The physics of musical instruments has been studied to a point where many instruments can now be modeled to produce realistic sound synthesis. However, the knowledge of the mechanics of any system is not sufficient to predict its behavior after a human interaction. Thus, the investigation of the musician-instrument interaction is an active field of research, which aims at including the musician impact on the sound production. Eventually, it will be valuable to provide more realistic sound synthesis. Over the years, trained instrumentalists develop the ability to produce notes in a specific and reproducible way. They learn how to control their gestures to perform each note with the desired acoustical features. This thesis studies the control parameters used by the harpist in relation to the produced sound. First, the player/harp interaction has been investigated by characterizing the musical gestures in relation to the musical interpretation. Then, we focused on the gesture directly involved in the sound production, i.e. the plucking action. This analysis had underlined the characteristics of string plucking, both highly reproducible and player-specific. Finally, a previous model of the finger / string interaction has been enhanced by using these results. It has been validated by a repeatable and configurable robotic finger.
