Seminar Abstract

18 Oct 2006:
Speaker: Nicolas Valsamakis
Venue:     Devonport Lecture Theatre, Portland Square
Time:       14:00

Dynamic Phase Synthesis with Cellular Automata

Phase Synthesis is a classic technique used in computer music for sound synthesis. In that technique an initial waveform is stored in a computer memory or wavetable and the synthesis algorithm reads through it repeatedly by a linear phasor. In this part of the research a novel approach in Phase Synthesis is presented by exploring the application of a non-linear shaper for the reading of the wavetable. The operation of a non-linear phasor results in the alteration of the initial waveform and therefore in timbral variation. Furthermore, in order to produce dynamic changes in the sound, the shape of the non-linear phasor is put in continuous change over time. We call this approach Dynamic Phase Synthesis. A higher-level control algorithm based in Cellular Automata is applied for the continuous control of the non-linear phasor shape, which is capable of producing various timbral transformations of the evolving waveform.