Percussion Synthesis Based on Models of Nonlinear Shell Vibration

—The synthesis of sound based on physical models of 2-D percussion instruments is problematic and has been approached only infrequently in the literature. Beyond the computational expense inherent to the simulation of 2-D systems, a deeper difficulty is in dealing with the strong nonlinearity exhibited by thin structures when struck—this nonlinearity leads to phenomena which are not captured, even approximately, by a linear model, and nearly all synthesis work is based on the assumption that the distributed resonating component of a musical instrument is linear. Perceptually, the effects of the vibration of a thin structure at high amplitudes can be heard as crashes, pitch glides, and the slow buildup of high-frequency energy characteristic of gongs. A large family of instruments may be described, approximately, as circular thin shells, of approximately spherical geometry, in which case a tractable PDE description, described here, is available. Time-domain finite-difference schem...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: TASLP
• Authors: Stefan Bilbao
• Keywords: 2-D Percussion Instruments, Numerical Boundary Conditions, TASLP 2010, Time-domain finite-difference Schemes