As early as 2002, while still an undergrad, I started doing research on the applications of Evolutionary Computation in a sound synthesis technique. In 2004 I majored in Sound Engineering from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC). The Sound Engineering major included studies in acoustics, psychoacoustics, audio signal processing, and music theory. In 2006 I obtained my MSc degree in Computer Engineering applied to Music Technology after I developed a project between the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Sound Studies(NICS) and the Laboratory of Bio-Inspired Computing (LBiC). The research I did during my master's was an investigation on the application of different bio-inspired algorithms that present self-organizing features in sound analysis and synthesis problems such as sound design focusing on timbre.

I am presently a PhD student with the Analysis/Synthesis Team at Ircam, where I am working under the supervision of Xavier Rodet. My thesis is about morphing musical instrument sounds guided by perceptually motivated features. A very interesting result of my PhD research is the investigation of timbre spaces and the sonic continuum. That is, the morphed sounds represent hybrid musical instruments in timbre spaces, filling the voids between traditional acoustic musical instruments. The results could be used to study timbre perception, in music composition (exploration of the sonic continuum), and in music technology oriented applications, such as synthesizers.

I have been publishing the results of my research from the very beginning. You can fing an updated list of my publications here. Here is a non exaustive list of my primary research interests

Audio Signal Processing

Audio signal processing refers to the alteration of auditory signals, or sound. Nowadays, audio signals are commonly represented in digital format and the digital processors operate mathematically on the binary representation of that signal. In my reserach, I have tackled the problems of

  • Sound Morphing
  • Spectral Envelope Models
  • Sound Descriptors
  • Sound Transformation
  • Cepstral Processing
  • Time-Frequency Models

Bio-Inspired Algorithms

Biologically inspired algorithms are meta-heuristics that imitate the way nature solves many of the problems natural systems or even individuals face. This category has been quite popular, since numerous problems can be solved without rigorous mathematical approaches. Many Bio-Inspired Algorithms feature characteristics related to Self-Organization, which accounts for some of their popularity. Among others, the algorithms I apply in my reserach are

  • Evolutionary Computation
  • Artificial Neural Networks
  • Artificial Immune Systems
  • Swarm Intelligence
  • Ant Colony Optimization
  • Fuzzy Systems

Computer Music and Music Technology

Computer music is the field of study relating to the applications of computing technology in music composition, while music technology, a more broad term, refers to the use of electronic devices and computer software to facilitate playback, recording, composition, storage, and performance. My main interests are

  • Sound Analysis/Synthesis
  • Algorithmic Composition
  • Sound Design
  • Psychoacoustics
  • Timbre Research
  • Acoustics