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1. G O 4 p 9 and st 3T TqT3eduoo 9 4018 st 5 uou pue JOTS UT uq H 9 p TX3 ST V XOOTC ST L ST enuT UCD 4 CANUNLAU SI 29420015 v p uxuq r st Su nb s s y BSuyrpu ST L 3x u SY 2 pure ST I 3 JOU ue ST H Pax s p suq nuT4uoS V xou p z pTSuoo g I 30Ts ut md st g 37 pUe 2 yooTq 3927 Uq ST V SE SE 08 08 08 068 06 SE 06 SE 0 uq65u r 35 uq5u r u35u r ua5u r yqbuet yabuat b QA2. ISSUED UNDER 35 U S C 307 NO AMENDMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE PATENT O The patentability of claims 1 21 is confirmed
3. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference only to the presently preferred embodiments those of ordinary skill in the art will appre ciate that various modifications can be made without depart ing from the invention Accordingly the invention is defined by the following claims We claim 1 A system for generating an audio sequence having a prescribed duration comprising a table referencing one or more predefined audio seg ments wherein said table contains entries to partition each of said predefined audio segments into blocks said table entries including data corresponding to the duration of each said block the suitability for each said block to begin or end an audio sequence and the compatibility of each said block to sequentially follow each other said block a user interface for permitting a user to prescribe an audio sequence duration an audio block sequence compiler for iteratively compil ing a list of one or more audio sequences each com prised of a plurality of blocks selected according to said user prescribed audio sequence duration such that each said audio sequence conforms with said table entries and means for displaying said list _2 The system of claim 1 additionally comprising means to store at least one said audio sequence from said list 3 The system of claim 1 additionally comprising means to play a selected audio sequence from said list 4 The system of claim 1 w
4. m MMAM lt lt ae on 5 693 902 1 AUDIO BLOCK SEQUENCE COMPILER FOR GENERATING PRESCRIBED DURATION AUDIO SEQUENCES COPYRIGHT NOTICE This patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection The copyright owner has no objec tion to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to hardware software systems of the type used to generate audio sequences and in particular for generating audio sequences of prescribed durations that are of particular use for creating soundtracks in multimedia systems e g in an audio video environment In an exemplary audio video environment a visual sequence e g a movie video clip is combined with an audio background However visual sequences are often repetitively edited before an aesthetically satisfactory sequence is achieved The audio sequence must then be edited to match the duration of the edited video sequence With an available orchestra this process can be repeated as often as necessary but it is very expensive In a more restricted environment e g a multimedia video game this procedure is often too costly and cumbersome SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is
5. plary structure for the encoding table 26 Each entry 23 in the encoding table 26 contains a definition pointer 28 which includes identifying information for the library entry e g a title and the physical location of the source audio segment 24 e g a CD file Each encoding table entry 23 is further divided into a plurality of entries that define blocks i e audio blocks and associated characteristics for the audio from the source audio segment 24 In a simplified example source audio segment 24 is divided into five blocks A B C D E F where the sequence ABCDEF corresponds to the source audio segment 24 Although other combinations of blocks e g FEDCBA also create audio sequences not all sequences of blocks will create aesthetically reasonable audio sequences Thus it has been determined that infor mation must be derived to determine the musical compat ibility according to aesthetic criteria between each block e g A B and each potential succeeding block e g while block C may reasonably follow block B it may not be aesthetically reasonable for it to follow block A Additionally while some blocks e g A are suitable accord ing to aesthetic criteria to reasonably start a musical sequence other blocks can not Similarly only certain blocks e g F are suitable according to aesthetic criteria to reasonably end a musical sequence Lastly not all source audio segments 24 can reasonably be divided into fixed len
6. 6 continued USAGEFLAGS BEGINING_BLOCK Set this bit if the block is a good choice sounds musically correct to begin a selection 1L lt lt 30 0 40000000 Set this bit if the block is a good choice to end a selection 1L lt lt 31 0x80000000 ENDING_BLOCK While some of the above functions can be applied to existing music through an encoding process and some are dependent on a custom music library in which music is composed and performed in a specific format struct BlockStruct SoundFileInfoPtr fileInfo pointer to file struct for this block unsigned long blockStart sample number unsigned long blockLength number of samples Str15 blockName Str63 blockDesc unsigned long compatibility COMPAT_SIZE unsigned long usageFlags short nextBlock short quickEnd unsigned char blockSection unsigned char blockPriority BlockTypes blockType Boolean selected BlockStructPirr next 18 HINTING WARNING Using the encoded information in the blocks the user is assisted by visually displaying information about the blocks Block attributes including beginnings endings and compat ibility are all displayed Beginning displayed by stair step pattern on the left edge of the block Ending displayed by a stair step pattern on the right edge of the block Compatibility the rightmost end cap of a selection in the sequence window is colored and all of the compatible blocks in the block windo
