Physiologically driven electronic vocal organ

YONATAN SANZ PERL; EZEQUIEL M. ARNEODO; GABRIEL B. MINDLIN

Huerta Grande, Córdoba

Conferencia; II REUNION CONJUNTA NEUROCIENCIAS; 2010

Sociedad Argentina de Neurociencias - Neurotaller

Songbirds are the best-suited animal model to study general mechanisms underlying learned motor behavior responsible for complex output, as it is birdsong. Between the central motor pattern generator and the complex output stands a highly nonlinear biomechanical periphery. The avian vocal organ of the Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata) is capable of generating a large variety of acoustic signals, which range from simple whistles to highly complex sounds. A mathematical model of the zebra finch syrinx is proposed, in which the onset of labial oscillations and the acoustic features of the sound are tuned by parameters accounting for the bird´s motor patterns. We build an electronic birdsong synthesizer by implementing the model in a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). This device is capable of reading physiological recordings, integrating the mathematical equations representing the avian vocal organ´s behavior, and producing synthetic birdsong in real time.