Method and apparatus for storing a multipart audio performance with interactive playback

A computer-readable medium having a data structure encoding an audio performance for interactive playback stored thereon, the data structure comprising:

• a global accompaniment pool that encodes a non-interactive part of the audio performance, wherein a portion of the non-interactive part is encoded as synthesizer control data, and another portion of the non-interactive part is encoded as digital samples of the audio performance;
• and
• a virtual instrument pool that encodes an interactive part of the audio performance, the interactive part having audio content encoded at least in synthesizer control data, each datum in the synthesizer control data specifying one or more musical notes to be synthesized or specifying a digital sample of the audio content to be played back.

Code stored on a computer readable medium, said code for running on a computer in an entertainment system that includes an audio output subsystem, an input device, and a memory storing a musical performance data structure having an interactive portion of a musical performance and an accompanying, non-interactive portion of the musical performance, said code comprising:

• a virtual manager object which causes the computer to read the musical performance data structure stored in the memory and generate a virtual object representing a virtual instrument identified in said performance data structure, wherein said virtual object causes said computer to map user input from the input device to the interactive portion of the musical performance and play the mapped interactive portion of the musical performance through the audio output subsystem;
• and
• a global accompaniment object which causes the computer to play the accompanying non-interactive portion of the musical performance through the audio output system.