Four Decades of Digital Waveguides

Tablas de Paula P, Smith III JO, Välimäki V, Reiss JD. Four Decades of Digital Waveguides. J Audio Eng Soc. 2026;74(7/8):464-484. doi:10.17743/jaes.2026.0283

@article{TablasdePaula2026_23382,
  author = {Tablas de Paula, Pablo and Smith III, Julius O. and Välimäki, Vesa and Reiss, Joshua D.},
  title = {{Four Decades of Digital Waveguides}},
  journal = {Journal of the Audio Engineering Society},
  volume = {74},
  number = {7/8},
  pages = {464--484},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  publisher = {Audio Engineering Society},
  doi = {10.17743/jaes.2026.0283},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2026.0283}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Four Decades of Digital Waveguides
AU  - Tablas de Paula, Pablo
AU  - Smith III, Julius O.
AU  - Välimäki, Vesa
AU  - Reiss, Joshua D.
T2  - Journal of the Audio Engineering Society
J2  - J. Audio Eng. Soc.
VL  - 74
IS  - 7/8
SP  - 464
EP  - 484
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/08
DO  - 10.17743/jaes.2026.0283
UR  - https://doi.org/10.17743/jaes.2026.0283
PB  - Audio Engineering Society
LA  - en
AB  - Digital waveguide physical modeling offers efficient simulation of acoustic wave propagation as compared to general finite-difference schemes commonly used in computational physics. This efficiency has enabled the real-time implementation of physically modeled musical instruments and sound effects, as well as real-time vocal models and artificial reverberation. This paper provides an overview of the historical evolution and applications of digital waveguide modeling and highlights recent advances in the field. Parametric optimization using classical, evolutionary, and neural approaches are also discussed and compared. Digital waveguides provide physically accurate simulations with reduced computational cost and can now be optimized with modern machine learning and differentiable digital signal processing techniques.
ER  -