SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SYNTHESIZING MUSIC BY SCANNING REAL OR SIMULATED VIBRATING OBJECT

In a music synthesis system, a scanning apparatus repeatedly scans a physical attribute of a vibrating object at a sequence of points of the vibrating object so as to repeatedly generate corresponding sequences of values. The music synthesis system generates an audio frequency waveform whose shape corresponds to the sequences of values. The vibrating object may be a physical object or a simulated object. The system may include a sensor for receiving user input, and means for mapping the user input into a stimulus signal that is applied to the vibrating object. In a preferred embodiment, the object vibrates and is manipulated by the user at haptic frequencies (0 to 15 hertz), while the sequences of scanned values are cyclically read at an audio frequencies so as to generate an audio frequency waveform whose timbre varies at the haptic frequencies associated with the object's vibration.