Based on the precise measurements of the reed vibrations (see Project: “Augmented Instruments”) on saxophone and clarinet, we started to investigate the effects of different articulation techniques towards the development of physical models capable of simulating and synthesizing realistic single-reed woodwind tone production [1,5].

These steps also involved a thorough calibration of the reed-sensors using Laser-Doppler Vibrometry and high-speed camera recordings [2], as well as an estimation of the sensor’s influence on the reed-vibrations using Laser interferometry [3]. Furthermore an empirical study was carried out to capture a variety of articulation techniques used by advanced clarinetists that showed the influence of the tonguing technique on the begin and end transients of clarinet sounds [4].

Mouth pressure (pm, blue), mouthpiece pressure (p, green) and reed displacement (y, orange), with overlapped low-pass filtered signals (pˆm in dark blue, ŷ in red), shown for staccato playing. (Figure from [4], by Pàmies-Vilà )

References

[1] Chatziioannou, V., & Hofmann, A. (2015). Physics-based analysis of articulatory player actions in single-reed woodwind instruments. Acta Acustica United with Acustica, 101(2), 292–299. doi:10.3813/AAA.918827

[2] Pamies-Vila, M., Hofmann, A., & Chatziioannou, V. (2017). Strain to Displacement Calibration for Single-Reeds Using a High-Speed Camera. In Proceedings of the 2017 International Symposium on Musical Acoustics (pp. 5–8).

[3] Chatziioannou, V., Hofmann, A., Mayer, A., & Statsenko, T. (2016). Influence of strain-gauge sensors on the vibrational behaviour of single reeds. In Proceedings of the 22nd International Congress on Acoustics, ICA 2016. Buenos Aires.

[4] Pàmies-Vilà, M., Hofmann, A., & Chatziioannou, V. (2018). Analysis of Tonguing and Blowing Actions During Clarinet Performance. Frontiers In Psychology, 9, 617. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00617

[5] Chatziioannou, V., Schmutzhard, S., Pàmies-Vilà, M., & Hofmann, A. (2019). Investigating Clarinet Articulation Using a Physical Model and an Artificial Blowing Machine. Acta Acustica United with Acustica, 105(4), 682–694. doi:10.3813/AAA.919348

Funding

This research was carried out at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, within the FWF-Project (P28655) “Transient Phenomena in Single-Reed Woodwind Instruments”.