Flexible Software Framework for Modal Synthesis

Title: Flexible Software Framework for Modal Synthesis

Research Question: How can a flexible software framework facilitate the design and control of instruments based on modal synthesis?

Methodology: The study presents an overview of a software framework designed as a hierarchy of polymorphic synthesis objects, representing modal structures of various complexity. The framework is based on an abstract notion of energy, with a set of energy transfer functions provided. This abstraction allows for a design where the dynamics of interactions can be largely separated from the specifics of particular modal structures, resulting in an easily configurable and expandable system.

Results: The framework has been implemented as a set of C++ classes along with an integrating shell and GUI, and is currently being used to design and play modal instruments, as well as to survey fundamental properties of various modal algorithms.

Implications: The software framework serves as a general-purpose design and control tool for modal synthesis algorithms of arbitrary complexity. It allows users to control and configure the synthesis algorithms in a wide variety of ways, and its graphical user interface facilitates instrument design and control in real-time. The framework is also used for systematic research on modal systems of varying complexity to determine optimal representations for target phenomena, such as time- and phase-dependent response to excitation, saturation effects, one-way and circular energy transfer among modes, regions of stable and chaotic responses to control parameters, and custom transient behavior.

Link to Article: https://arxiv.org/abs/0103006v1 Authors: arXiv ID: 0103006v1