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Eric Bavu

Publications and source records attributed to Eric Bavu.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Methodology for 3D sound synthesis of directional acoustic sources by higher-order ambisonics

This paper presents the 3D soundfield synthesis of the pressure field radiated by directional acoustic sources using both the multimodal method and higher-order ambisonics (HOA). Ambisonics is a technique for encoding and reproducing measured or modeled (virtual) sound pressure field, based on a decomposition of the acoustic field over spherical harmonics. The directional source considered in this work is an acoustic horn excited by a flat piston. The free-field radiation from this horn is first modeled accurately over a wide frequency range using the multimodal method, which requires relatively low computational resources. This radiated pressure field, collected on a dual-layer sphere of virtual sensors distributed over a Lebedev geometry, allows its projection into the ambisonic domain. The pressure field is then synthesized in the laboratory's 3D 5th order HOA spatialization sphere, which consists of fifty-six loudspeakers. This offers the ability of listening to the radiated sound using a higher-order ambisonic synthesis of a 'virtual' source before it is manufactured. To qualitatively evaluate the performance of the proposed procedure, the transfer function of the synthesized horn is measured around the listening point within the spatialization sphere.

physics.class-ph

Rotationnal and translational waves in a bowed string

We measure and compare the rotational and transverse velocity of a bowed string. When bowed by an experienced player, the torsional motion is phase-locked to the transverse waves, producing highly periodic motion. The spectrum of the torsional motion includes the fundamental and harmonics of the transverse wave, with strong formants at the natural frequencies of the torsional standing waves in the whole string. Volunteers with no experience on bowed string instruments, however, often produced non-periodic motion. We present sound files of both the transverse and torsional velocity signals of well-bowed strings. The torsional signal has not only the pitch of the transverse signal, but it sounds recognisably like a bowed string, probably because of its rich harmonic structure and the transients and amplitude envelope produced by bowing.

physics.class-ph

Torsional waves in a bowed string

Bowing a string with a non-zero radius exerts a torque, which excites torsional waves. In general, torsional standing waves have higher fundamental frequencies than do transverse standing waves, and there is generally no harmonic relationship between them. Although torsional waves have little direct acoustic effect, the motion of the bow-string contact depends on the sum of the transverse speed v of the string plus the radius times the angular velocity (rw) . Consequently, in some bowing regimes, torsional waves could introduce non-periodicity or jitter to the transverse wave. The ear is sensitive to jitter so, while quite small amounts of jitter are important in the sounds of (real) bowed strings, modest amounts of jitter can be perceived as unpleasant or unmusical. It follows that, for a well bowed string, aperiodicities produced in the transverse motion by torsional waves (and other effects) must be small. Is this because the torsional waves are of small amplitude or because of strong coupling between the torsional and transverse waves? We measure the torsional and transverse motion for a string bowed by an experienced player over a range of tunings. The peaks in (rw), which occur near the start and end of the stick phase in which the bow and string move together, are only several times smaller than v during this phase.

physics.class-ph