More Masses For The Masses.

Physics-based modeling using floating-point computations can enable nuanced control of sound for applications in music. Historically, either powerful computers or custom hardware have been required to obtain high-fidelity sound, particularly as a large number of virtual masses or \"virtual resonators\" are for example needed to obtain complex timbres. However, over the past few years, low-cost (e.g. USD $35) embedded computers have become increasingly powerful and able to simulate a more impressive number of virtual masses or virtual resonators in real time. Benchmarks are conducted to compare how many virtual masses, virtual strings, or virtual resonators can be simulated in real time on the Raspberry Pi 1 and 2 embedded computers. It was observed that the Raspberry Pi 2 could provide for real-time audio bandwidths as large as 14 kHz (virtual masses) or 11 kHz (virtual resonators) for harmonic tones with f0 as low as 80 Hz, using only a single computational core. This will enable the creation of a whole new class of instruments called embedded acoustic instruments, which can be programmed using physics-based modeling techniques.