Real-time guitar synthesis

Stefan Bilbao*, Riccardo Russo, Craig Webb, Michele Ducceschi

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract / Description of output

The synthesis of guitar tones was one of the first uses of physical modeling synthesis, and many approaches (notably digital waveguides) have been employed. The dynamics of the string under playing conditions is complex, and includes nonlinearities, both inherent to the string itself, and due to various collisions with the fretboard, frets and a stopping finger. All lead to important perceptual effects, including pitch glides, rattling against frets, and the ability to play on the harmonics. Numerical simulation of these simultaneous strong nonlinearities is challenging, but recent advances in algorithm design due to invariant energy quadratisation and scalar auxiliary variable methods allow for very efficient and provably numerically stable simulation. A new design is presented here that does not employ costly iterative methods such as the Newton-Raphson method, and for which required linear system solutions are small. As such, this method is suitable for real-time implementation. Simulation and timing results are presented.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 27th International Conference on Digital Audio Effects ((DAFx24)
Place of PublicationSurrey, UK
Pages163-170
Number of pages8
Publication statusPublished - 7 Sept 2024

Publication series

NameProceedings of the International Conference on Digital Audio Effects
ISSN (Print)2413-6700
ISSN (Electronic)2413-6689

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