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Events & Resources
There are various aspects of the program designed to provide families with events, resources and support both before and after the death of a child.
Celebration of Life
This group memorial service for families, friends and staff is held four times during the year. The purpose of the Celebration of Life is to provide a ceremony for families who have recently lost a child to begin the lifelong journey of honoring and remembering them. The ceremony has readings, music, candle lighting, and an opportunity for families to share stories and memories of their child, and ends with a meal together as families continue to share. Bereavement resources for support are also made available to families. Each family receives a bud vase as a gift and siblings receive a stuffed animal. Families will be invited to the ceremony throughout the year after their child's death, giving them the option of when they feel ready to return to the Hospital. The ceremonies are held on Saturday mornings at the Hospital in our Healing Garden.
Our Gatherings provide regular activities and events for families to honor their child and gain support from families with similar losses. They bring bereaved families who have experienced the death of a child together in a supportive setting for sharing their experiences, gaining knowledge about their grief process, and meeting other families who have also lost a child. At these events, families are engaged in an activity that allows them to honor their child who died and talk about it with themselves and other family members or friends who have come with them.
The Gatherings are open to everyone in the child's family, including adults and children. The families work together on projects that are intended to provide ways to honor their child who died. The events give us the opportunity to share resources with the families, such as bereavement support groups, counseling and educational events; to increase their awareness of help that is available to them; and to increase their knowledge about grief.
Because these events are multifaceted in terms of their activities and multigenerational in terms of the population in attendance, they provide a unique and regular way for bereaved families to get support. These events allow participants to engage an activity that honors their child and allows people to express their grief or simply listen to others. No one is expected to share their experiences, unless they want to. In this way, there is a sense of safety for many who are not comfortable talking about their feelings, but value being with people with a similar loss.
Professional support is available to families at each event. Each event has five to six paid professional clinical staff in attendance, including chaplains, nurses, child life specialists and social workers. Each of these professional clinicians has been professionally trained for helping adults and children cope with the death of a child. In addition, we have a Bereaved Parent Liaison and Bereaved Parent Volunteers at the events to give peer-to-peer support and help facilitate our family chats.
While the vast numbers of these families are associated with Rady Children's , these events are also available to families in the community whose child was not at Rady Children's.
Bereavement Parent Liaison
Kathleen Stark is both a bereaved parent and a certified grief facilitator. She provides individualized bereavement support through cards, letters and phone calls to bereaved families. Kathleen responds to referrals from staff and the community to reach out to families who need to talk about their loss.
Resources for Honoring a Child
We provide materials to families to have a loving ritual of saying goodbye and of a way of honoring their child. These resources are a vital way for families to grieve the death of or pending death of their precious child.
The following materials are used by a variety of disciplines including chaplains, nurses, physicians, social workers and child life specialists, and may include:
- A Memory Box for holding the child's mementos and a place for staff to place poems and resources for grief.
- A Memory Tile on which has the child's hand print and/or footprint. Together families and staff help create wording to be put on the tile. They are then sent out to be designed, have wording painted on them, glazed and fired. The result are beautiful tiles that will help the families honor their child for many years into the future. These are then either given to the family directly upon their return to Rady Children's or at the Celebration of Life Ceremony, or they can be mailed to the family. The HOPE program pays for the tiles and paint, as well as costs associate with mailing the tile to the families once completed.
- A card to place a lock of hair.
- Hand and footprints on card stock. These are in addition to the tiles.
- Bereavement Information booklet, prepared and printed at the Hospital. This booklet is a collection of information and resources for the families after the death of their child. The booklet is available in English and Spanish. It is updated on a regular basis.
- Booklets for parents and siblings pertaining to the grief related to the loss of a child to assist in building greater understanding of the various experiences they may feel.
- Follow-up cards are provided by the Bereavement program and are posted on nursing units for two weeks following a child's death to allow staff to sign and send their condolences.
While the materials are simple, the rituals and remembrances that they bring are very, very important to our families. This cannot be emphasized enough. The materials also provide a way for staff to help families create memories during perhaps the most painful moments of their lives.


