Morph: Timbre Hybridization Tools Based on Frequency Domain Processing

This paper presents a hybridization method using Morph, a sound timbre hybridization and modeling software running on the Windows 95 platform. Elaboration occurs in Fourier space and is based on analysis/re-synthesis operations through FFT and FFT-1. The hybridization method works through the segmentation of two starting spectra in zones centered on the energy peaks. Each identified spectral zone, is numbered in increasing order so that a matching can be established between pairs of zones with the same value during re-synthesis. A full description of the Morph elaboration performance includes cross-synthesis, timbre hybridization, harmonic/inharmonic component separation and filtering. An initial catalogue of hybrid sounds has been compiled using this system, in order to tackle hybridization problems in an organic and systematic manner. The criteria used for the drafting and organization of the catalogue are discussed in the latter part of this paper.