7. a user chooses an audio e g a musical segment from a predefined audio library and prescribes the duration of an audio sequence Prior to depositing each musical segment in the library the musical selection is divided into audio blocks that are identified in a correspond ing encoding table with characteristics including 1 duration 2 suitability for being used as a beginning or ending of an audio sequence and 3 musical compatibility with each audio block Using this characteristic table and the user prescribed criteria i e duration the audio block sequence compiler generates a plurality of audio sequences satisfying the user prescribed criteria which can be reviewed e g played and or saved for future use 21 Claims 6 Drawing Sheets USER INTERFACE 1 SELECTION LIBRARY 2 DURATION 38 KE YSOARD MOUSE 5 693 902 Sheet 1 of 6 Dec 2 1997 U S Patent 3ISNOW SE NOILVYNG Z AYVYGIT NOLL 53736 1 Ys 1dWOD SONANO3ZS X208 k 5 693 902 Sheet 2 of 6 Dec 2 1997 U S Patent ve O N GN3 ONINNISO38 LNAWOSS ALIMELVdWOD NOILVYNG k LN3VNO3S OIONV EZ U S Patent Dec 2 1997 Sheet 3 of 6 Block Diagram User Specifies Fil User Specifies Length Locate a suitabl block coded to Begin Using
8. data structure for each block of the encoding table in this exemplary embodiment fileInfo a pointer to which sound file this block is associated with blockStart the sample number within the sound file at which this block begins blockLength the number of samples that this block contains The end sample number is derived by adding blockStart and block Length blockName the name to display on this block no longer than 15 characters blockDesc the long text description of this block up to 63 characters compatibility an array of bits specifying this block s compatibility with all other blocks in this file described below usageFlags bit flags indicating properties of this block described below nextBlock the block number of the best block to following this block quickEnd the block number of the best next block to end the music quickly blockSection a section number of this block assigned for use in grouping sub blocks into grouped blocks for display blockPriority a priority number of this block assigned for use in display ing blocks at different detail levels blockType a set of bits specifying if this block should be displayed if the block is in use and other status flags USER_BLOCK_TYPE INVISIBLE_BLOCK_TYPE AVAILABLE_BLOCK_TYPE selected a True False flag indicating if the block is currently selected intensity each block is assigned an intensity index in relation to the other blocks in the file The higher the intensity
9. number the more intense the audio in the block is in relation to the other blocks hitPoint the sample number if any of a musical Hit within the block 0 for no significant hit moodIndex number grouping this blocks mood with other blocks mood All blocks with the same moodIndex will have the same mood next a pointer to the next block Compatibility Each block has an array of unsigned longs which are used as an array of bits Each bit corresponds to a block from the soundfile Bit 0 corresponds to block 0 etc Bit 15 should be set if the block is compatible with block 15 Compatible blocks are blocks which sound musically correct when they are played one after the other For example Block A should be flagged as compatible with Block B when it sound musically correct to listen to Block A followed by Block B If Block B was the 24th block from the soundfile then bit 24 of Block A s compatibility array should be set USAGEFLAGS DEAD_END_ FLAG Set if this block will lead you directly toward an ending Set this bit if this block is a bad choice to build a long cue L lt Set this bit if the next block doesn t need a crossfade to make a good sound ing transition iL lt lt 1 Set this bit to signal that this block can be effectively faded in volume to any length 1L lt lt 2 NEXT_CONTIGUOUS_FLAG FADEABLE_BLOCK 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 65
10. parameters associated with each audio block FIG is a simplified flow chart of the operation of the system of FIG 1 FIG 3B is a simplified flow chart depicting the process implemented by the audio block sequence compiler FIG 4 is an exemplary encoding table for a fifty second source audio segment and FIG 5 shows the iterations performed by the audio block sequence compiler according to the flow chart of FIG 3B on the data of the encoding table of FIG 4 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference now to the drawings and particularly to FIG 1 there is shown a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of an audio sequence generator 10 of the present invention In a preferred embodiment the audio sequence generator 10 is comprised of a computer executed software program generally initially present on a floppy disk and finally residing on the hard disk of a personal computer PC 12 e g a Macintosh or IBM compatible PC controlled by a processor 13 As such the following discussion relates to this preferred PC environment However different computer platforms or hardware only implementations are also considered within the scope of the presently preferred invention The audio sequence generator 10 is primarily comprised of 1 an audio library 14 and 2 an audio block sequence compiler 16 In operation a user via a user interface 17 e g a keyboard mouse 18 chooses a source segment from the audio libra
