The Microsound Synthesis Framework in the LC Computer Music Programming Language

This chapter covers scalar floating-point programming. The first set of source code examples teaches the basics of floating-point arithmetic using single-precision and double-precision floating-point values. The next set of examples explains how to perform floating-point comparisons and conversions. This is followed by a couple of source code examples that illustrate the use of floating-point arrays and matrices. The final source code example describes how to call a C++ library function from an assembly language function. Besides these topics, Chapter 6 also discusses important details about the GNU C++ calling convention and its requirements for floating-point argument and return values.

This chapter explores a number of novel areas in sound synthesis and processing, where adaptive techniques are developed together with non-traditional uses of feedback systems. The text starts by discussing some applications of fixed feedback delay lines and the concept of waveguides. It moves on to look at pitch effects arising from variable delays, with which vibrato can be applied to arbitrary signals. This is then extended to audio-rate FM, giving rise to adaptive forms of FM/PM and related distortion techniques. The second part of the chapter takes a closer look at various forms of feedback modulation of amplitude and frequency, as well as the principles of periodic time-varying filters. Code examples in Csound and Faust illustrate each technique discussed.

Accurately estimating and simulating the physical properties of objects from real-world sound recordings is of great practical importance in the fields of vision, graphics, and robotics. However, the progress in these directions has been limited—prior differentiable rigid or soft body simulation techniques cannot be directly applied to modal sound synthesis due to the high sampling rate of audio, while previous audio synthesizers often do not fully model the accurate physical properties of the sounding objects. We propose DiffSound, a differentiable sound rendering framework for physics-based modal sound synthesis, which is based on an implicit shape representation, a new high-order finite element analysis module, and a differentiable audio synthesizer. Our framework can solve a wide range of inverse problems thanks to the differentiability of the entire pipeline, including physical parameter estimation, geometric shape reasoning, and impact position prediction. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach, highlighting its ability to accurately reproduce the target sound in a physics-based manner. DiffSound serves as a valuable tool for various sound synthesis and analysis applications.

Society is increasingly dependent on widespread access to publications of the past and present. Libraries have proven to be the most practical means for collecting and preserving publications to provide this wide and continuing access. Society has become dependent primarily on university libraries for the collection and long-term preservation of most essential publications. But university libraries cannot continue their growth in size much longer, and even at their past exponential rate of growth none has been able to acquire and keep all the publications its patrons need. If society is to have adequate access to information, now and in the future, librarians must change to recognize that the library's real purpose is to provide access to information and that the collection of an ever-larger number of publications by each library was but a means to accomplish that purpose--a means which is no longer possible. Librarians must now find effective means to assure the collection and preservation of publications they cannot acquire or keep in their own individual collections and to provide every library with fast and reliable access to these publications in conveniently readable form. New technologies do not seem likely to decrease the need for this action but to increase it.

The article considers principles of electronic music formation in China in the period from 1984 till 1993. The research objective is as follows: to reveal principles of the electronic composition formation in China at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries relying on an analysis of Zhang Xiaofu’s composition “Nuo Ri Lang”. Scientific originality of the study involves identifying specificity of Zhang Xiaofu’s musical language. The conclusion is made that uniqueness of his compositions is conditioned by synthesis of traditional music elements and innovative multi-media tools, such as sound synthesis tools, tone mixing tools, tools to change speed of sound, tools to create influx sound effects.

With the rapidly growing VR industry, in recent years, more and more attention has been paid for fire sound synthesis. However, previous methods usually ignore the influences of the different solid combustibles, leading to unrealistic sounding results. This paper proposes SSC (sounding solid combustibles), which is a new recording-driven non-premixed flame sound synthesis framework accounting for different solid combustibles. SSC consists of three components: combustion noise, vortex noise and popping sounds. The popping sounds are the keys to distinguish the differences of solid combustibles. To improve the quality of fire sound, we extract the features of popping sounds from the real fire sound examples based on modified Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) method. Unlike previous methods, we take both direct combustion noise and vortex noise into account because the fire model is non-premixed flame. In our method, we also greatly resolve the synchronization problem during blending the three components of SSC. Due to the introduction of the popping sounds, it is easy to distinguish the fire sounds of different solid combustibles by our method, with great potential in practical applications such as games, VR system, etc. Various experiments and comparisons are presented to validate our method.

The paper presents author’s original method of hardware synthesizers and sound processing devices modeling, taking the Yamaha TX81Z FM synthesizer as an example. The computer music language called Csound is used for the software simulation. The paper gives the basis of FM synthesis theory, the review of modeling method, and analysis of modeling results.

A complete, real-time sound synthesis system has been developed at the Computer Music Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. The system features several stand-alone, Motorola 56001based, general purpose audio processors, called Accelerando boxes, which were designed and built at the center. These inexpensive processors (i.e., the parts cost less than $200) function as standard MIDI devices in that they can be completely controlled and programmed through their MIDI ports. They generate and accept digital audio in a format compatible with Yamaha's digital mixing processors (such as the DEQ7 or DMP7), and they are also equipped with a parallel input/output (I/O) port to provide for an optional connection to a host computer. To simplify the task of programming the box, the synthesis portion of a basic Music V-type language has been written in 56000-assembler code. The center has also developed a symbolic compiler to enable the algorithms that run in the processors to be created graphically. In addition, record/playback and visual editing programs that provide direct control of the Accelerando boxes from the host have been developed.

Large code models (LCMs), pre-trained on vast code corpora, have demonstrated remarkable performance across a wide array of code-related tasks. Supervised fine-tuning (SFT) plays a vital role in aligning these models with specific requirements and enhancing their performance in particular domains. However, synthesizing high-quality SFT datasets poses a significant challenge due to the uneven quality of datasets and the scarcity of domain-specific datasets. Inspired by APIs as high-level abstractions of code that encapsulate rich semantic information in a concise structure, we propose DataScope, an API-guided dataset synthesis framework designed to enhance the SFT process for LCMs in both general and domain-specific scenarios. DataScope comprises two main components: Dslt and Dgen. On the one hand, Dslt employs API coverage as a core metric, enabling efficient dataset synthesis in general scenarios by selecting subsets of existing (uneven-quality) datasets with higher API coverage. On the other hand, Dgen recasts domain dataset synthesis as a process of using API-specified high-level functionality and deliberately constituted code skeletons to synthesize concrete code. Extensive experiments demonstrate DataScope’s effectiveness, with models fine-tuned on its synthesized datasets outperforming those tuned on unoptimized datasets five times larger. Furthermore, a series of analyses on model internals, relevant hyperparameters, and case studies provide additional evidence for the efficacy of our proposed methods. These findings underscore the significance of dataset quality in SFT and advance the field of LCMs by providing an efficient, cost-effective framework for constructing high-quality datasets, which in turn lead to more powerful and tailored LCMs for both general and domain-specific scenarios.

This study explores the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence into the context of S.R. Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science, highlighting the enduring significance of these principles in the contemporary digital landscape. Through an examination of the convergence between established library methods and modern AI innovations, the study highlights the capacity of AI to improve accessibility, tailor experiences, and boost operational effectiveness within library environments. The study utilises a mixed-methods approach, incorporating a thorough literature review and consultations with experts, to tackle significant challenges including privacy concerns, ethical considerations, staff training, and the digital divide. The results suggest that although AI has the potential to enhance resource discovery, automate processes, and streamline library functions, it is crucial to adopt a strategic and ethical framework to address challenges such as algorithmic bias, elevated costs, and the need for equitable access. The analysis offers practical suggestions for the ethical integration of AI, enabling libraries to utilise this technology to improve services while maintaining their fundamental principles.