Physical Modeling and Synthesis of Motor Noise for Replication of a Sound Effects Library

This paper presents the results of objective tests exploring the concept of using a small number of physical models to create and replicate a large number of samples from a traditional sound effects library. The design of a DC motor model is presented and this model is used to create both a household drill and a small boat engine. The harmonic characteristics, as well as the spectral centroid were compared with the original samples and all the features agree to within 6.1%. The results of the tests are discussed with a heavy emphasis on realism and perceived accuracy and the parameters which have to be improved in order to humanise a model are explored.