WO2018237021A1 - Separation and playback of audio components - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, provide a format for audio, and a system for playback, which in contrast to previous audio storage format and playback systems, allows for the separation and overlapped playback of individual audio components, for example, providing playback where vocals are turned off, or on only vocals and guitar are turned on, to provide audio appropriate to use, setting, and mood.

Description

SEPARATION AND PLAYBACK OF AUDIO COMPONENTS

INVENTOR JONATHAN BANNON MAHER TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of digital audio.

REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

[0002] This application is provided the benefit and priority date of United States Patent and Trademark Office provisional patent application number 62/522,693, filed June 21^st 2017 by inventor Jonathan Bannon Maher, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0003] This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of the art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and or claimed. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not a citation of prior any art.

[0004] Previous audio storage and playback systems, to provide different versions of audio, require each version be produced in fully integrated separate files, for example, a file for each a full, acoustic, and instrumental version. This does not allow a listener to make one purchase and receive multiple versions, for example, an acoustic and an instrumental version along with a primary version, or to listen to the soundtrack in a movie without characters speaking, or a sports broadcast without commentators. Additionally, desirable alternative arrangements of an audio recording are often never produced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIONS

[0005] Illustrations are presented by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, and embodiments may not contain all components, may contain additional components, and may contain functionally similar components.

[0006] FIG. 1 is an example of an embodiment of the storage format for the audio components.

[0007] FIG. 2 is an example of a user interface that can be used for the playback of audio components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] It is understood that, as in any engineering or design project, the development of any actual implementation will include numerous implementation specific decisions made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with business related and system related constraints, which may vary from one implementation to another. It is understood that such a development effort might be complex and time consuming, but is nevertheless a routine undertaking of design, fabrication, and manufacture for those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. The disclosed steps may be read as prefaced by "In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, ", may be executed or performed in other orders or sequences, and are not limited to the order and sequence shown and described, which are provided to enable ease in constructing an embodiment, and along with each components of each step, may be removed, modified, combined, or rearranged, and other steps and or step components may be added, without departing from the scope of this disclosure and or invention. Although embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated in the disclosed implementations, it is understood that the present disclosed subject matter, including apparatuses, methods, specification, and illustrations, has been made only by way of example, not by way of limitation, and the methods and apparatuses may be used in other systems, and that numerous changes and optimizations in the details of implementation of the invention and or embodiment are made without such modifications departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure and or embodiments of the invention. Although the disclosure has been shown and described with respect to one or more embodiments, features of the disclosed embodiments can be combined and rearranged in various ways, and changes including equivalent alterations, substitutions, modifications, and additional efficiencies will of course occur to someone of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure and or invention. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the described components, the terms used to describe such components are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any component which performs the specified function of the described component, or is functionally equivalent to the described component, even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the implementations described in this disclosure. In addition, while a particular feature of the disclosure may have been provided with respect to only one of several embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of other embodiments as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application. In some instances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure the understanding of this disclosure. Articles in this disclosure such as "a" "an" and "the" may allow for both singular and plural forms. Verbs in this disclosure such as "is" may be read as "may be". Conjunctions in this disclosure such as "or" as used herein may be interpreted as inclusive or meaning any one or any combination, where "A, B or C" means "any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C". Relational terms in this disclosure, for example first and second, top and bottom, left and right, are to distinguish one entity or action from another, and may not necessarily require or imply a relationship, or order between, such entities or actions. The disclosure includes the best mode contemplated by the inventor, a completely described specific embodiment, along with optional components and alternative embodiments to best suit the implementer, measurements in imperial and metric units to support universal understanding, and dramatically exceeds claims support requirements and enablement requirements by allowing for selection and or construction of the required components to be carried out easily, quickly, and routinely by persons of ordinary skill in the art, who are provided the additional benefit of utilizing readily available commodity components whenever possible. The present disclosure includes material protected by copyrights, and the owner of the copyrights hereby reserves all rights, but with authorization for publication as required by government patent offices. Various embodiments of the present invention may provide all, some or none of the disclosed technical advantages.