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|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Sep 15, 2009
|Filing date
|Jan 18, 2006
|Priority date
|Jan 18, 2005
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|Eric P. Haeker
|Original Assignee
|Haeker Eric P
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (48), Non-Patent Citations (8), Referenced by (59), Classifications (10), Legal Events (5)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/644,630, filed Jan. 18, 2005, which is fully incorporated herein by reference.
The invention pertains to the visualization of musical passages. More particularly, the invention pertains to the generation of still or moving visual images that reflect the musical properties of a musical composition.
Conceptually, visualization of music is not new. Composers have always described music with visual verbiage. "Tonal colors", "orchestral shapes", and "contrapuntal lines" are but a few of the phrases used by those struggling to articulate the nuances of their abstract aural art in familiar visual terms. In fact, developing the ability to visualize music, to quite literally see its shapes, textures, and colors in the mind's eye has been a goal of traditional training in composition for some 400 years.
Around the turn of the century, pioneers such as Wassily Kandinsky brought visual music out of their imaginations and onto canvas. Upon attending a performance of Wagner's Lohengrin for the first time, Kandinsky described the "shattering" synaesthetic experience: "I saw all my colours in my mind's eye. Wild lines verging on the insane formed drawings before my very eyes." Elsewhere in his prolific writing, Kandinsky explains that he associated individual colors with the keys of the piano and believed that musical harmony found its analogue in the harmony of colors produced by blending pigments on the palette. His bold use of abstract color and form evolved as a means to translate music's abstract components into the visual realm.
At the same time, the pioneers of modern music were using visual concepts to guide their development. Debussy, for instance, had originally wanted to be a painter. The famous French pianist Alfred Cortot, a contemporary of Debussy, explained that "Debussy possessed the ability to reproduce in sound the 'optical impression' that he had either formed directly or through his contact with pictorial art and literature." In perhaps his greatest example of pictorial music, La Mer, Debussy conveys his visual impression of the sea through a sonic image, even going so far as to translate ripples on the water's surface into shimmering violins.
But composers like Scriabin wanted to go even further, actually integrating projections of colors and images into live performances of their new works. At this stage, a new breed of visual artist began taking the first steps toward artistic synthesis. Turn-of-the century projection technology such as the magic lantern was very popular and was often used to project religious imagery coordinated to music during church services. Four decades later, Disney and the Philadelphia Orchestra proved that a seamless blend of classical music and then cutting-edge animation and movie projection techniques could bring symphonic music to the forefront of popular culture with the motion picture Fantasia.
More recently, music has been translated into visual images using computers and other electronics. For instance, many people are familiar with the visualization software incorporated into digital jukeboxes like Apple's ITunes, Microsoft's Windows Media Player, and MusicMatch Jukebox, which display a visual moving image that is somehow responsive to the music that is being played. The visualization method utilized by these applications is extremely rudimentary in terms of how the generated images are tied to or responsive to the music that is being played. Typically, these systems rely on simple methods of audio analysis to provide only surface-level music analysis. These basic methods include envelope detection, global loudness tracking, and frequency band amplitude spike detection. For instance, these systems may respond to a dramatic change in volume within a musical composition by showing a reading of the spikes in various frequency bands within the music such that a change in volume is represented visually. Alternately, changes in the image could be triggered according to user assignment rather than automatically, but with these systems, the underlying music analysis techniques, such as the oscilloscope showing volume spikes, derive only minimal musical information and meaning from the audio file and therefore are able to convey only minimal musical information with their resulting visuals. For instance, by watching the visuals that result from these systems with the speakers turned off, it would be impossible to determine what musical piece is generating the visuals because most of the musical information has been lost in the translation to visual form. Musical styles as diverse as classical and hip hop can and do produce extremely similar visual results using these systems. Many of these systems do not even synchronize their visuals to the basic beat and tempo of the music.
