Virtual-Acoustic Instruments

Van Walstijn, M. (Invited speaker)

School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited or keynote talk at national or international conference

Description

Public Tutorial Lecture

Period	12 Sept 2022
Held at	University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, Austria
Degree of Recognition	International

Documents & Links

presVT22
File: application/pdf, 5.69 MB
Type: Text

One of the key tasks in accomplishing further step changes in aural immersion involves replacing sample-based strategies with interactive, procedural source models based on numerical simulation of vibrating structures. Musical instruments are ideal case studies for such research due to the tight coupling between the musician's actions and the resulting sound. Accordingly, virtual-acoustic instruments can be conceptualised as instruments in which the sound production mechanism has been replaced with a real-time computer-based simulation, while preserving as much as feasible the instrument's natural affordances and `acousticality'. Such seamless virtualisation of the acoustic functioning offers extended ways to reconfigure, design, and develop instruments as well as new ways for studying the associated musician-instrument interaction. This talk will outline the concept of virtual-acoustic instruments, explain the diverse challenges that need to be overcome to realise them, and highlight some of the proposed solutions, early examples, and current challenges.