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Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 208101 (2001) [4 pages]

Simple Motor Gestures for Birdsongs

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Tim Gardner, G. Cecchi*, and M. Magnasco
Center for Studies in Physics and Biology, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10021

R. Laje and Gabriel B. Mindlin
Departamento de Física, FCEN, UBA, Ciudad Universitaria, Pab. I (1428), Buenos Aires, Argentina

Received 20 April 2001; published 26 October 2001

We present a model of sound production in a songbird’s vocal organ and find that much of the complexity of the song of the canary (Serinus canaria) can be produced from simple time variations in forcing functions. The starts, stops, and pauses between syllables, as well as variation in pitch and timbre are inherent in the mechanics and can often be expressed through smooth and simple variations in the frequency and relative phase of two driving parameters

© 2001 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.208101
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.208101
PACS:
87.19.Rr, 43.64.+r, 84.35.+i, 87.19.Nn

*Present address: IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY.Email address:

 
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