Rhythm explorer
AssigneeAvid Technology, Inc.
InventorPaul Greyson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A compositional tool classifies and indexes loops in a library of audio loops by generating a time-stamped series of the durations of the percussive events that comprise each loop. The duration of a percussive event is based on spectral masking, in which a subsequent event having a spectral similarity to a prior event terminates the prior event. A composer queries the library with a query loop, and the system returns loops ranked according to the distance of their rhythmic signatures from that of the query loop, the distance determination being based on dynamic time warp analysis. Rhythmic signatures may also be used to classify and index video sequences.
Claims20
A method of retrieving a musical element from a library comprising a plurality of musical elements, the method comprising:
- receiving an indication of a query musical element comprising a first plurality of percussive events;
- generating a rhythmic signature for the query musical element, wherein the rhythmic signature of the query musical element comprises a time-stamped series of durations of the first plurality of percussive events;
- searching the library to identify a candidate musical element having a rhythmic signature that is similar to the rhythmic signature of the query musical element, the rhythmic signature of each of the plurality of musical elements in the database comprising a time-stamped series of durations of the plurality of percussive events that comprise that musical element;
- and
- retrieving the candidate musical element from the library.
A method of generating an index of a library of musical elements, the library comprising a plurality of musical elements, each element including a plurality of percussive events, the method comprising:
- receiving the library of musical elements;
- for each element of the library, generating a rhythmic signature for that element, wherein generating the rhythmic signature comprises:
- for each percussive event of that element, obtaining a duration of the percussive event, time stamping the percussive event, and associating the time stamp with the duration;
- each of the percussive events of that element;
- and
- generating a series of the time-stamped durations corresponding to the percussive events of that element;
- and
- storing the rhythmic signatures of each element in association with its corresponding musical element.
A system for retrieving a musical element from a library of musical elements, the system comprising:
- a rhythmic signature generator for generating a rhythmic signature of a query musical element comprising a first plurality of percussive events, the signature comprising a time-stamped series of durations of the first plurality of percussive events;
- a data storage library populated with a plurality of musical elements, each of the plurality of musical elements including a plurality of percussive events, wherein the library includes, for each of a plurality of musical elements, a rhythmic signature for that musical element, the rhythmic signature for that element comprising a time-stamped series of durations of the plurality of percussive events in that musical element;
- a musical element matcher for comparing the rhythmic signature of the query musical element with the rhythmic signatures of musical elements in the library, and for identifying one or more musical elements from the library of musical elements having rhythmic signatures that are substantially similar to the rhythmic signature of the query musical element;
- an interface permitting a user to provide the query musical element and select one or more of the library musical elements identified by the matcher;
- and
- a playback engine for playing the query musical element and the one or more selected musical elements from the library.
A computer program product comprising:
- a computer readable medium;
- data stored on the computer readable medium that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to:
- receive an indication of a query musical element comprising a first plurality of percussive events;
- generate a rhythmic signature for the query musical element, wherein the rhythmic signature of the query musical element comprises a time-stamped series of durations of the first plurality of percussive events;
- access a database comprising a plurality of musical elements, each of the plurality of musical elements including a plurality of percussive events;
- search the database for a candidate musical element having a rhythmic signature that is closest to the rhythmic signature of the query musical element, the rhythmic signature of each of the plurality of musical elements in the database comprising a time-stamped series of durations of the plurality of percussive events that comprise that musical element;
- and
- retrieve the candidate musical element.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.