11. selected as an end block the audio block sequence compiler can truncate the fadeable end block to generate an audio sequence of the prescribed length which might otherwise not be achievable In a further aspect of a preferred embodiment the encod ing table additionally contains an intensity parameter that when selected by the operator is used by the audio block sequence compiler to generate an audio sequence that most closely matches a user prescribed intensity curve 10 15 35 45 55 2 In a still further aspect of a preferred embodiment each block can be identified in the encoding table as having a hit point that defines the location when present of an intensity burst When prescribed by the user the audio block sequence compiler can use the hit point parameter to place an intensity burst at a user prescribed location in the gen erated audio sequence Other features and advantages of the present invention should become apparent from the following description of the presently preferred embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example the principles of the present invention BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 comprises a functional block diagram of an audio block sequence compiler system in accordance with the present invention for generating audio sequences having user prescribed durations FIG 2 is a simplified diagram of an encoding table showing the
12. Audio Block Sequence Compiler construct a list of blocks which conform to the user specifications Continue until length is correct and last block coded to End Return the version to the user to play or save FIG 3A 5 693 902 U S Patent Dec 2 1997 Sheet 4 of 6 5 693 902 Select Next 151 Block Next block aginning been emoved N there Is block a block Remove block and search for anothe Tried Blocks Compatible Add block to List 15 list long enough Is last block an End Save In Block Sequence List FIG 3B Remove block from fist 5 693 902 Sheet 5 of 6 Dec 2 1997 U S Patent r I H H 3 A ve A 118 aJ 2 fel fete s s r 1 H S 4 9 g y ce 5 693 902 Sheet 6 of 6 Dec 2 1997 U S Patent 4 929 3 1 souenbas PUR sas 2OTS 3817 UT 45 SHnNILNOO 55400 4 ST SoOu nb sg os uv pur YAO ST sxs s uTpu you L JOTS UT
13. United States Patent Hufford et al US005693902A 5 693 902 Dec 2 1997 Patent Number 145 Date of Patent 54 AUDIO BLOCK SEQUENCE COMPILER FOR GENERATING PRESCRIBED DURATION AUDIO SEQUENCES 75 Inventors Geoffrey Calvin Hufford Christopher P Hufford Kevin C Klingler all of Chatsworth Calif 73 Assignee Sonic Desktop Software Chatsworth Calif 21 Appl No 532 527 22 Filed Sep 22 1995 5 G10H 7 00 52 U S CI 84 650 84 634 84 609 84 610 58 Field of Search 84 609 610 634 84 649 650 615 653 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 5 300 725 4 1994 Manabe 84 609 5 455 378 10 1995 Paulson et al 5 521 323 5 1996 Paulson et al OTHER PUBLICATIONS Tune Builder 1 1 For MAC User Manual Airworks Corpo ration Tune Builder Self Editing Music System Airworks Corpo ration AUDIO BLOCK SEQUENCE COMPILER Arpeggio Self Editing Music System Airworks Corpora tion Tunebuilder Custom Airworks Corporation Primary Examiner William M Shoop Jr Assistant Examiner Marlon T Fletcher Attorney Agent or Firm Freilich Hornbaker amp Rosen 57 ABSTRACT An audio block sequence compiler for selecting a plurality of audio blocks to generate a sequence having a duration corresponding to user prescribed criteria In a preferred embodiment
14. directed toward an audio block sequence compiler for selecting a plurality of suitable compatible audio blocks to generate an audio sequence having a duration corresponding to user prescribed criteria In a preferred embodiment a user using a keyboard mouse interface chooses an audio e g a musical segment from a predefined audio library and prescribes the duration of an audio sequence Prior to depositing each musical segment in the library the musical selection is divided into audio blocks that are identified in a corresponding encoding table with characteristics including 1 duration 2 suit ability for being used as a beginning or ending of an audio sequence and 3 musical compatibility with each audio block Using this characteristic table and user prescribed criteria 1 duration the audio block sequence compiler preferably a software program executed by a computer generates a plurality of audio sequences satisfying the user prescribed criteria which can be reviewed e g played or displayed and or saved for future use In a further aspect of a preferred embodiment the char acteristic table additionally contains a mood parameter that is user prescribed and used by the audio block sequence compiler to generate an audio sequence of a selected mood In a still further aspect of a preferred embodiment the encoding table additionally contains a parameter that iden tifies blocks that are fadeable When a fadeable block is
