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

Project description

Creating new music through sound morphing

The MORPH project uses signal processing to examine timbre in traditional musical instruments, and through sound morphing and technology to create hybrid musical instruments. Examining the sonic gap between instrument sounds, this multidisciplinary project will integrate a user interface to lead expression beyond the known boundaries in digitised acoustic music. It will develop new modelling techniques for instrument sounds, expand our knowledge of signal processing and timbre, and blur the distinctions between sounds. This will not only add to the understanding of timbre but will also exponentially boost the creation of new music through hybrid instrument sounds.

Objective

Sound morphing has the potential to provide critical new insight into our understanding of timbre perception, and to deliver innovative virtual hybrid musical instruments for the creative exploration of the sonic gap which exists between traditional musical instrument sounds. Timbre, a highly complex perceptual phenomenon traditionally associated with musical instruments, is considered one of the last frontiers of auditory science. Sound morphing holds enormous promise for the investigation of timbre perception because it can gradually blur the categorical distinction between sounds by blending their sensory attributes. In this groundbreaking multidisciplinary project that fuses signal processing, experimental psychology, and music technology, I propose to use 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. This radically novel approach will integrate a touch user interface to enable the creative exploration of sound morphing with original virtual hybrid musical instruments that push the creative boundaries of musical expression by moving beyond the physical limitations of acoustic musical instruments and the traditional digital musical instruments that rely on them. The impact of this project will be felt across three prominent, complementary research domains, namely: signal processing; timbre perception; and musical interaction. First, this project will advance music signal processing by developing new modeling techniques specifically tailored for musical instrument sounds. Second, it will provide powerful analysis tools to further our understanding of musical timbre perception. Finally, the project aims to revolutionize musical expression by fostering new musical results through the creative exploration of continuous timbre spaces and hybrid musical instrument sounds.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018

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Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 244 385,28
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 244 385,28

Partners (1)

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