Some individuals working in the field of music visualization have attempted to develop score-based music visualization software that incorporates data corresponding to individual notes as well as some of the underlying structural elements within the music. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,289 discloses a computer system for producing a three dimensional illustration of a musical work that determines for each sound of the musical work its tone, harmony, and tonality. Each of these characteristics of the musical work is assigned a value within a table so that it can be displayed on a three-dimensional graph having a time axis, a tone axis, and a harmony axis. By visually inspecting the static graph that results, one can determine the tone, the harmony, and the tonality of each sound by locating its position on the graph. The graph may also be colored in accordance with the corresponding tone, harmony, and tonality of a sound being played, and the graph may be scrolled from right to left and viewed from multiple angles.
While the visual representation generated by the software of U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,289 may reasonably accurately reflect the sounds to which it corresponds in the technical sense, it is actually much more difficult to read and understand the corresponding sound than it is with a standard musical score. The system requires the use of a predetermined grid layout with each note and harmony represented by pre-determined polygon shapes that are spread across the grid according to a pre-determined system. This system is inflexible and often results in impenetrable visual clutter if one attempts to represent all layers of a complex musical score simultaneously. For instance, with this system, individual notes are represented by solid colored structures that resemble skyscraper buildings of varying height spread across the grid. Only a limited number of these note structures can fit on the grid before it becomes impossible to determine which notes correspond to which instrumental layers because the notes in one layer block one's view of the notes in another layer. The only practical solution with this system is to limit the number of musical layers that are being visualized at any one time. While this may be adequate for educational situations where one wishes to teach students to follow only the melody line, or to follow harmonic changes, or some other element, the visuals resulting from this system cannot truly represent all of the information in the score simultaneously.
Additionally, this system relies on a proprietary animation software program that requires a cumbersome array of tables that organize the musical input data. The system cannot be readily adapted for use with existing animation programs or alternate methods of musical analysis. Furthermore, the system provides no flexible means for synchronizing its visuals to the changing tempos of live or recorded performance. It is, in effect, a closed system that may be adequate for its particular and limited educational purpose, but is not flexible enough to be reasonably adapted for artistic, creative, or other uses.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for music visualization.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for generating a visual representation of a musical composition that visually preserves all or substantially all of the information that is represented in the corresponding standard musical score.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a visualization system that may incorporate any available method of musical analysis, including traditional tonal analysis, to include mathematical interpolation of musical data.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for generating a simulated or actual visible three-dimensional representation of a musical composition that accurately reflects the corresponding sound and is not difficult to read.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for generating an accurate visual representation of music in real time as the music is being created or played.
It is yet one more object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for music visualization that generates an image corresponding to the music from which a layperson can appreciate the structure of the music.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a visualization system that is flexible enough to be realized through any combinations of existing or emerging music analysis systems and software, such that said music analysis systems and software may provide input data for music visualizations.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a visualization system that is flexible enough to be realized through any combinations of existing or emerging visual animation systems and software.
It is yet one more object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for music visualization that may be applied to an audio recording, such as a CD or MP3 recording, such that visuals generated by the invention may be marketed alongside their corresponding audio recording files as downloadable files for sale on I-tunes, or similar pay-per-download services.
It is yet one further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for music visualization that may be embodied within a downloadable software program that consumers can use to automatically generate visuals for any recording or live performance.
It is yet one more object of the present invention to provide a visualization system that may be adapted for any number of entertainment purposes, including video games and virtual reality rides.
In accordance with a first aspect, the present invention generates a 3D animated version of a musical composition that can be synchronized to the changing tempo of a live or recorded performance, if necessary, by translating the score into a MIDI graph with an x, y coordinate mapping of all notes in the score, importing the resulting 2D paths representing each musical line into a mathematical analysis program for the purpose of generating piecewise smooth functions that approximate the music's implied curves, importing both the original x, y coordinate mappings from the MIDI score and the smooth mathematical functions that approximate each individual musical path into a 3D animation program, and shaping the two-dimensional paths imported from the MIDI graph and/or its smooth curve equivalents using 3D animation techniques to accentuate harmonic, contrapuntal, and other musical nuances. If a score is not available, but only a recording of the piece, then a score may be reverse engineered from the recording.
