Ircam - Centre Georges-Pompidou Equipe Analyse/Synthèse

NONLINEAR OSCILLATIONS IN SUSTAINED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: MODELS AND CONTROL

Xavier Rodet

in Proc. Euromech'93, Hamburg, 1993

Abstract

Many physical models of sustained musical instruments (strings, brass, reeds, flutes and voices) have been proposed by researchers in acoustics and computer music. We focus on an interesting class including a memoryless nonlinearity, a time-delay term and a filtering kernel in the delay line. Stability, oscillation, and other conditions for the dynamic behavior of this class of models are studied leading to a surprising family of sounds with important properties such as a combination of harmonic and noise components. We have implemented real-time simulations using HTM, a tool for rapid prototyping of sound synthesis algorithms and control strategies. We have written a Motif-C++ graphical-user interface for experimentation with parameter values, display of signals, of spectra and of maps. This allows for easy experimentation and tests of models and parameter values. Sound results are demonstrated and discussed.