A 3-D Immersive Synthesizer for Environmental Sounds
Authors: Verron C., Aramaki M., Kronland-Martinet R., Pallone G.
Publication Date: August 2010
Journal: IEEE Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing (vol. 18(6), pp. 1550-1561, 2010)
Tags: Environmental Sounds, Sound Design
Abstract
Nowadays, interactive 3-D environments tend to include both synthesis and spatialization processes to increase the realism of virtual scenes. In typical systems, audio generation is created in two stages: first, a monophonic sound is synthesized (generation of the intrinsic timbre properties) and then it is spatialized (positioned in its environment). In this paper, we present the design of a 3-D immersive synthesizer dedicated to environmental sounds, and intended to be used in the framework of interactive virtual reality applications. The system is based on a physical categorization of environmental sounds (vibrating solids, liquids, aerodynamics). The synthesis engine has a novel architecture combining an additive synthesis model and 3-D audio modules at the prime level of sound generation. An original approach exploiting the synthesis capabilities for simulating the spatial extension of sound sources is also presented. The subjective results, evaluated with a formal listening test, are discussed. Finally, new control strategies based on a global manipulation of timbre and spatial attributes of sound sources are introduced.
This page provides binaural sound examples that have been created with the spatialized additive synthesizer. The synthesis parameters have been obtained with different methods (spectral analysis of real sounds, physical models, heuristics, …).
Two of the sounds below have also reverberation added as a post-processing effect, after the synthesis/spatialization algorithm (stone-like sound and drops of water).
All soundfiles can be downloaded in a zip file here.
>>PLEASE USE HEADPHONES<<
Aerodynamic sounds
Solid sounds
Liquid sounds
Effects
Page updated in December 2008
All pictures in this page can be found on wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/) and are in the public domain.
All rights reserved for the sounds