Envelope matching with genetic algorithms*

Sound examples are available in the JNMR Electronic Appendix (EA) which can be found on the WWW at http://www.swets.n1/jnmr/jnmr.html

Abstract

This paper introduces a genetic algorithm‐based method for envelope modeling. The new method selects a set of basis envelopes from the original tone that best represent all the harmonic amplitude envelopes. The method yields much more intuitive envelopes than statistical methods like principal components analysis, and the quality of the matches is about the same. We give results using the method for the trumpet, Chinese erhu, and pipa. We show how to extend the technique to matching frequency envelopes and multiple tones using the same basis envelope set. We also show how to use the procedure as a preprocessing step to line segment approximation of the envelopes.

Notes

Sound examples are available in the JNMR Electronic Appendix (EA) which can be found on the WWW at http://www.swets.n1/jnmr/jnmr.html