System and method for audio creation and editing in a multimedia messaging environment

A method for reordering two or more audio elements, each audio element having a graphical component, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input;
• identifying a chosen set of audio elements to be reordered from the user input;
• identifying a new order for the chosen set of audio elements based on the user input such that the chosen set of audio elements are ordered spatially independent of each other;
• determining a lowest ordinal value for the chosen set of audio elements;
• modifying an ordinal value of each of the audio elements in the chosen set of audio elements using the new order;
• modifying a link object including a reference to at least a first audio element of the chosen set having a modified ordinal value;
• and
• updating a user interface of the chosen set of audio elements to reflect the modified ordinal values, the display including a visual representation of a link as a connector between a visual representation of the first audio element and a visual representation of a second audio element, wherein a spatial location of the visual representation of the second audio element is independent of a temporal sequence or relationship to the first audio element and the visual representation of the first audio element.

A method of associating an audio element with a media object, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input identifying the media object and the audio element to be associated;
• creating a link object;
• storing a reference to the media object and the audio element in the link object;
• and
• displaying a visual representation of the link object as a connector between the visual representations of the media object and the audio element, wherein spatial locations of the visual representations of the media object and the audio element are independent of each other and a temporal sequence or relationship and are controllable by a user.

A method of outputting audio signals, the method comprising the steps of:

• displaying a visual representation of at least a first audio element, a visual representation of a second audio element and a visual representation of a link as a connector between the visual representation of the first audio element and the visual representation of the second audio element located spatially on a two-dimensional layout capable of displaying non-audio elements, the visual representation of the first audio element including an audio indicator;
• receiving user input;
• identifying the first audio element, with an audio data field, based on the user input;
• retrieving first audio data for the first audio element from the audio data field;
• outputting the first audio data;
• and
• highlighting sections of the audio indicator corresponding to a temporal range for which audio output has been provided,
• wherein a spatial location of the visual representation of the first audio element is independent of the audio data field of the first audio element, a temporal sequence or relationship to the second audio element and the visual representation of the second audio element and is controllable by the user.

A method of joining audio elements comprising:

• receiving user input identifying a first and second audio elements to be joined;
• creating a new audio element;
• retrieving information from the first audio element and storing it in the new audio element;
• retrieving information from the second audio element and storing it in the new audio element;
• deleting the first and second audio elements;
• modifying a link object including a reference to at least one of the deleted first and second audio elements to delete said reference and to include a reference to the new audio element;
• and
• updating a user interface to reflect the modified link object, the updated display including a visual representation of a link as a connector between a visual representation of the new audio element and a visual representation of a third audio element, wherein a spatial location the visual representation of the third audio element is independent of a temporal sequence or relationship to the new audio element and the visual representation of the new audio element.

A method of joining audio elements comprising:

• receiving user input identifying a first and second audio elements to be joined;
• retrieving information from the second audio element;
• storing the retrieved information from the second audio element in the first audio element;
• deleting the second audio element;
• modifying a link object including a reference to the deleted second audio element to include a reference to the first audio element;
• and
• updating a user interface to reflect the modified link object, the updated display including a visual representation of a link as a connector between a visual representation of the first audio element and a visual representation of a third audio element, wherein a spatial location of the visual representation of the third audio element is independent of a temporal sequence or relationship to the first audio element and the visual representation of the first audio element.

A method of splitting an audio element, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input identifying an original audio element to be split, the original audio element containing a beginning point, an ending point and a splitting point, the splitting point situated in between the beginning point and the ending point;
• creating a first audio element;
• creating a second audio element;
• retrieving first audio data from the original audio element, the first audio data retrieved between the beginning point and the splitting point;
• retrieving second audio data from the original audio element, the second audio data retrieved between the splitting point and the ending point;
• storing first audio data in the first audio element;
• storing second audio data in the second audio element;
• deleting the original audio element;
• modifying a link object including a reference to the original audio element to delete said reference and to include a reference to the first and second audio elements;
• and
• updating a user interface to reflect the modified link object, the updated display including a visual representation of a link as a connector between a visual representation of the first audio element and a visual representation of a third audio element, wherein a spatial location the visual representation of the third audio element is independent of a temporal sequence or relationship to the first audio element and the visual representation of the first audio element.

A method of splitting an audio element, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving user input identifying a first audio element to be split, the first audio element containing a beginning point, an ending point and a splitting point situated in between the beginning point and the ending point;
• creating a second audio element;
• retrieving audio data from the first element, the audio data retrieved between the splitting point and the ending point of the first audio element;
• storing the retrieved audio data in the second audio element;
• deleting retrieved audio data from the first audio element;
• modifying a link object including a reference to the first audio element to include a reference to the second audio element;
• and
• updating a user interface to reflect the modified link object, the updated display including a visual representation of a link as a connector between a visual representation of the second audio element and a visual representation of a third audio element, wherein a spatial location of the visual representation of the third audio element is independent of a temporal sequence or relationship to the second audio element and the visual representation of the second audio element.

A method for displaying media objects in conjunction with outputting audio data, the method comprising the steps of:

• identifying an audio element;
• retrieving audio data for the identified audio element from an audio data field;
• outputting the retrieved audio data;
• retrieving a link object referring to the identified audio element;
• retrieving a media object referred to from the link object;
• and
• displaying a visual representation of the media object, a visual representation of the audio element, a visual representation of a link as a connector between the visual representation of the audio element and the visual representation of the media object, wherein a spatial location of the visual representation of the media object is independent of a temporal sequence or a relationship to the audio element and the visual representation of the audio element and controllable by a user.