Real-Time Implementation of the Shamisen using Finite Difference Schemes

The shamisen is a Japanese three-stringed lute. It is a chordophone that has the front of the body covered by a tensioned membrane which greatly contributes to the distinct sound of the instrument. Although the shamisen is a traditional Japanese instrument, it is a rare instrument in the rest of the world, making it mostly inaccessible by the majority of artists. To our knowledge, no physically modelled synthesizer of the shamisen is available, forcing producers and musicians to use samples. The objective of this paper is to make the shamisen’s distinct sound more accessible to digital music artists. The real-time implementation of the shamisen physical model is presented along with the derivation of solution using the finite-difference timedomain (FDTD) methods. The digital instrument sounds mostly as intended, though lacking the shamisen’s distinct buzzing sound requiring further development.