Physical Modeling of Membranes for Percussion Instruments

Recent research on Physical Modeling has led to 2-D discrete-time structures based on the Digital Waveguides. These structures are well suited for efficient yet accurate simulation of wave propagation in an ideal membrane. Nevertheless, real membranes exhibit a different behaviour, due to the environmental conditions and to the material they are made of. In this work we consider some aspects, crucial for the audio signal, of the physical phenomena concerning real membranes, and we will develop a 2-D waveguide model encompassing the effects of these aspects. In order to excite the simulated membrane, we will consider a hammer model previously developed for piano strings, and here adapted to fit the hammer-membrane interaction.