Physis

NEW! Physis Plus!

In the Viscount Italy laboratory they have developed a technological combination of their proprietary physical models and an artificial intelligence algorithm they call MORIS© (“Multi-Objective Random Iterative Search”, a Viscount Deep Learning complex procedure) that has made it possible to achieve a new level of sound richness. This algorithm is able to learn and capture new acoustic features of typical organ sounds and provide estimates of the parameters of a pipe physical model, making their physical models incredibly realistic both in terms of harmonics and keyboard feeling.

When constructing an organ stop, the first things to determine are the physical features of each individual pipe in every detail; for example the diameter, width and height of the mouth, the shape of the resonator tube – if any – the stopper and chimney, etc. All these elements combine to determine the timbre as the features of each pipe.

In Viscount's case the work is done ‘backwards’; they take a set of homogeneous reeds (a rank then) and let the deep learning algorithm listen to them, analysing the smallest features in detail, until determining, with a good approximation, how the sound object that determined that timbre is made. This work, done by the MORIS©, is therefore comparable to the work of the organ builder (or rather the pipe maker): its output is a sounding voice, but it is still “raw”.

However, to obtain voices of good aesthetic and artistic quality, it requires the intervention of the musician and sound designer who, in a manner, is comparable to the pipe tuner, who takes the sounds one by one and refines them, to make them sound good by themself, and harmonize well with the other voices.

Physis®Plus represents the natural and powerful evolution of their patented and well-known Physis (Physical modelling) technology.

unique.

MORIS© Technological Process

Starting from an Input, the MORIS© will seize those features that contribute to the creation of that peculiar sound, it defines them with a series of rules, and it produces a “raw” pipe organ sound through the synthesis. Through a series of iterations, randomly varying the synthesis parameters, MORIS© modifies the set of parameters until the best representation of the input sound is obtained.

Nowadays one of the most challenging tasks in physically-informed sound synthesis is the estimation of model parameters to produce a desired timbre. Automatic parameter estimation procedures have been developed in the past for some specific parameters or application scenarios but, up to now, no approach has been proved applicable to a wide variety of use cases. Now Viscount's physical modeling technology development has set a new standard of sound reliability and flexibility.

What is Physis Modeling?

Physis® is software that uses physically modeled pipe organ pipes to not only create an authentic-sounding digital or hybrid pipe organs, but it also provides the organist with the tactile experience that makes playing the pipe organ so exciting and unique.

The Physis® physical sound modeling technology, renders authentic pipe organ sounds in real time, as you play! From simulating specific numbers of wind chests to accurately enacting the ensemble effect during a performance, Physis® has been meticulously crafted so it can replicate any type of pipe organ, in real time.

This is because with Physis®, each pipe is actually specifically rendered to the necessary specifications so it either matches the style and sound of your existing pipe organ pipes, or creates a brand new pipe organ sound that’s exactly to your liking. Then, as you play, the software computes how the rendered pipes would interact with the organist’s inputs, and produces sounds that account for all the micro-level changes in tone, pitch, attack, and so much more when organic pipe organs are played.