[0009] The computer code descriptions disclosed, in order to provide comprehensive enabling disclosure, rather than utilizing flow charts, which according to Patent Cooperation Treaty 11.11a are prohibited from containing "text matter, except a single word or words, when absolutely indispensable, such as... a few short catchwords indispensable for understanding", are provided in a text only format where the number of arrows preceding a line indicate logical block level, semicolons indicate a new segment of a logical block, and periods indicate the closure of one or more logical blocks. It is understood that any computer code representations in this disclosure are merely illustrative, rather than restrictive. While code may be written in nearly any computer language, including Java, Objective-C, Swift, and C++, the illustrative computer code descriptions were derived from code written the Python language, which may be run through the Python interpreter, with appropriate supportive libraries, which at the time of disclosure, may run on nearly any computer, for example one with an Intel or AMD processor, running a current version of Linux, Windows, or Mac OS. All code components may read as if prefaced by "In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, ". In some embodiments, functionality may be modified, rearranged, excluded, and added. To provide more fundamental computer system details, in some embodiments, the functionality associated with the disclosed computer code descriptions may be referred to as a script, module, software, software application, or code, and can be written in any form of language, including compiled, interpreted, declarative, or procedural, able to be deployed in any form suitable for use in a computing environment, including as an independent or integrated program, module, component, or subroutine, for execution by the computer system, implemented on one or more independent or integrated computers, utilizing a central processing unit in the form of one or more general or special purpose microprocessors, in conjunction with digital electronic circuitry, which may include special purpose logic circuitry such as a field programmable gate array or application specific integrated circuit, with the computer controlled by and operatively coupled to tangibly embodied software and or firmware, which may include code that creates an environment for code execution, including individual or combined use of processor firmware, a protocol stack, a database management system, and an operating system, where such software and or firmware may exist in one or more parts in memory on one or more computers, and is encoded on one or more tangible non transitory software carriers, such as individual or combined use of a random or serial access device or substrate, a semiconductor memory device, transient or persistent random access memory, a magnetic, magnetic optical, or optical disk, or encoded on an artificially generated transmitted signal, for example, optical, electrical, or electromagnetic, transmitted using a sending and a receiving apparatus, where the interaction between the user and the software may be implemented by operatively coupling, to the local implementing computer, or a local computer connected to one or more remote computers through a local or wide area network, a display device which may implement liquid crystals or light emitting diodes, a keyboard, and a pointing device.

[0010] The disclosure resolves the previously cited deficiencies, by allowing a single audio file to contain individual components, by storing the audio components in a manner that is sequential or otherwise separated, rather than integrated. Playback software may then allow components to be selected for play back individually, with the selected components overlapped as originally intended for playback. This allows for the most desirable audio to be available based on the situation, for example, when exercising selecting inclusion of drums and bass, or when enjoying a romantic evening selecting only guitar and vocals, or when listening to a sports broadcast turning off commentators. In some cases, television shows and movies require that an instrumental only version of audio be available for when vocals might interfere with characters speaking, which this format provides for by default. In some cases, movies have excellent soundtracks, that could be enjoyed by turning off the audio for other components of the movie audio. In some cases, individuals enjoy singing karaoke— even when other individuals don't enjoy listening - singing along to audio without the original vocals. In some cases, musicians are interested in listening to only a specific instrument in an audio recording, to learn to play that part.

