On Sat, 18 Mar 1995, Eylon Israeli wrote:
quoted 1 line Can you elaborate a bit on this VL-1?> Can you elaborate a bit on this VL-1?
If I'm thinking of the right machine...this thing, first of all, is quite
expensive: roughly $6K as I recall. It's sole purpose is to do physical
modelling of wind instruments. You specify things like what the reed is
made from, the length and diameter of the instrument, what the body is
made from, and so forth. And by sophisticated mathematical magic, it
synthesizes it.
I studied electronic and computer music at the University of Illinois,
Urbana-Champaign. Analyzing and recreating the sounds of acoustic
instruments (and voice) was an area people were working on deeply. I
heard, for example, a computer program that modelled a trumpet, and one
that did an amazing sub-bass human voice.
This may seem like a purely academic exercise--and to some extent it is.
But being able to realistically recreate the sound of existing acoustic
instruments leads the way toward understanding exactly how these
instruments behave: how the timbre changes as the instrument is played
softly and loudly, how it behaves over the range of the instrument, etc.
One goal would be the ability to accurately synthesize the sound of a
physical object that would be impractical or practically impossible to
make in reality. Fifty foot steel hammer smashing down on Stonehenge. A
contrabassoon made from aluminum. Etc.