Welcome to theSecond episode of my deep dive into physical-modeling synthesizers, proudly sponsored by the legends at Audio Modeling ❤️ ? https://audiomodeling.com/
This time, I travel to Palo Alto, California, to meet the legendary mind behind digital waveguide theory — the foundation of the Yamaha VL-1 and many other breakthroughs that shaped modern digital audio.
In this episode we cover:
? The jump from Newton & d’Alembert to real-time synths
?️ How commuting losses turned a super-computer project into a hardware keyboard
? The Memphis diner “light-bulb moment” that birthed digital wave-guides ✨
? Behind-the-scenes stories of Yamaha’s 100-engineer push to ship the VL-1
?Jordon Rudess and Geoshred - an expressive musical instrument app that uses physical modeling to simulate instruments
?Why today’s phones can run 50+ physically modelled strings—and where AI is taking us next
New here? Catch Episode 1 first – unboxing, restoring, and patch-hunting on a vintage VL-1 → https://youtu.be/NnL65jVFF_U
Sponsored by Audio Modeling ❤️
Discover SWAM-powered instruments & more → https://audiomodeling.com/
? Learn more about Prof. Julius Smith
Wikipedia → https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Smith
Stanford Profile → https://music.stanford.edu/people/julius-smith
CCRMA profile → https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/
Digital Wave-Guide tutorial → https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~jos/waveguide/
Learn more about GeoShred: https://www.moforte.com/
TIME STAMPS
00:00 Intro – welcome back to the Physical Modeling deep-dive
00:22 Flying to Stanford to meet Prof. Julius O. Smith
00:54 What this episode will cover
01:06 Julius’ background – guitar, Rice & Stanford EE
02:15 What IS physical modelling synthesis?
03:16 Newton, d’Alembert & the first wave equation
04:24 Sound = vibration – strings, scraping & harmonics
05:06 Pythagoreans, Bernoulli & Fourier
07:03 “The universe is made of vibration” – philosophy break
07:53 Turning equations into real-time audio
08:25 Latency & the commuted-wave-guide breakthrough
11:02 500× speed-up explained
12:56 Steak-and-Egg Kitchen “Eureka” moment
14:03 Building loss-less reverbs & sound mazes
17:05 Strings vs. tubes – impedance basics
19:30 Yamaha steps in – road to VL-1
24:44 1994: VL-1 hits the market
25:57 VL-7m / VL-70m & breath control
27:24 Physical modelling TODAY – SWAM, PianoTeq, Moforte
30:47 Patents expire – open season for model makers
31:56 AI-powered controllers & gesture tracking
33:58 Generative-AI jam partners (Jordan Rudess)
35:26 Compressing a player’s style with GPT models
37:00 Tech optimism vs. fear – Julius’ take
38:31 Wrap-up, thanks & goodbye
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?️ Tags:
#PhysicalModeling #YamahaVL1 #JuliusSmith