The CHANT Project: From the Synthesis of the Singing Voice to Synthesis in General

The CHANT project was originally concerned with the analysis and synthesis of the singing voice. This work led to a complex program of voice synthesisby-rule: CHANT. This program was enriched with a constantly expanding software environment, consisting of both analysis and composition programs. In time, broader aims than the synthesis of the singing voice imposed themselves. These aims centered on the search for models of the processes involved in the production of musical sound. Our present research encompasses the physical description of sound phenomena (the sonic material), the articulation of these phenomena (organization), and compositional issues. This research is intended to transcend simulation. Our goal is to extrapolate new creative models for music on the basis of knowledge models developed using the synthesis-by-rule methodology. In this research, synthesis is the proof of both our understanding of sound phenomena, and of the music itself.