Method and apparatus for enabling advanced manipulation of audio

A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program configured to execute on a computing device having a processor and memory, said computer program having computer program code configured to:

• obtain a set of waveform data;
• storing the set of waveform data as a component of a first file that has a particular file format;
• obtain a set of Musical Instrument Digital Interface data;
• storing the set of Musical Instrument Digital Interface data as a component of a second file that has said particular file format;
• obtain a set of synthesis parameter data;
• storing the set of synthesis parameter data as a component of a third file that has said particular file format;
• obtain a set of playback parameter data;
• and
• storing the set of playback parameter data as a component of a fourth file that has said particular file format;
• wherein said particular file format enables playback parameter data to remain separate from waveform data during exchange of audio data.

A method for manipulating audio data comprising:

• obtaining an audio manipulation request associated with an audio waveform;
• determining that an audio file comprising sample data associated with said audio waveform also comprises data that sets forth a specific synthesis treatment to be used for processing sound for a given instrument, wherein said audio file specifies the given instrument for which said specific synthesis treatment is to be used;
• and
• in response to said audio manipulation request, performing the requested audio manipulation and processing sound for said given instrument on a playback device using the specific synthesis treatment that is specified by said data, thereby overriding any synthesis treatment that the playback device would otherwise use for the given instrument.

An apparatus for manipulating audio data comprising:

• means for obtaining an audio manipulation request associated with an audio waveform;
• means for determining that an audio file comprising sample data associated with said audio waveform also comprises data that sets forth a specific synthesis treatment to be used for processing sound for a given instrument, wherein said audio file specifies the given instrument for which said specific synthesis treatment is to be used;
• and
• means for responding to said audio manipulation request by performing the requested audio manipulation and processing sound for said given instrument on a playback device using the specific synthesis treatment that is specified by said data, thereby overriding any synthesis treatment that the playback device would otherwise use for the given instrument.