# US 10,482,863 B2 · Methods and apparatus to extract a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal

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- Number: US 10,482,863 B2
- Document ID: US10482863B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 16/239,238
- Filed: 2019-01-03
- Published: 2019-09-19
- Granted: 2019-11-19
- Earliest claimed: 2018-03-13
- Assignees: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
- Applicants: The Nielsen Company (US), LLC
- Inventors: Zafar Rafii
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10482863B2

## CPC

- G10H 3/125: {Extracting or recognising the pitch or fundamental frequency of the picked up signal}
- G10H 1/06: Circuits for establishing the harmonic content of tones {, or other arrangements for changing the tone colour}
- G10H 2210/056: for extraction or identification of individual instrumental parts, e.g. melody, chords, bass; Identification or separation of instrumental parts by their characteristic voices or timbres
- G10H 2250/221: Cosine transform; DCT [discrete cosine transform], e.g. for use in lossy audio compression such as MP3
- G10H 2250/235: Fourier transform; Discrete Fourier Transform [DFT]; Fast Fourier Transform [FFT]
- G10H: ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE

## Abstract

Methods and apparatus to classify media based on a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an interface to receive a media signal; a timbre database to store reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and a processor to: compare a pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal to the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and classify the media signal based on data corresponding to a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums that matches the pitch-less timbre spectrum, the classification corresponding to at least one of an instrument or a genre.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus comprising:
an interface to receive a media signal;
a timbre database to store reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and
one or more processors to:
compare a pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal to the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and
classify the media signal based on data corresponding to a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums that matches the pitch-less timbre spectrum, the classification corresponding to at least one of an instrument or a genre.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are to identify a media source of the media signal based on at least one of the timbre or the classification.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the one or more processors are to generate a report based on at least one of the classification or the identification.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are to, when the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal does not match a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums, prompt for additional information corresponding to the media signal.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the timbre database is to store the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal as a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum in conjunction with the additional information.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, further including an audio settings adjuster to determine a device setting adjustment based on the classification.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the one or more processors are to generate a report including the device setting adjustment.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the interface is to transmit the report to a device that output the media signal.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal corresponds to an inverse transform of a magnitude of a transform of a spectrum of the media signal.

### Claim 10

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed cause a machine to at least:
compare a pitch-less timbre spectrum of an obtained media signal to reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and
classify the media signal based on data corresponding to a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums that matches the pitch-less timbre spectrum, the classification corresponding to at least one of an instrument or a genre.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the machine to identify a media source of the media signal based on at least one of the timbre or the classification.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions cause the machine to generate a report based on at least one of the classification or the identification.

### Claim 13 (depends on 10)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the machine to, when the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal does not match a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums, prompt for additional information corresponding to the media signal.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the instructions cause the machine to store the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal as a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum in conjunction with the additional information.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions cause the machine to determine a device setting adjustment based on the classification.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the machine to generate a report including the device setting adjustment.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions cause the machine to transmit the report to a device that output the media signal.

### Claim 18 (depends on 10)

The computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal corresponds to an inverse transform of a magnitude of a transform of a spectrum of the media signal.

### Claim 19

A method comprising:
obtaining a media signal;
comparing a pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal to the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and
classifying the media signal based on data corresponding to a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums that matches the pitch-less timbre spectrum, the classification corresponding to at least one of an instrument or a genre.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further including identifying a media source of the media signal based on at least one of the timbre or the classification.