A quantum vocal theory of sound

Concepts and formalism from acoustics are often used to exemplify quantum mechanics. Conversely, quantum mechanics could be used to achieve a new perspective on acoustics, as shown by Gabor studies. Here, we focus in particular on the study of human voice, considered as a probe to investigate the world of sounds. We present a theoretical framework that is based on observables of vocal production, and on some measurement apparati that can be used both for analysis and synthesis. In analogy to the description of spin states of a particle, the quantum-mechanical formalism is used to describe the relations between the fundamental states associated with phonetic labels such as phonation, turbulence, and supraglottal myoelastic vibrations. The intermingling of these states, and their temporal evolution, can still be interpreted in the Fourier/Gabor plane, and effective extractors can be implemented. The bases for a quantum vocal theory of sound, with implications in sound analysis and design, are presented

Organizing a sonic space through vocal imitations

3noA two-dimensional space is proposed for exploration and interactive design in the sonic space of a sound model. A number of reference items, positioned as landmarks in the space, contain both a synthetic sound and its vocal imitation, and the space is geometrically arranged based on the acoustic features of these imitations. The designer may specify new points in the space either by geometric interpolation or by direct vocalization. In order to understand how the vast and complex space of the human voice could be organized in two dimensions, we collected a database of short excerpts of vocal imitations. By clustering the sound samples on a space whose dimensionality has been reduced to the two principal components, it has been experimentally checked how meaningful the resulting clusters are for humans. The procedure of dimensionality reduction and clustering is demonstrated in the case of imitations of engine sounds, giving access to the sonic space of a motor sound model.reservedmixedRocchesso, Davide; Mauro, Davide Andrea; Drioli, CarloRocchesso, Davide; Mauro, Davide Andrea; Drioli, Carl

Evidence for a spatial bias in the perception of sequences of brief tones

Listeners are unable to report the physical order of particular sequences of brief tones. This phenomenon of temporal dislocation depends on tone durations and frequencies. The current study empirically shows that it also depends on the spatial location of the tones. Dichotically testing a three-tone sequence showed that the central tone tends to be reported as the first or the last element when it is perceived as part of a left-to-right motion. Since the central-tone dislocation does not occur for right-to-left sequences of the same tones, this indicates that there is a spatial bias in the perception of sequences. \ua9 2013 Acoustical Society of America

Analyzing and organizing the sonic space of vocal imitation

The sonic space that can be spanned with the voice is vast and complex and, therefore, it is difficult to organize and explore. In order to devise tools that facilitate sound design by vocal sketching we attempt at organizing a database of short excerpts of vocal imitations. By clustering the sound samples on a space whose dimensionality has been reduced to the two principal components, it is experimentally checked how meaningful the resulting clusters are for humans. Eventually, a representative of each cluster, chosen to be close to its centroid, may serve as a landmark in the exploration of the sound space, and vocal imitations may serve as proxies for synthetic sounds

The Sound Design Toolkit

The Sound Design Toolkit is a collection of physically informed sound synthesis models, specifically designed for practice and research in Sonic Interaction Design. The collection is based on a hierarchical, perceptually founded taxonomy of everyday sound events, and implemented by procedural audio algorithms which emphasize the role of sound as a process rather than a product. The models are intuitive to control \u2013 and the resulting sounds easy to predict \u2013 as they rely on basic everyday listening experience. Physical descriptions of sound events are intentionally simplified to emphasize the most perceptually relevant timbral features, and to reduce computational requirements as well

Sketching sound with voice and gesture

Voice and gestures are natural sketching tools that can be exploited to communicate sonic interactions. In product and interaction design, sounds should be included in the early stages of the design process. Scientists of human motion have shown that auditory stimuli are important in the performance of difficult tasks and can elicit anticipatory postural adjustments in athletes. These findings justify the attention given to sound in interaction design for gaming, especially in action and sports games that afford the development of levels of virtuosity. The sonic manifestations of objects can be designed by acting on their mechanical qualities and by augmenting the objects with synthetic and responsive sound

Non-speech voice for sonic interaction: a catalogue

This paper surveys the uses of non-speech voice as an interaction modality within sonic applications. Three main contexts of use have been identified: sound retrieval, sound synthesis and control, and sound design. An overview of different choices and techniques regarding the style of interaction, the selection of vocal features and their mapping to sound features or controls is here displayed. A comprehensive collection of examples instantiates the use of non-speech voice in actual tools for sonic interaction. It is pointed out that while voice-based techniques are already being used proficiently in sound retrieval and sound synthesis, their use in sound design is still at an exploratory phase. An example of creation of a voice-driven sound design tool is here illustrated

Bowed string simulation using an elasto-plastic friction model

This paper proposes a digital waveguide model of a bowed string in which the interaction between the bow and the string is modeled using an elasto-plastic friction model. The interaction model is presented, and its advantages with respect to usual static models are discussed. Details about the numerical implementation are addressed. Numerical simulations show that a hysteresis loop in the friction versus velocity plane is created, which is qualitatively compatible with experiments on real instruments and with the behavior of a recently proposed thermodynamical friction model applied to bowed string simulations

Model-based customized binaural reproduction through headphones

Generalized head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) represent a cheap and straightforward mean of providing 3D rendering in headphone reproduction. However, they are known to produce evident sound localization errors, including incorrect perception of elevation, front-back reversals, and lack of externalization, especially when head tracking is not utilized in the reproduction . Therefore, individual anthropometric features have a key role in characterizing HRTFs. On the other hand, HRTF measurements on a significant number of subjects are both expensive and inconvenient. This short paper briefly presents a structural HRTF model that, if properly rendered through a proposed hardware (wireless headphones augmented with motion and vision sensors), can be used for an efficient and immersive sound reproduction. Special care is reserved to the contribution of the external ear to the HRTF: data and results collected to date by the authors allow parametrization of the model according to individual anthropometric data, which in turn can be automatically estimated through straightforward image analysis. The proposed hardware and software can be used to render scenes with multiple audiovisual objects in a number of contexts such as computer games, cinema, edutainment, and many others