15. e or more predefined audio segments wherein said table 10 15 20 8 contains entries to partition each of said predefined audio segments into blocks said table entries including data corresponding to the duration of each said block the suitability for each said block to begin or end an audio sequence and the compatibility of each said block to sequentially follow each other said block a user input device for permitting a user to prescribe an audio sequence duration a processor for iteratively compiling a list of one or more audio sequences each comprised of a plurality of blocks selected according to said user prescribed audio sequence duration such that each said audio sequence conforms with said table entries a monitor for displaying said list an audio apparatus for playing a selected audio sequence from said list 9 The system of claim 8 additionally comprising means to store at least one said audio sequence from said list 10 The system of claim 8 additionally comprising means to play a selected audio sequence from said list using said audio apparatus 11 The system of claim 8 wherein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to mood parameter for each 30 35 45 50 55 65 said block and said user interface additionally prescribes a mood parameter and said compiling means can select blocks according to said user prescribed mood parameter 12 The system of claim 8 wherein
16. eets the users needs and a custom version of that music is created that is exactly within user prescribed criteria the specified length If the user doesn t like the selected music they can hear a different version of the same music or a different piece music all of the versions presented will fit the specifications of the user By using music and its corresponding encoding table 26 and input from the user the compiler 16 can customize the following aspects of the music The length of the music can be customized in tenths of second increments from seconds to hours Different versions of the same piece of music sometimes hundreds of thousands of options can be generated In an alternative embodiment the compiler 16 can cus tomize the intensity of the music The user can define a graph of the intensity which they request on a timeline This will allow them to have the program make a piece of music that begins softly perhaps while an announcer speaks and builds to a climax perhaps when the narration has ended In this embodiment an intensity parameter is added to the encoding table 26 for each block and the audio block sequence compiler 16 selects blocks that most closely correspond to the prescribed intensity graph In an alternative embodiment the user can specify and modify the mood of the music without changing any other characteristics In this embodiment a mood parameter is added to encoding table 14 Additionally mul
17. eristics corre sponding to the duration of each block and preassigned characteristics corresponding to the suitability of each block to begin or end an audio sequence and the compatibility of each said block to be sequentially followed by each other block comprising the steps of defining a desired duration for an output audio sequence and iteratively compiling a list of one or more audio sequences each comprised of a plurality of blocks according to said desired duration such that each said audio sequence conforms with said characteristics of each block US005693902C1 a z EX PARTE REEXAMINATION CERTIFICATE 9108th United States Patent Hufford et al US 5 693 902 C1 Jul 3 2012 10 Number 45 Certificate Issued 54 AUDIO BLOCK SEQUENCE COMPILER FOR GENERATING PRESCRIBED DURATION AUDIO SEQUENCES 75 Inventors Geoffrey Calvin Hufford Chatsworth CA US Christopher P Hufford Chatsworth CA US Kevin C Klingler Chatsworth CA US 73 Assignee Smartsound Software Inc Northridge CA US Reexamination Request No 90 012 215 Mar 30 2012 Reexamination Certificate for Patent No 5 693 902 Issued Dec 2 1997 Appl No 08 532 527 Filed Sep 22 1995 51 Int Cl G10H 1 00 2006 01 52 US CL signs 84 650 707 E17 009 84 609 84 610 84 634 58 Field of Classification Search None See application file for complete search history 56 Re
18. ferences Cited To view the complete listing of prior art documents cited during the proceeding for Reexamination Control Number 90 012 215 please refer to the USPTO s public Patent Application Information Retrieval PAIR system under the Display References tab Primary Examiner Jason Proctor 57 ABSTRACT An audio block sequence compiler for selecting a plurality of audio blocks to generate a sequence having a duration corresponding to user prescribed criteria In a preferred embodiment a user chooses an audio e g a musical seg ment from a predefined audio library and prescribes the duration of an audio sequence Prior to depositing each musical segment in the library the musical selection is divided into audio blocks that are identified in a correspond ing encoding table with characteristics including 1 duration 2 suitability for being used as a beginning or ending of an audio sequence and 3 musical compatibility with each audio block Using this characteristic table and the user prescribed criteria i e duration the audio block sequence compiler generates a plurality of audio sequences satisfying the user prescribed criteria which can be reviewed e g played and or saved for future use POTENT BLOCK ee USER INTERFACE 1 SELEC TION FROM LIBRARY 2 DURATION 38 KE YBOARD MOUSE US 5 693 902 1 2 EX PARTE AS A RESULT OF REEXAMINATION IT HAS BEEN REEXAMINATION CERTIFICATE DETERMINED THAT
