ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY « INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES INTERACTIVE SOUND DESIGN FFT SOUND SYNTHESIS ENGINE MODEL PROPOSAL Ph.D. THESIS Yahya Burak TAMER Department of Music Music Programme OCTOBER 2012 ISTANBUL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY « INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES INTERACTIVE SOUND DESIGN FFT SOUND SYNTHESIS ENGINE MODEL PROPOSAL Ph.D. THESIS Yahya Burak TAMER (409052005) Department of Music Music Programme Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. Cihat AŞKIN OCTOBER 2012 İSTANBUL TEKNİK ÜNİVERSİTESİ « SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ ETKİLEŞİMLİ SES TASARIMI FFT SES SENTEZLEME MOTORU MODELİ DOKTORA TEZİ Yahya Burak TAMER (409052005) Müzik Bölümü Müzik Programı Tez Danışmanı: Prof. Dr. Cihat AŞKIN EKİM 2012 Yahya Burak TAMER, a Ph.D. student of ITU Institute of Social Sciences student ID 409052005 successfully defended the dissertation entitled “INTERACTIVE SOUND DESIGN - FFT SOUND SYNTHESIS ENGINE MODEL PROPOSAL”, which he prepared after fulfilling the requirements specified in the associated legislations, before the jury whose signatures are below. Thesis Advisor: Prof. Dr. Cihat AŞKIN ………………….. Istanbul Technical University Jury Members: Doç. Dr. Kıvılcım YILDIZ ŞENÜRKMEZ ………………….. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory Yrd. Doç. Dr. İlke BORAN ………………….. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory Yrd. Doç. Dr. Can KARADOĞAN ………………….. Istanbul Technical University Yrd. Doç. Dr. Ozan BAYSAL ………………….. Istanbul Technical University Date of Submission: 28 May 2012 Date of Defense: 17 October 2012 v vi FOREWORD I would like to thank my advisor Cihat Aşkın and the remaining members of my jury committee; Şehvar Beşiroğlu, Kıvılcım Yıldız Şenürkmez, İlke Boran, Can Karadoğan and Ozan Baysal. When I completed my undergraduate study on Electronics and Communication Engineering in 1997, I got into research for a graduate study where I could connect my engineering skills with music and sound design disciplines. Finding out about MIAM (thanks to Gökhan Deneç) and studying music theory, history, sound design, engineering and composing has improved my conceptual perception as well as analytical skills. I am grateful since I have been a part of this synergy where open- minded musicians could share their views and interact freely. I would like to thank all of my instructors in MIAM and Yıldız Technical University for sharing their knowledge on arts and sciences, their input throughout the years has made this thesis possible. I would like to express my appreciation to Fatoş Adiloğlu and Güven Çatak for their continuous support throughout the thesis writing process. I am also indebted to my colleagues in Bahçeşehir University as interacting with each one of them and their professions has widened my perspective on sound arts. During my years in MIAM, I was lucky enough to be able to explore other visions on music, sound and life while interacting with fellow students. Out of this very prosperous set of relationships one in particular influenced a world of sound, creation and honest friendship. I would like to thank Barkın Engin for that. My dear friend Tuba Yapıcı did not leave me alone during the defense, I should express that her support was very valuable. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends. October 2012 Yahya Burak TAMER vii viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD ........................................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................... xvii ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................. xix LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................. xiii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. xv SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ xvii ÖZET ....................................................................................................................... xix 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Purpose of the Thesis ......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background ........................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Before the Early Instruments ............................................................................. 3 2. EARLY 20TH CENTURY ELECTRONIC MUSIC INSTRUMENTS ........... 5 2.1 Objectives .......................................................................................................... 5 2.2 The Telharmonium (Dynamophone) ................................................................. 6 2.2.1 Historical aspects of the Telharmonium ..................................................... 6 2.2.2 The technical principles of Telharmonium ................................................. 7 2.3 Theremin ............................................................................................................ 9 2.3.1 Historical aspects of the Theremin ............................................................. 9 2.3.2 The technical principles of Theremin ....................................................... 15 2.4 The Futurist Movement and the Introduction of the Audion Piano ................. 18 2.5 The Ondes Martenot ........................................................................................ 19 2.5.1 Historical aspects of the Ondes Martenot ................................................. 19 2.5.2 The technical principles of the Ondes Martenot ....................................... 22 2.6 The Trautonium and Mixturtrautonium ........................................................... 24 2.6.1 Historical aspects of the Trautonium ........................................................ 24 2.6.2 The technical principles of the Trautonium .............................................. 27 3. MID 20TH CENTURY ELECTRONIC MUSIC INSTRUMENTS ............... 31 3.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................ 31 3.2 The Electronic Organ by Laurens Hammond, 1935 ........................................ 31 3.3 Other Electronic Instrument Designs of the Early and Mid 20th Century ....... 34 3.4 Classification of Sound Generation Mechanisms ............................................ 43 4. THREE CONJUNCT VIEWS ............................................................................ 45 4.1. Trautonium ...................................................................................................... 45 4.2. Ondes Martenot ............................................................................................... 47 4.3. Theremin ......................................................................................................... 48 5. FFT SOUND SYNTHESIS ENGINE MODEL PROPOSAL .......................... 53 5.1 Objectives ........................................................................................................ 53 5.2 The Convolution of Two Signals ..................................................................... 53 5.3 A Specific State of Convolution: The Vocoder ............................................... 58 5.4 Freezing the Spectrum using FFT Techniques ................................................ 61 5.5 The Instrument with No Sound ........................................................................ 64 ix 5.5.1 The perspective ......................................................................................... 64 5.5.2 Overview of the technical principles ........................................................ 68 5.5.3 Realization of the FFT sound generation module via Max MSP .............. 71 5.5.4 Realization of the FFT synthesizer with four-voice polyphony ............... 75 5.5.5 Realization of the FFT synthesizer with eight-voice polyphony .............. 82 5.5.6 Presentation of the instrument and the interaction model ......................... 85 6. CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................. 93 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 99 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................ 103 APPENDIX A : Glossary ..................................................................................... 104 APPENDIX B.1 : Selected Theremin Repertoire ................................................ 106 APPENDIX B.2 : Selected Ondes Martenot Repertoire ...................................... 107 APPENDIX B.3 : Selected Trautonium Repertoire ............................................. 108 CURRICULUM VITAE ........................................................................................ 109 x ABBREVIATIONS AD : Analog to Digital ADSR : Attack Decay Sustain Release BPM : Beat Per Minute CD : Compact Disc DAC : Digital Analog Conversion DAW : Digital Audio Workstation DI : Direct Injection EQ : Equalization EZDAC : Easy DAC FFT : Fast Fourier Transform LED : Light Emitting Diode MIDI : Musical Instrument Digital Interface RAM : Random Access Memory VST : Virtual Studio Technology xi xii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1 : Transitional electronic musical instruments