Analysis, Synthesis, And Perception Of Musical Sounds

The problems of analyzing and synthesizing musical timbres have been prevalent for over half a century, and a book length exploration of this large and complex subject has been long overdue. Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds contains a detailed treatment of basic methods for analysis and synthesis of musical sounds, including the phase vocoder method, the McAulay-Quatieri frequency-tracking method, the constant-Q transform, and methods for pitch tracking with several examples shown. Various aspects of musical sound spectra such as spectral envelope, spectral centroid, spectral flux, and spectral irregularity are defined and discussed. One chapter is devoted to the control and synthesis of spectral envelopes. Two advanced methods of analysis/synthesis are given: "Sines Plus Transients Plus Noise" and "Spectrotemporal Reassignment" are covered. Methods for timbre morphing are given. The last two chapters discuss the perception of musical sounds based on discrimination and multidimensional scaling timbre models. The problems of analyzing and synthesizing musical timbres have been prevalent for over half a century, and a book length exploration of this large and complex subject has been long overdue. Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds: Sound of Music consists of eight chapters that span the range from tutorial introduction to advanced research and application to speculative assessment of its various techniques. All of the contributors use a generalized additive sine wave model for describing musical timbre which gives a conceptual unity but is of sufficient utility to be adapted to many different tasks. The authors represent an international community of researchers and teachers in the field of analysis/synthesis/perception, and this book reflects the important trends and interests current in the subject. Due to its breadth, students will find the book a thorough introduction to current thinking and implementation of additive sine wave timbral models. Researchers new to the field will find a canvas of applications with citations to the relevant literature, which will also benefit the teacher searching for an effective syllabus. Due to its scope, Analysis, Synthesis, and Perception of Musical Sounds will become the standard reference in the field and will be seen as the catalyst for exciting research in the years ahead.