19. gth blocks In fact using reasonable aesthetic criteria blocks will generally be differently sized Consequently audio sequences of many different durations can be achieved by combining different combinations of these differently sized blocks However as previously described the avail able combinations are limited by the compatibility between potentially adjacent blocks as well as their suitability to begin or end an audio sequence Corresponding to these criteria data in the encoding table 26 for each audio block contains parameters pertaining to a 1 a duration 30 2 a type beginning end 32 and 3 a list of compatible blocks 34 i e blocks that can aesthetically follow the current block Additionally information not shown identifying the physical location of each audio block in the source audio segment 24 is retained in the encoding table 26 While data in the encoding table 26 can be manually generated auto mated procedures are also possible FIG 3B shows a simplified flow chart of the iterative process implemented by the audio block sequence compiler 16 after being provided the user prescribed data as shown in FIG 3A As previously described after the user has determined a selection 36 from the library 14 and a duration 38 the audio block sequence compiler 16 operates on the data in the encoding table 26 according to the flow chart of FIG 3B Accordingly a list of potential audio sequences is compiled and stored in the
20. herein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to a mood parameter for each said block and said user interface additionally prescribes a mood parameter and said audio block sequence compiler selects blocks according to said user prescribed mood parameter 5 The system of claim 1 wherein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to a fadeable parameter for each said block and said audio block sequence compiler can select a fadeable block as an ending block and wherein said fadeable blocks can be truncated to achieve audio sequences of said user prescribed audio sequence duration 6 The system of claim 1 wherein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to an intensity parameter for each said block and said user interface additionally pre scribes an intensity curve and said audio block sequence compiler selects blocks according to said user prescribed intensity curve 7 The system of claim 1 wherein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to a hit point parameter for each said block for specifying when an intensity burst is present within said block and said user interface additionally prescribes an intensity burst location and said audio block sequence compiler selects the sequence of said blocks according to said user prescribed intensity burst location 8 A system for generating an audio sequence having a prescribed duration comprising a storage device for storing a table referencing on
21. ibed audio segment 17 A method for generating an audio sequence of a prescribed duration comprising the steps of providing at least one prerecorded audio segment defining discrete blocks in said audio segment and indi cating characteristics corresponding to the duration of each block assigning to each block characteristics corresponding to the suitability of each block to begin or end an audio sequence and the compatibility of each said block to be sequentially followed by each other block defining a desired duration for an output audio sequence and 5 693 902 9 iteratively compiling a list of one or more audio sequences each comprised of a plurality of blocks according to said desired duration such that each said audio sequence conforms with said characteristics of each block 18 The method of claim 17 additionally comprising the step of selecting an audio segment and wherein said itera tively compiling step compiles sequences of blocks from those blocks corresponding to said selected audio segment 19 The method of claim 17 additionally comprising the 10 step of displaying said compiled list 20 The method of claim 17 additionally comprising the steps of selecting an audio sequence from said compiled list and playing said selected audio sequence 21 A method for generating an audio sequence of a prescribed duration from an audio segment having pre 15 10 defined discrete blocks indicating charact
22. potential block sequence list 19 FIG 4 shows an exemplary encoding table for a fifty second source audio segment 24 In this example the source audio segment is partitioned into ten blocks each being five seconds long However while fixed length blocks exist in this example this is often not the case In this example Blocks A and C have been marked as potential beginnings and blocks E and J have been marked as potential endings 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 55 65 4 In the example shown in FIG 5 the user has selected a duration of thirty five seconds for this source audio segment 24 Accordingly FIG 5 shows the iterations performed by the audio block sequence compiler on the encoding table of FIG 4 according to the flow chart of FIG 3B FIG 5 shows that the original audio sequence has now been rearranged into three potential sequences that each have the prescribed duration begin with a beginning block and end with an ending block In an exemplary embodiment the audio sequence gen erator 10 allows users to quickly and easily create movie or record quality music soundtracks for any application or document that can import sound The audio sequence gen erator 10 is able to accomplish this by using the encoded music and input from the user The user selects a musical style and sub style from a list then specifies the length in minutes seconds and tenths A piece of music is selected from their library that m
