Physics-based resynthesis of clarinet performance using numerical optimization

The functioning of musical instruments has been an active area of research since the beginning of the last century, using both theoretical approaches and experimental measurements. Regarding wind instruments, the subtleties of embouchure control are of particular interest, since the actions of the player's lips and tongue evade direct measurement. One approach towards analyzing such actions is by extracting relevant information from signals that allow non-intrusive measurements, such as the blowing pressure, the mouthpiece pressure and the reed bending [Pàmies-Vilà et al. (2018) Frontiers in Psychology 9: 617]. Alternatively, it is possible to formulate a physical model of the player-instrument interaction and estimate the actions of the player while resynthesizing the oscillations of the instrument [Chatziioannou et al. (2012) Acta Acustica united with Acustica 98(4): 629–639]. This work presents such an attempt based on measurements carried out on expert clarinet players. An excerpt of Weber's clarinet concerto No. 2 is performed by the players and resynthesized using a refined physical model taking embouchure effects into account. Using inverse modeling, the underlying model parameters are being tracked in order to extract information on the physical phenomena that take place at the excitation mechanism.