Controlling a spatialized environmental sound synthesizer

               
Authors: Verron C., Pallone G., Aramaki M., Kronland-Martinet R.
Publication Date: October 2009
Journal: Proceedings of the IEEE Workshop on Applications of Signal Processing to Audio and Acoustics (pp. 321-324, New Paltz, New York USA, 2009)

Tags: Environmental Sounds, Solid Sounds, Sound Design

---

Abstract

This paper presents the design and the control of a spatialized additive synthesizer aiming at simulating environmental sounds. First the synthesis engine, based on a combination of an additive signal model and spatialization processes, is presented. Then, the control of the synthesizer, based on a hierarchical organization of sounds, is discussed. Complex environmental sounds (such as a water flow or a fire) may then be designed thanks to an adequate combination of a limited number of basic sounds consisting in elementary signals (impacts, chirps, noises). The mapping between parameters describing these basic sounds and high-level descriptors describing an environmental auditory scene is finally presented in the case of a rainy sound ambiance.

---

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