Yamaha PLG100-VL Owner's Manual - Virtual Acoustic Synthesis

6

  Virtual Acoustic Synthesis

Unlike previous tone generation systems which use oscillators, function generators, preset wave-

forms or samples to produce sound, Yamaha Virtual Acoustic (“VA”) Synthesis applies sophis-

ticated computer-based “physical modeling” technology to musical sound synthesis. In the same

way that computer “models” are used to simulate weather systems or the flight characteristics of

aircraft in the design stage, the PLG100-VL simulates the very complex vibrations, resonances,

reflections and other acoustic phenomena that occur in a real wind or string instrument.

VA Advantages

The PLG100-VL offers many advantages in terms of musical performance. Not just in

terms of sound, but also in terms of the “behavior” that makes acoustic instruments so

… well, musical! Yamaha Virtual Acoustic Synthesis is simply the most musical tone

generation system ever created.

•

The PLG100-VL sounds better, has more depth, and is more realistic in the musical

sense than any other tone generation system.

•

Simply playing a note in the same way does not always produce precisely the same

sound. The instrument is responsive and “alive”.

•

Note-to-note transitions have the same continuity exhibited by acoustic instruments.

What goes on in between the notes is just as important musically as the notes them-

selves.

•

It has extraordinary expressive capability. Rather than simply controlling parameters

like volume or pitch, you can control characteristics such as breath and reed pressure

with appropriate complex effects on the timbre of the sound.

VL Tone Generator Model

The overall VL tone generation model or “algorithm” consists of three main blocks: the

instrument, controllers, and modifiers. In schematic form these blocks are arranged as

follows:

Sound out

Controllers (also envelopes)

Instrument

Modifiers