Parametric audio coding of bass guitar recordings using a tuned physical modeling algorithm

In this paper, we propose a parametric audio coding framework that combines the analysis and re-synthesis of electric bass guitar recordings. In particular, an existing synthesis algorithm that incorporates 11 playing techniques is extended by two calibration algorithms. Both the temporal and spectral decay parameters as well as the inharmonicity coefficient are set according to the fretboard position on the instrument. Listening tests show that there is still a gap in perceptual quality between real-world instrument recordings and the re-synthesized versions. Due to this gap, the perceived improvement due to the model calibration is only small. Second, the listening tests reveal that the plucking styles are more important towards realistic synthesis results than expression styles.