23. ry 14 and prescribes a duration This information is communicated to the audio block sequence compiler 16 which under control of a software program executed by the processor 13 in the PC 12 fetches blocks of audio data from the audio library 14 and according to compilation criteria described further below generates a list of potential audio sequences that are preferably temporarily stored within a potential block sequence list depository 19 At that point the user can select to play via a sound card speaker 20 or review via a monitor 21 the potential block sequences and or store selected sequences for future use e g on a hard disk 22 Alternatively the audio block sequence compiler 16 can compile a single block sequence until prompted by the operator to generate a next audio sequence The audio library 14 preferably contains library entries 23 pertaining to a plurality of source audio segments Each 5 693 902 3 library entry 23 is comprised of 1 a source audio segment 24 and 2 an encoding table 26 which describes the parti tioning of the source audio segment 24 into blocks and the characteristics of each block Although the source audio segment 24 is shown as being located within the library 14 one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the source audio segment 24 can alternatively be physically located outside of the library e g on CD and referenced e g by pointers by the encoding table 26 FIG 2 shows an exem
24. said table additionally comprises data corresponding to a fadeable parameter for each said block and said compiling means can select a fadeable block as an ending block and wherein said fadeable blocks can be truncated to achieve audio sequences of said user prescribed audio sequence duration 13 The system of claim 8 wherein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to an intensity parameter for each said block and said user interface additionally pre scribes an intensity curve and said compiling means selects blocks according to said user prescribed intensity curve 14 The system of claim 8 wherein said table additionally comprises data corresponding to a hit point parameter for each said block for specifying when an intensity burst is present within said block and said user interface additionally prescribes an intensity burst location and said compiling means selects the sequence of said blocks according to said user prescribed intensity burst location 15 The system of claim 8 wherein said user input device additionally permits a user to prescribe an audio segment and said audio block sequence compiler compiles sequences each comprised of a plurality of blocks selected from said user prescribed audio segment 16 The system of claim 1 wherein said user interface additionally permits a user to prescribe an audio segment and said processor compiles sequences each comprised of a plurality of blocks selected from said user prescr
25. tiple renditions of the source audio segment 24 are prerecorded corresponding to different moods The audio block sequence compiler 16 will then select renditions that correspond to the prescribed mood parameter In another alternative embodiment a user can specify 20 seconds of background music followed by 12 seconds of introductory music The program will be able to locate two different pieces of music and make a smooth musical transition between them In an additional alternative embodiment blocks can be identified as fadeable blocks in the encoding table 26 When a block is fadeable its duration can be truncated to become a satisfactory end block even if its duration would normally be too long The audio block sequence compiler 16 will then truncate the fadeable block to achieve the user prescribed duration Additionally the intensity of the end of the fadeable block will fade at a prescribed rate to reduce the effects of the truncation In still another embodiment each block can be identified in the encoding table 26 as having a hit point that 5 693 902 5 defines the location when present of an intensity burst When prescribed by the user the audio block sequence compiler 16 can use the hit point parameter to place an intensity burst at a user prescribed location in the generated audio sequence Appendix A is a software listing that describes an exem plary embodiment of the described invention The following defines the
26. w will have their left end caps colored Warning when two non compatible blocks are next to each other we display a red edge at their junction THE ENCODING PROCESS The process of encoding of music and sound is both musical and technical The encoding is used to provide as much information as possible about each piece of music or sound so that the program can make informed musical decisions when it manipulates the music according to requests from users The encoding process includes the following 1 Block Start and End The beginning and ending of each discrete music section block is determined This nec essarily determines the length of each block Listen to the piece of music and divide it into segments based on musical phrases and musical uses called blocks On average there are fifteen blocks per minute of music 2 Block Name Code each block with a name and description 3 Beginning Blocks For each block a determination is made as to whether it would make a good way to start a musical section or phrase 4 Ending Blocks Same concept as that described for Beginning Blocks 5 693 902 7 5 Block Compatibility Each block is tested for its specific compatibility to each and every other block which comprise the source audio segment 6 Intensity Code each block s musical intensity relative to other blocks 7 Fadeable Block Each block has a determination made as to whether it sounds musically viable to fade or not
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