDI file. The automatic pitch change helps reducing the violin playing complexity and enables the user to focus on sound shaping and phrasing. The device can be used for pure sound synthesis purposes as well as for experiments related to violinists’ sound control. However, the simplified interface for sound and score events is particularly suitable for non violinists wishing to explore expressive capabilities of the instrument and to experience specific features of violin playing.
Download Alias-free Virtual Analog Oscillators Using a Feedback Delay Loop The rich spectra of classic waveforms (sawtooth, square and triangular) are obtained by discontinuities in the waveforms or their derivatives. At the same time, the discontinuities lead to aliasing when the waveforms are digitally generated. To remove or reduce the aliasing, researchers have proposed various methods, mostly based on limiting bandwidth or smoothing the waveforms. This paper introduces a new approach to generate the virtual analog oscillators with no aliasing. The approach relies on generating an impulse train using a feedback delay loop, often used for the physical modeling of musical instruments. Classic waveforms are then derived from the impulse train with a leaky integrator. Although the output generated by this method is not exactly periodic, it perceptually sounds harmonic. While additional processing is required for time-varying pitch shifting, resulting in some high-frequency attenuation when the pitch changes, the proposed method is computationally more efficient than other algorithms and the high-frequency attenuation can be also adjusted.