Download On the use of spatial cues to improve binaural source separation Motivated by the human hearing sense we devise a computational model suitable for the localization of many sources in stereo signals, and apply this to the separation of sound sources. The method employs spatial cues in order to resolve high-frequency phase ambiguities. More specifically we use relationships between the short time Fourier transforms (STFT) of the two signals in order to estimate the two most important spatial cues, namely time differences (TD) and level differences (LD) between the sensors. By using models of both free field wave propagation and head related transfer functions (HRTF), these cues are combined to form estimates of spatial parameters such as the directions of arrival (DOA). The theory is validated with the help of the experimental results presented in the paper.
Download Modified Late Reverberation in an Audio Augmented Reality Scenario This paper presents a headphone-based audio augmented reality demonstrator showcasing the effects of manipulated late reverberation in rendering virtual sound sources. The setup is based on a dataset of binaural room impulse responses measured along a 2 m long line, which is used to imitate the reproduction of a pair of loudspeakers. Therefore, listeners can explore the virtual sources by moving back and forth and rotating arbitrarily on this line. The demo allows the user to adjust the late reverberation tail of the auralizations interactively from shorter to longer decay times regarding the baseline decay behavior. Modification of the decay times is based on resynthesizing the late reverberation using frequencydependent shaping of binaural white noise and modal reconstruction. The paper includes descriptions of the frameworks used for this demo and an overview of the required data and processing steps.
Download Sound spatialization based on fast beam tracing in the dual space This paper addresses the problem of geometry-based sound reverberation for applications of virtual acoustics. In particular, we propose a novel method that allows us to significantly speed-up the construction of the beam tree in beam tracing applications, by avoiding space subdivision. This allows us to dynamically recompute the beam tree as the sound source moves. In order to speedup the construction of the beam tree, we determine what portion of which reflectors the beam “illuminates” by performing visibility checks in the “dual” of the geometric space.
Download Parametric Resynthesis of Measured Spatial Room Impulse Responses Spatial Room Impulse Responses (SRIRs) are fundamental to immersive audio rendering and have become a key focus of recent machine learning research in acoustics and auralization. Due to the high computational cost of direct convolution, spatial audio systems commonly employ artificial reverberation algorithms. However, these approaches often fail to accurately reproduce the spatial, temporal, and spectral characteristics of early reflections, leading to notable deviations from measured SRIRs. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for the analysis and efficient resynthesis of SRIRs captured with Spherical Microphone Arrays (SMAs). The proposed method accounts for hardware-induced artifacts, including scattering and spatial aliasing. Early reflections are reconstructed using a parametric approach based on the Herglotz analysis method, while late reverberation is synthesized using a Directional Feedback Delay Network (DFDN) with optimized filter-attenuation and correlation-matching. The proposed framework produces signals whose spatial correlation and Energy Decay Relief (EDR) closely match those of measured SRIRs, demonstrating its effectiveness for both real-time spatial audio rendering and realistic dataset generation for machine learning applications.
Download Modeling Methods for the Highly Dispersive Slinky Spring: A Novel Musical Toy The ’Slinky’ spring is a popular and beloved toy for many children. Like its smaller relatives, used in spring reverberation units, it can produce interesting sonic behaviors. We explore the behavior of the ’Slinky’ spring via measurement, and discover that its sonic characteristics are notably different to those of smaller springs. We discuss methods of modeling the behavior of a Slinky via the use of finite-difference techniques and digital waveguides. We then apply these models in different structures to build a number of interesting tools for computer-based music production.
Download Identification of individual guitar sounds by support vector machines This paper introduces an automatic classification system for the identification of individual classical guitars by single notes played on these guitars. The classification is performed by Support Vector Machines (SVM) that have been trained with the features of the single notes. The features used for classification were the time series of the partial tones, the time series of the MFCCs (Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients), and the “nontonal” contributions to the spectrum. The influences of these features on the classification success are reported. With this system, 80% of the sounds recorded with three different guitars were classified correctly. A supplementary classification experiment was carried out with human listeners resulting in a rate of 65% of correct classifications.
Download Digital Waveguide Mesh Modelling Of Room Acoustics: Surround-Sound, Boundaries And Plugin Implementation Digital waveguide mesh models have provided an accurate and efficient method of modelling the properties of many resonant structures, including acoustic spaces. 2-D rectilinear and triangular mesh structures have been used extensively in the past to model plates and membranes and as potential analogues to 2-D acoustic spaces. This paper looks at current developments relating to this technique and attempts to highlight potential ways forward for this research. This includes an investigation into the potential suitability of this technique for surround-sound applications and a realtime implementation as a VST plugin.
Download IRIS: Continuous Spatial Navigation of Measured Acoustic Fields via Impulse Response Interpolation Impulse response (IR) collections are useful in virtual acoustics, sound design, and field-based acoustic research, but they remain difficult to explore as continuous resources in lightweight real-time plugin workflows. This demo paper presents IRIS, a VST3 plugin for arranging, navigating, and auditioning measured or user-defined IR collections in a two-dimensional navigation plane. Each IR is represented as a node whose position can be imported from metadata or assigned manually. During navigation, nearby responses are combined using Gaussian distance-based weighting, while a bounded active set limits the number of simultaneous convolutions. The system also includes smoothing, hysteresis, optional preprocessing, boundary attenuation, OSC control, and coupled multichannel handling. The demo focuses on workflow and audible behavior rather than perceptual validation. A short timing characterization reports practical real-time limits as a function of IR length, buffer size, and active-set size. IRIS is presented as a practical tool for exploratory, analytical, and creative navigation of IR collections rather than as a physically optimal interpolation method.
Download Analysis / Synthesis of Rolling Sounds Using a Source Filter Approach In this paper, the analysis and synthesis of a rolling ball sound is proposed. The approach is based on the assumption that the rolling sound is generated by a concatenation of micro-impacts between a ball and a surface, each having associated resonances. Contact timing information is first extracted from the rolling sound using an onset detection process. The resulting individual contact segments are subband filtered before being analyzed using linear predictive coding (LPC) and notch filter parameter estimation. The segments are then resynthesized and overlap-added to form a complete rolling sound. This approach is similar to that of [1], though the methods used for contact event detection and filter parameter estimation are completely different.
Download The Fender Bassman 5F6-A Family of Preamplifier Circuits—A Wave Digital Filter Case Study The Fender Bassman model 5F6-A was released in 1958 and has become one of the most revered guitar amplifiers of all time. It is the progenitor of a long line of related Fender designs in addition to inspiring Marshall’s first amplifier design. This paper presents a Wave Digital Filter study of the preamplifier circuit of 5F6-Abased amplifiers, utilizing recent theoretical advances to enable the simultaneous simulation of its four nonlinear vacuum tube triodes. The Dempwolf triode model is applied along with an iterative Newton solver to calculate the scattering at the 25 port R-type adapter at the root of the WDF tree. Simulation results are compared to “ground truth” SPICE data showing excellent agreement.