From Timbre Perception to the Creative Exploration of Musical Instrument Sound Morphing (MORPH)

Image

Marcelo Caetano - post-doctorant PRISM

Le 5 septembre 2023 de 11h00 à 12h00 / Amphithéâtre François Canac, LMA

Abstract : The MORPH project uses sound morphing to investigate timbre in traditional musical instruments. Timbre is a complex multi-dimentional perceptual phenomenon considered to be one of the last frontiers of auditory science. Sound morphing is a transformation that gradually blurs the categorical distinction between sounds by blending their sensory attributes. Thus, sound morphing has the potential to advance our understanding of timbre and to deliver innovative virtual hybrid musical instruments for the creative exploration of the timbral gap between traditional musical instrument sounds. We used sound morphing to create continuous timbre spaces by filling the gaps between traditional musical instruments and therefore breaking the categorical perception of musical instrument timbre by the auditory illusion of hybrid musical instruments. I will present preliminary results and future perspectives of the MORPH project.

Marcelo Caetano received the Ph.D. degree in signal processing from UPMC Paris 6 University/IRCAM in 2011 under the supervision of Xavier Rodet, then head of the Analysis/Synthesis group at IRCAM. Currently, Dr. Caetano is a MSCA fellow with CIRMMT-McGill and CNRS-PRISM developing the MORPH project, which uses musical instrument sound morphing to investigate the perception of timbre and to allow composers and performers to explore sound morphing creatively. His research interests range from musical instrument sounds to music modeling, including analysis/synthesis for sound transformations and music timbre. Dr. Caetano will soon be joining the Department of Music from the University of California San Diego.