A computationally efficient articulatory synthesizer

Abstract

In this study, a computationally efficient articulatory synthesizer that utilizes the popular analog circuit simulator SPICE is developed. The synthesizer uses a transmission-line analog model of the vocal tract. An analog model has many advantages over digital representations: (1) Side branches (needed for modeling nasals and /l/) can be simulated easily by additional transmission lines in parallel; (2) drive-dependent sources, at any location, could be added; and (3) the number of sections can be varied without changing the sampling rate, as is the case with a digital synthesizer. A computer interface, using MATLAB, is developed such that the input to the synthesizer can be specified in terms of the area function of the vocal tract and the type and location of dependent or independent sources (voltage or current.) By simulating the transfer function of the vocal tract, transient and steady-state responses are generated. Using Fant’s vowel area functions (1960), vowels were synthesized with their first four formant frequencies almost identical to those given by Fant. The feasibility of implementing the analog synthesizer using modern ICs, such as the gyrator-based inductance simulator and switched capacitor filter circuits, is assessed.