Spectral Audio Modeling: Evolution and Relevance in Modern Audio Processing

Explore the evolution and current relevance of spectral audio modeling in this 59-minute conference talk by Julius Smith at ADC 2023. Delve into the historical developments of spectral audio synthesis and processing, tracing its origins from evolutionary biology to musical practices and innovations at Bell Labs and CCRMA. Examine the continued importance of spectral decompositions in auditory processing and their role in modern AI approaches. Analyze the apparent contradiction between the brain's reliance on spectral information and machine learning's trend towards time-domain waveform encodings. Discover how spectral audio processing and AI continue to work symbiotically in various applications, suggesting a future where both technologies coexist and complement each other in audio signal processing.