Extending the McAulay-Quatieri Analysis for Synthesis with a Limited Number of Oscillators

The McAulay-Quatieri (MQ) analysis is a robust, general sinusoidal analysis technique. Unlike many other analysis techniques, it can be used to analyze sounds without a stable harmonic structure (i. e., polyphonic or non-harmonic sounds and instrument tones with extreme vibrato). The MQ technique can provide the time-varying spectral information needed to control a real-time additive synthesis engine. Unfortunately, the original MQ technique generates an arbitrary number of sinusoidal tracks, while a real-time system has a limited number of oscillators. This paper presents some improvements to the basic MQ analysis technique which, in addition to improving the quality of the ensuing syntheses, and making the sinusoidal model more robust, make the MQ analysis data more suitable for controlling a real-time sinusoidal synthesis engine with a fixed number of oscillators.