Physical Modeling in Faust

The functional principle of Faust is very well suited for programming physical models for sound synthesis, since these are usually described in block diagrams. Working with physical modeling in Faust can happen on many levels of complexity, from using ready instruments to basic operations.

Ready Instruments

For a quick start, fully functional physical modeling instruments can be used from the physmodels.lib library. These *_ui_MIDI functions just need to be called in the process function:

import("all.lib");

process = nylonGuitar_ui_MIDI : _;

The same algortithms can also be used on a slightly lower level, combining them with custom control and embedding them into larger models:

import("all.lib");

process = nylonGuitarModel(3,1,button("trigger")) : _;

Ready Elements

The physmodels.lib library comes with many building blocks for physical modeling, which can be used to compose instruments. These blocks are instrument-specific, as for example:

  • (pm.)nylonString

  • (pm.)violinBridge

  • (pm.)fluteHead

Bidirectional Utilities & Basic Elements

The bidirectional utitlities and basic elements in Faust's physical modeling library offer a more direct way of assembling physical models. This includes waveguides, terminations, excitation and others:

  • (pm.)chain

  • (pm.)waveguide

  • (pm.)lTermination

  • (pm.)rTermination

  • (pm.)in

From Scratch

Taking a look at the physmodels.lib library, even the bidirectional utilities and basic elements are made of standard faust functions:

https://github.com/grame-cncm/faustlibraries/blob/master/physmodels.lib

chain(A:As) = ((ro.crossnn(1),_',_ : _,A : ro.crossnn(1),_,_ : _,chain(As) : ro.crossnn(1),_,_)) ~ _ : !,_,_,_;
chain(A) = A;

References

2018

  • Romain Michon, Julius Smith, Chris Chafe, Ge Wang, and Matthew Wright. The faust physical modeling library: a modular playground for the digital luthier. In International Faust Conference. 2018.
    [details] [BibTeX▼]

2007