Nonsmooth contact dynamics for the numerical simulation of collisions in musical string instruments

Abstract : Collisions in musical string instruments play a fundamental role in explaining the sound production in various instruments such as sitars, tanpuras and electric basses. Contacts occuring during the vibration provide a nonlinear effect which shapes a specific tone due to energy transfers and enriches the hearing experience. As such, they must be carefully simulated for the purpose of physically-based sound synthesis. Most of the numerical methods presented in the literature rely on a compliant modeling of the contact force between the string and the obstacle. In this contribution, numerical methods from nonsmooth contact dynamics are used to integrate the problem in time. A Moreau-Jean time-stepping scheme is combined with an exact scheme for phases with no contact, thus controlling the numerical dispersion. Results for a two-point bridge mimicking a tanpura and an electric bass are presented, showing the ability of the method to deal efficiently with such problems while invoking, as compared to a compliant approach, less modelling parameters and a reduced computational burden.