Sound Synthesis of the Pipa Based on Computed Timbre Analysis and Physical Modeling

This paper proposes sounds analysis and a synthesis model for the Chinese plucked string instrument called the pipa, one of the oldest Chinese musical instruments with over 2000 years of history. The pipa comprises four strings with 30 frets and individual pear-shaped body so that it can offer a wide chromatic scale around 3.5 octaves and many kinds of tones. The acoustical properties of this instrument are analyzed according to the recorded tones. The most vital playing techniques are synthesized by using both physical and spectral based models with auxiliary rules. Applying the digital waveguide concept, the pipa model was constructed with digital filters and input excitations. Synthetic results are very similar to the recorded one according to the waveforms and spectra comparison and the statistics of listening tests.