Effects of Bass Guitar Pickups on Pitch Detection and Pitch Shifting
Aripirala, Saketh (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023052614825
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023052614825
Tiivistelmä
The thesis work aimed to study the effects bass guitar pickups produce when the signal is pitch-shifted or detected for synthesis. Due to the significant role a pickup plays in the sonic qualities of a stringed electric instrument, it is vital to understand the effects it yields when the signal is subject to pitch tracking or alteration algorithms. The main goal of the study was to aid Darkglass Electronics, a Finnish bass accessory manufacturer, in developing embedded effects for bass guitars without any compromise in sonic quality.
Using data analytics programming languages such as Python, a correlation and analysis tool was developed. Data points were collected from using an audio signal with the algorithms and compared to the ideal application. The script determined and flagged deviations and errors, which led to further investigation for the cause and suggested potential improvements. To perform tests on the pickup types, a bass guitar was modified to contain a humbucker pickup and a piezo bridge pickup. A debugging pre-amplifier was designed for the bass guitar to encompass signals from both pickups using Altium - an ECAD software.
The results of the tests concluded that the piezo pickup produced effects that were undesirable for the Darkglass DSP application of the pitch detection and shifting algorithms. Furthermore, the harmonic content analysis determined the fundamental difference between the pickup types. Although the piezo produced the most errors, various applications where the piezo would be a viable choice were also discovered.
Using data analytics programming languages such as Python, a correlation and analysis tool was developed. Data points were collected from using an audio signal with the algorithms and compared to the ideal application. The script determined and flagged deviations and errors, which led to further investigation for the cause and suggested potential improvements. To perform tests on the pickup types, a bass guitar was modified to contain a humbucker pickup and a piezo bridge pickup. A debugging pre-amplifier was designed for the bass guitar to encompass signals from both pickups using Altium - an ECAD software.
The results of the tests concluded that the piezo pickup produced effects that were undesirable for the Darkglass DSP application of the pitch detection and shifting algorithms. Furthermore, the harmonic content analysis determined the fundamental difference between the pickup types. Although the piezo produced the most errors, various applications where the piezo would be a viable choice were also discovered.