Download A Mechanical Mapping Model for Real-time Control of a Complex Physical Modelling Synthesis Engine with a Simple Gesture This paper describes the design and control of a digital synthesis engine developed to imitate the sound of an acoustic wind machine, a historical theatre sound effect first designed in the nineteenth century. This work is part of an exploration of the potential of historical theatre sound effects as a resource for Sonic Interaction Design (SID). The synthesis engine is based on a physical model of friction and is programmed using the Sound Designer’s Toolkit (SDT) suite of physical modelling objects in Max/MSP. The program is controlled in real-time with a single stream of rotation data from a rotary encoder and Arduino, with complexity achieved through a mapping strategy that recreates the mechanical process at the heart of the acoustic wind machine’s sound production. The system is outlined, along with a discussion of the possible application of this approach to the modeling of other historical theatre sound effects.
Download Adjustable Boundary Conditions for Multidimensional Transfer Function Models Block based physical modeling requires to provide a library of modeling blocks for standard components of real or virtual musical instruments. Complex synthesis models are built by connecting standard components in a physically meaningful way. These connections are investigated for modeling a resonating structure as a distributed parameter system. The dependence of a resonator’s spectral structure on the termination of its ports is analyzed. It is shown that the boundary conditions of a distributed parameter system can be adjusted by proper termination only. Examples show the corresponding variation of the resonator’s spectral structure in response to variations of the external termination.
Download Physically Based Sound Synthesis and Control of Footsteps Sounds We describe a system to synthesize in real-time footsteps sounds. The sound engine is based on physical models and physically inspired models reproducing the act of walking on several surfaces. To control the real-time engine, three solutions are proposed. The first two solutions are based on floor microphones, while the third one is based on shoes enhanced with sensors. The different solutions proposed are discussed in the paper.
Download A multirate, finite-width, bow-string interaction model In this paper we propose an efficient method to model the amount of bow hair in contact with the string in a physical model of a bowed string instrument.
Download Computational Real-Time Sound Simulation of Rain Real time sound synthesis in computer games using physical modeling is an area of great potential. To date, most sounds are prerecorded to match a certain event. Instead, by using a model to describe the sound producing event, a number of problems encountered when using pre-recorded sounds can be avoided. This paper deals with the application of physical modeling to the sound synthesis of rainfall. The implementation of a real-time simulation and a graphics interface allowing an interactive control of rainfall sound are discussed.
Download Self-Sustained Vibrating Structures Physical Modelling by Means of Mass-Interaction Networks GENESIS is a sound synthesis and musical creation environment based on the mass-interaction CORDIS-ANIMA physical modelling formalism. It has got the noteworthy property that it allows to work both on sound itself and on musical composition in a single coherent environment. In this paper we present the first results of a study that is carried out with GENESIS on a particular type of models: self-sustained oscillating structures. By trying to build physical models of real instruments like bowed strings or woodwinds, our aim is to develop and analyse generic tools that can be used for the production of self-sustained oscillations on every mass-interaction network built with GENESIS. But, if the family of the self-sustained oscillating structures is very interesting to create rich timbres, it can also play a new and fundamental role at the level of the temporal macrostructure of the music (that of the gesture and the instrumental performance, as well as the composition). Indeed, it is possible, as we will propose in this paper, to use the relatively complex motion of a bowed macrostructure in a musical composition way, as a musical events generator.
Download Filtering within the Framework of Mass-Interaction Physical Modeling and of Haptic Gestural Interaction A variety of filters have been designed, synthesized and used in the history of electronic and computer music. All the approaches aimed to provide filters fulfilling several specifications such as frequency response, phase response, transient state characteristics like rise time and overshoot, realizably conditions concerning the technology used for the implementation and even economical considerations. One of the most important aspects concerning the filters dedicated to musical applications is the control structure they provide to the musician, who is in charge for the integration of the filtering operation in the compositional process and performance. Designing filters using the mass interaction scheme embedded in the CORDIS-ANIMA formalism (used for sound synthesis and composition by physical modelling) offers a different methodology in the control which is coherent with the philosophy of musical composition by ‘physical thinking’. This article introduces a technique to design filters using the CORDIS-ANIMA simulation language.
Download FAUST-STK: a set of linear and nonlinear physical models for the FAUST programming language The FAUST Synthesis ToolKit is a set of virtual musical instruments written in the FAUST programming language and based on waveguide algorithms and on modal synthesis. Most of them were inspired by instruments implemented in the Synthesis ToolKit (STK) and the program SynthBuilder. Our attention has partly been focused on the pedagogical aspect of the implemented objects. Indeed, we tried to make the FAUST code of each object as optimized and as expressive as possible. Some of the instruments in the FAUST-STK use nonlinear allpass filters to create interesting and new behaviors. Also, a few of them were modified in order to use gesture data to control the performance. A demonstration of this kind of use is done in the Pure Data program. Finally, the results of some performance tests of the generated C++ code are presented.
Download Harpsichord Sound Synthesis using a Physical Plectrum Model Interfaced with the Digital Waveguide In this paper, we present a revised model of the plectrum-string interaction and its interface with the digital waveguide for simulation of the harpsichord sound. We will first revisit the plectrum body model that we have proposed previously in [1] and then extend the model to incorporate the geometry of the plectrum tip. This permits us to model the dynamics of the string slipping off the plectrum more comprehensively, which provides more physically accurate excitation signals. Simulation results are presented and discussed.
Download Potentiometer law modelling and identification for application in physics-based Virtual Analogue circuits Physical circuit models have an inherent ability to simulate the behaviour of user controls as exhibited by, for example, potentiometers. Working to accurately model the user interface of musical circuits, this work provides potentiometer ‘laws’ that fit to the underlying characteristics of linear and logarithmic potentiometers. A strategy of identifying these characteristics is presented, exclusively using input/output measurements and as such avoiding device disassembly. By breaking down the identification problem into one dimensional, search spaces characteristics are successfully identified. The proposed strategy is exemplified through a case study on the tone stack of the Big Muff Pi.