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Posted by gmays 6 days ago

Virtual violin produces realistic sounds(news.mit.edu)
95 points | 75 commentspage 2
HelloUsername 3 days ago|
Semi-related?

"Show HN: Anyma V, a hybrid physical modelling virtual instrument" 01-aug-2024 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41132104 29 comments

"Show HN: I built a synthesizer based on 3D physics" 02-may-2025 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43873074 123 comments

yboris 3 days ago||
For piano, look at Pianoteq - 50MB of math code that simulates $100k+ pianos, letting you adjust and fine-tune numerous parameters (lid position, microphone placement, etc), no sound-banks used! https://www.modartt.com/
arstep 3 days ago||
it doesn't sound as a real violin at all. A professional violinist would immediately tell that something is wrong.
rpozarickij 3 days ago||
I've played other instruments (not very professionally) for 10y when I was much younger but was often surrounded by sounds of violins and these don't sound realistic at all.

My main instrument was the saxophone and whenever I hear AI/artificial saxophone somewhere I can notice it right away, but I'm very curious if I've ever been a victim of the toupee fallacy.

I wonder whether there's a good test/game where you have to guess whether a given sound of a musical instrument is real or not.

ioseph 3 days ago|||
As an amateur violinist and synth enthusiast it sounds tinny and dry
nosioptar 3 days ago|||
Cellist with ~6 years experience in a chamber orchestra: gun to my head, I'd have never guessed the sound was supposed to be a violin.
codedokode 2 days ago|||
You don't even need to be a violinist to hear that.
soupspaces 2 days ago||
Would a virtual ear?
mchinen 3 days ago||
Bowed instruments are very cool to model because of the nonlinear slip of the bow against the string. A bit curious why bowing was not discussed or used in the example of a violin, just plucking. Do luthiers test violins more by plucking than bowing?
tkocmathla 3 days ago||
They briefly address this in the article:

> Violin bowing, the researchers say, is a much more complicated interaction to model.

mchinen 3 days ago||
Thanks, I missed that.
nwatson 3 days ago||
It's probably harder to model and the results "aren't quite there yet".
codedokode 3 days ago||
I never held a violin, but the demo sounds like some keyboard instrument, as if there were a hammer striking a metal bar or something like this. (I even checked the sound of violin on Youtube to be sure).
sambapa 3 days ago||
Yeah, not to mention overlapping sounds produced on the same string
ngokevin 3 days ago|||
Played violin, sounds nothing like a (plucked/pizzicato) violin.
traderj0e 3 days ago||
It also sounded like string percussion to me
p0w3n3d 2 days ago||
As a person who struggles to learn violin, I say that to me this doesn't sound like a violin. More like muted harp
RickJWagner 2 days ago||
“Violin makers, aka luthiers”…. Lest anyone be confused, luthiers work on any stringed instrument with a neck. Guitars, banjos, etc.
markatto 2 days ago|
Lutes, even!
RickJWagner 2 days ago||
“Violin makers, aka luthiers”…. Lest anyone be confused, luthiers work on any stringed instrument with a neck. Guitars, banjos, etc.
njonsson 2 days ago||
The sound is more like that of a kayagŭm (a Korean traditional instrument) than violin pizzicato.
docheinestages 3 days ago|
The plucking demo was disappointing. How does it compare to something like the SWAM Engine[1]? Given the title, I was expecting more.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB-5uPcWVVE

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