Alternately, the invention can be practiced in a simpler technique without generating a detailed electronic score. Particularly, appealing visualizations can be generated based on simpler data about coherent musical phrases within the music, such as, but not limited to, points of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release in the musical work. Such data can be developed from a recorded musical work using, for instance, known audio-to-MIDI conversion software or audio analysis software. This simple structural information about the music is imported into 3D animation software, which can be programmed to trigger any number of 3D animation effects designed to convey the appropriate tension and release structures within the music in intuitive visual form. Alternately or additionally, certain effects may be triggered directly by a music visualization artist.
In accordance with another aspect, the present invention permits setting the frame rate of the animation to precisely synchronize with the appropriate beat values of a musical performance using an intelligent tempo control interface that allows a precise number of frames to play for each beat and/or subdivision thereof so that the rendered animations may be synchronized with live or recorded performance either manually or automatically. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, one selects a frame rate for the animation, the frame rate being a number of frames per musical time unit in the musical work, provides to said animation software a tempo of the musical work, and synchronizes the frame rate to that tempo.
In accordance with another aspect, the present invention generates a 3D animated version of a musical composition by translating the score into an x, y graph in which a y value of each note is representative of a pitch of that note and an x value is representative of a relative time of the note as well as a duration of the note, analyzing the musical work to identify discrete coherent musical phrases within the work, importing the graph into three-dimensional animation software, and generating a visual display depicting an object and applying at least one three-dimensional animation technique to the object, the object and/or the animation technique being a function of the graph and the musical phrases.
The above-mentioned embodiments of the invention are described in connection with situations where an artist wishes to generate 3D animations of a score and synchronize those animations to a live or recorded performance of that particular musical score. However, the invention may be used to generate real-time rendered 3D visualizations of music that may be synchronized to live or recorded performances of music that is improvisational or does not involve a written musical score.
One implementation of the invention particularly adapted for improvisational or other performances lacking a pre-known score involves the creation of a predetermined three-dimensional mapping system that allows each instrumental layer of a musical ensemble to occupy a unique location within a three dimensional space, the use of microphones and/or MIDI inputs to capture and isolate pitch and rhythmic data from each individual instrument (or group of instruments) performing in an ensemble, the use of pitch and rhythm tracking software to translate the incoming audio and/or MIDI data into a complete MIDI score including all instrumental layers as they are performed live, the real-time translation of this MIDI data into x, y coordinates representing the paths through space and time created by each individual instrumental layer in the ensemble, the importing of the x, y coordinates into a real-time 3D rendering engine capable of live-rendering animations that may be synchronized with the performance, and the application of a set of predetermined animation effects to the resulting 3D animated visuals such that a visual artist may shape and control various elements of the animation in a real-time response to and interpretation of the ensemble's live performance.
The present invention generates 3D moving images representing various aspects of a musical performance that can be synchronized, as necessary, to the changing tempo of a live or recorded performance, either automatically, or with live-controlled user input, and either with or without a score. The invention is broadly applicable to situations in which (A) a score is available, hereinafter referred to as score-based music visualization, (B) no fore-knowledge of the music is available, such as in the case of live improvisational music, hereinafter referred to as improvisational music visualization, and (C) only a recording of the music is available, hereinafter referred to as recording-based music visualization.
Various elements of the approaches outlined for these three categories may be combined, and certain steps in the process may be eliminated to reduce costs. However, the results of such combinations or omissions of the embodiments disclosed herein will be obvious to one skilled in the art of music analysis, computer programming, and 3D animation.
A critical factor in this invention is that, whenever possible, its process includes both analysis of the score (or equivalent of a score) to determine structural elements, such as but not limited to, rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release, as well as the mapping of the musical score from its existing two-dimensional representation into a more detailed (x, y) coordinate representation that can then be imported into and manipulated by any 3D animation software. Thus, through the analysis stage, information about the music's structure from a macro level, zoomed out perspective, is built into the resulting visuals while, on a micro-level, a one-to-one correspondence is established between the information in the musical score and the resulting three-dimensional visual representations. In cases where a score is not available ahead of time, but the entire musical work is available, e.g., only an audio recording is available, the equivalent of a score may be reverse-engineered via audio analysis using any number of existing and emerging pitch and rhythm tracking software solutions, such as the Solo Explorer WAV to MIDI conversion software available from the Recognisoft company.
