Physical modelling synthesis

Physical modelling synthesis is the synthesis of sound by using a set of equations and algorithms to simulate a physical source of sound. When an initial set of parameters is run through the physical simulation, the simulated sound is generated.

Although physical modelling was not a new concept in acoustics and synthesis, it wasn't until the development of the Karplus-Strong algorithm, the subsequent refinement and generalization of the algorithm into digital waveguide synthesis by Julius O. Smith III and others, and the increase in DSP power in the late 1980s that commercial implementations became feasible.

Yamaha signed a contract with Stanford University in 1989 to jointly develop digital waveguide synthesis, and as such most patents related to the technology are owned by Stanford or Yamaha.

The first commercially available physical modelling synthesizer made using waveguide synthesis was the Yamaha VL1 in 1994.

Examples of physical modelling synthesis:

• Karplus-Strong string synthesis
• Digital waveguide synthesis
• Formant synthesis

External links

• Julius. O Smith III's A Basic Introduction to Digital Waveguide Synthesis
• Music synthesis approaches sound quality of real instruments -- Stanford University's 1994 news release