Saxophone acoustical modeling and vibrato “a la machoire” sound synthesis

Vibrato in saxophone playing is produced by modulating the jaw force on the reed, creating complex reed–player interactions. This work presents a physics-based sound synthesis of saxophone vibrato, modeling the instrument's acoustics and the acousto-mechanical reed–lip interaction under lip force modulation. The saxophone's acoustic impedance is measured for use in synthesis. The mouthpiece influence is represented by an acoustic model, coupled to the saxophone through numerical simulations performed with the finite element method using open-source tools. The measured impedance is applied as a boundary condition, and viscothermal losses are included. Reed oscillations under acoustic pressure are analyzed with computer vision and high-speed imaging to estimate stiffness, resonance frequency, damping, and rest opening at various lip forces. A time-domain acoustical–mechanical simulation solves a non-linear system, with results compared to recorded vibrato performances. The study identifies parameters driving vibrato production, highlighting the key quantity linking lip force variations to the phenomenon.