Dr Damian Murphy

Work at York has for some time explored discrete time modelling of acoustic systems for the synthesis and processing of sound events.  Previous work that has originated from the Department of Electronics includes:

• Taosynth by Mark Pearson.  This webpage includes some wonderful sound examples that Taosynth is capable of producing.
• Cymatic by Stuart Rimmell and David Howard.  Includes real-time sound synthesis and tactile feedback.

Recent work explores the application of a particular family of discrete time models based on the Digital Waveguide Mesh, an extension to the 1D digital waveguide technique that has long been used as the foundation of physical modelling based sound synthesis.  There are two currently active projects that have their own respective pages.

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RoomWeaver:

Room acoustics modelling based on hybrid digital waveguide mesh techniques.  A work in progress at the moment!  The best current references for this work can be found in [Murphy et al., 2008], [Murphy and Beeson, 2007] and [Beeson and Murphy, 2004].

Simon Shelley has been investigating how diffusing boundaries might be best implemented as part of a DWM based room acoustics simualtion for his PhD research.  His web page on Diffusing Boundaries in the DWM with sound examples and additional details is now hosted as part of this site.

Current work is exploring the possibilities for encoding and rendering RoomWeaver output for spatial audio presentaion.  It is also examining how these techniques might be applied more generally to other acoustic simulation methods and applications.  This work is being carried out by Alex Southern as part of his PhD under my supervision.

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VocalTract:

A real-time dynamic simulation of the vocal tract implemented using a 2-D digital waveguide mesh. More details including sound examples and a downloadable demo are available on the VocalTract webpage.

Note that Jack Mullen's thesis, "Physical Modelling of the Vocal Tract with the 2D Digital Waveguide Mesh", is also now hosted on this site, and linked from the VocalTract webpage, with the author's kind permission.

In 2004 Damian was granted an AHRC/ACE Arts/Science Fellowship to explore acoustic measurement and modelling techniques and how they could be used to both inform and implement compositions with a focus on spatial audio.  Based on the work of Angelo Farina's Preserving Acoustics for Posterity project, This has involved a series of acoustic measurement surveys in unusual and interesting spaces, initially around the UK and now further afield.  Results from this work have been most recently presented in [Murphy, 2006a], [Murphy, 2006b] and [Murphy, 2005].  More usefully, some of the impulse responses and associated acoustic data have been made available online and are currently hosted on the SpACE-Net webpages.

I was interviewed live about this work on BBC Radio 4's Material World Programme on Thursday 15th February 2006 at 4.30pm.  Details of the programme now online and available on Listen Again.

Virtual Acoustics

But what happens if the space you are interested in listening to or studying is no longer in its original form, inaccessible, or only exits in one's imagination?  In these cases a virtual acoustic model of some kind must be developed.  This approach is of course linked in with the RoomWeaver project above, but is also an area of study in its own right.  A summary of a project we worked on a number of years ago, together with supporting information, is now presented on the Virtual Acoustics webpage.

Virtual Audio and Past Environments: Audio and Acoustics in Heritage Applications

Our interests in acoustic measurement, modelling, sound art and installation have resulted in a successful application to the AHRC ICT Methods Network, with additional support from SpACE-Net and EPSRC, to run a one day workshop in this specifc area with a view to gathering likeminded researchers, artists, practitioners and those with a more general interest in the application of this work.  It should make for a unique and informative event, hopefully leading to further collaborations and new projects.  Full details, together with new updates and announcements related to the day can be found on the Workshop webpage.

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SpACE-Net, funded by the UK's EPSRC, has been setup to bring together a community of spatial audio researchers, practitioners and artists, drawn from the fields of science, audio engineering and the arts. By combining theoretical, experimental and creative approaches, it aims to identify and develop important new directions in spatial audio research and practice, and to encourage and promote work in these areas. It has its own website at SpACE-Net.org.uk and all spatial audio practitioners, researchers and developers are invited to join.

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Research Students

PhD and Masters by Research students I have supervised or am supervising in order of graduation, with links to their work where available:

MSc by Research:

Alistair Kirk (2005)
Alex Southern (2007)

PhD:

Simon Shelley (2008)
Jack Mullen - jointly supervised with David Howard (2007)
Jez Wells (2007)

Current:

Alex Southern (PhD)
Matt Speed (PhD) - jointly supervised with David Howard

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