On the Construction of a Dynamic Vocal-Tract Model
Jack B. Dennis, Edward C. Whitman, Raymond S. Tomlinson · The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 1964
A new technique for realizing a transmission-line (articulatory) analog of the human vocal tract is described. Essentially, the acoustic equations governing sound propagation in a cascade of short, circular cylinders are solved on a configuration of operational amplifiers, using the methods of analog computation to process the signal from source to output. The coefficients of the relevant equations are set by the use of digitally controlled attenuators in the signal paths, and hence the synthesis can be controlled in real time by a digital computer. Included is a description of the circuitry developed to date, with emphasis on the digitally controlled attenuators, and an analysis of stability and noise problems encountered in this approach. [Work supported in part by the U. S. Army Signal Corps, the U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U. S. Office of Naval Research; in part by the National Science Foundation (grant G-16526), the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (grants MH104737-03 and NB-04332-01), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NsG-496); and in part by the U. S. Air Force (ESD) under contract AF19(628)3325.]