What acoustic principle underpinned the rule-based Formant Synthesis developed after the move to solid-state electronics in the 1960s?

Answer

Electronically modeling the sound source (vocal cords) and the spectral shaping provided by the vocal tract formants.

Formant synthesis marked a transition away from electromechanical emulation toward pure digital computation based on established acoustic science. This approach directly implemented the principles identified earlier, which involved breaking down speech into fundamental electronic components. The system mathematically modeled the physical characteristics that create sound: the sound source, analogous to the vocal cords, and the resonant frequencies, or formants, which define the spectral shape of vowels and consonants as they pass through the vocal tract. By electronically generating and manipulating these modeled components according to linguistic rules, speech could be synthesized without relying on pre-recorded audio or continuous manual control, although the resulting sound was often monotonous.

What acoustic principle underpinned the rule-based Formant Synthesis developed after the move to solid-state electronics in the 1960s?

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