[0011] In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, ensure audio components are saved in sequence to a file, or as individual files or streams, with audio file components identified, for example, as part of the audio file metadata, as a separate file or stream, or stored in a database. In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, in reference to FIG. 1, an audio format is utilized where the audio file components are attached together into a sequence rather than overlapping, and are saved as a single audio file, where a text specification lists the components of the audio file in the metadata, by name, the start time in the single audio file, and the start time for playback relative to the earliest component playback in the audio when components are overlapped, where the end time of the component may be omitted as it is derived from the start of the next component or the end of the file. In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, because the embodiment uses a single standard audio file - which may be in any audio format, for example MP3 or WAV - to sequentially store all the components, exporting from audio production tools is simply a matter of manually or automatically copying and pasting audio components in sequence or saving them individually. Other audio players will still recognize the audio file containing sequential components, but will play the components in sequence. Audio players can make an adaptation, to play the components of the audio file on top of each other, as detailed in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the times at which each audio file component starts and ends, is recorded as a text string, which may be in the comments or description metadata field of a standard audio file. Therefore, to produce audio files in this format, existing audio production software can be used, without modification for manual sequencing, or with minimal modification for automatic sequencing, and existing audio file formats can be used, without any modification. Therefore, all existing recordings, where the master is still available, can be saved to this format. In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, an example of this format represented in FIG. 1, containing a listing of components including component name, time in the single sequential audio file, and the start time for playback relative to the earliest component playback in the audio, prefaced by "components" to indicate the format, may be a string comprising: components|Guitar;00:00:00.00;00:00:00.00|Vocals;00:04:00.00;00:00:00.00|Bass;8:00:00;0 0:00:00|Drums; 12:00:00;00:00:00|Strings; 16:00:00;00:00:00

[0012] In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, write software code to read in the audio components and corresponding specification, and play back all or selected audio components. In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, when no individual streams are selected by the user, the audio playback software plays the audio components in an overlapping manner using the times provided for in the audio component specification. In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, where individual audio file components are requested by the user, those streams are played back in an overlapping manner at the times provided for in the component specification.

[0013] In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, the playback software may provide functionality comprising:

> import a file system access library.

> import an audio library or audio libraries that allow for audio data overlap as well as individual and simultaneous play.

> create a function to play an audio file;

» retrieve the specification identifying the audio components for the specified audio file, for example by reading the metadata associated with the file, or reading from a local or remote data store;

» initialize an audio component holding data structure, for example an array;

» read the specified audio file into memory; » split the audio file into audio components and store each in the audio components holding data structure, utilizing the time markers provided for the audio file components;

» create a new audio file in memory;

» iterate through each component available in the audio file;

»> if the current component corresponds to one of the requested components, add the component to the newly created audio file in memory at the appropriate position;

» stop playback of any existing audio previously provided and play back the audio file created and stored in memory;

> define a function called when the application is run;

» retrieve parameters passed to the function or any provided command line parameters.

» send the audio file and any component parameters provided to the previously created play function.

[0014] In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, in reference to FIG. 2, a user interface is created, providing options for the user to turn on and off the specified audio components, with a default of simply playing the audio with all components on, where provided are a file selection button 2000, a list of audio file components 2001, and a play button 2002. In some embodiments, including one complete embodiment, in reference to FIG. 2, the user interface may be created by computer code implementing functionality comprising:

> generate a user interface screen.

> import or implement the previously created play back functionality.

> display the option for a user to select an audio file 2000.

> provide a play button 2002.

> create a function that is activated when an audio file is selected;

» read in the specification listing audio file components for the selected file;

» iterate through the audio file components and display selectors for each component to be enabled or disabled during play back 2001.

> create a function that is activated when the play button is pressed;

» read the states of the audio file component selectors;

» send the audio file location or data, along with the audio file components selected, to the playback function.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A system for the storage of audio, with the invention comprising:

an audio file format that contains audio components in sequence rather than overlapping, or maintains audio components in separate files; a specification identifying each of said audio components.

2. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium holding stored instructions, which when executed by one or more processing devices, cause the one or more processing devices to implement a method comprising, with the invention comprising:

audio stored as sequential components in a file, or stored in a group of related files;

a character sequence specifying each of said components of an audio file or of each file in said group of related audio files.

3. A system for playback of audio, with the invention comprising:

an audio file containing components in sequence rather than overlapping, or audio components in separate audio files;

a specification identifying each of said audio components;

computer software that reads said audio, allows for selection of said audio components, and provides integrated playback of selected said audio components.

4. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium holding stored instructions, which when executed by one or more processing devices, cause the one or more processing devices to implement a method comprising:

utilizing stored audio components and a stored character string describing said audio components to allow a user to play said audio components individually and together.