Once the musical information is translated from the score (or its reverse-engineered equivalent) into the 3D animation program using the methods disclosed herein, the artist may utilize any number of animation techniques to manipulate the musical information so that it becomes aesthetically beautiful while elucidating the complexities of the music's structure. The animation techniques chosen will be informed by and linked to the macro-level structural information extracted through the analysis stage, such that the resulting visuals may intuitively represent the music's larger-scale structures in visual form. The method disclosed herein shall also ensure that the resulting animations may be perfectly synchronized with live or recorded performance and that embedded within these animations shall remain all of the musical information that was originally embedded in the musical score itself. Thus, the dynamic abstract animations that the present invention creates may be understood as a 21st century evolution of music notation which is not intended to make music easier for a musician to read and perform, as have all other evolutionary advances in music notation over the past 500 years, but rather is intended to make music easier for the average person to perceive.
A. Score-Based 3D Animated Music Visualization
When the music to be visualized is based upon a predetermined score, referred to throughout this disclosure as "score-based" music visualization, a process involving all or some of several possible steps is utilized to take advantage of the detailed fore-knowledge of musical information that the score provides. In the first step for this score-based process, the score may be analyzed using any available method including but not limited to tonal analysis or other analysis methods that extract meaningful structural information such as, but not limited to, points of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release. For instance, the famous four-note opening of Beethoven's 5th Symphony creates rhythmic tension that is built and released throughout the first movement, an upward melodic leap in a solo voice creates melodic tension that is usually released downward by step in Mozart, Bach's V-pedal passages build harmonic tension that is eventually released with a return to the tonic, and the juxtaposition of thickly orchestrated strings followed by a solo in the woodwinds creates orchestrational tension and release in Brahms. The location of these tension and release elements throughout the score is part of the critical structural information about the music that will be translated into intuitive visual elements later in the visualization process.
In one score-based embodiment of this invention, mathematical interpolation and pre-rendering are used to achieve the most detailed images possible. The score is analyzed using traditional tonal analysis to identify points of rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic tension and release. The score is then translated into a MIDI format or other (x, y) coordinate mapping. The resulting 2D paths representing each musical line are then imported into a mathematical analysis program for the purpose of generating piecewise smooth functions that approximate the music's implied curves. Both the original (x, y) coordinate mappings, MIDI graph data, or other graph format, and any smooth mathematical functions that approximate this data, are then imported into a 3D animation program. The frame rates of the animation are then set to precisely synchronize with a given beat value, and various animation techniques are used to shape the two-dimensional paths imported from the MIDI graph or other graph format and any smooth curve approximations. The points at which these animation techniques are applied are set to correspond with rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release structures as determined by the previous analysis. For instance, a traditional tonal analysis may provide information regarding the point at which harmonic tension begins to build in the form of a V-pedal, the point at which said tension reaches its climax, and the point at which said tension is released. This data is then used to trigger a 3D animation effect that operates upon the entire score-based data set, as well as any mathematical interpolations of that data. In the case of building and releasing harmonic tension, the 3D animation effect may be a spinning vortex effect that is triggered at the beginning of the V-pedal, increases its spinning velocity until the V-pedal reaches its climax, and then dissipates at the point when the V-pedal is released. An intelligent tempo control interface then allows a precise number of pre-rendered frames to play for each beat and/or subdivision thereof so that the rendered animations may be synchronized with live or recorded performance either manually or automatically.
1. Elements of the System
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the views, and referring in particular to
2. The Preferred Method
A flow chart illustrating a preferred method of creating 3D animations of a musical score and synchronizing those animations to a live or recorded performance is shown in
The resulting MIDI file likely will contain some errors due to the imperfections in the original printing of the paper version of the score and these must be corrected using MIDI sequencing software stored on the memory 28 (step 106). Again, suitable MIDI sequencing software products are widely available on the market, including, for instance, the aforementioned Digital Performer 4.6, produced by MOTU, and Reason 3.0, produced by Propellerhead. It may be helpful to listen to the MIDI file to detect errors by playing it back with the MIDI sequencing software through the audio monitor 22.
Several important musical works are readily available as MIDI files and if one elects to develop animations for one of these works, one may skip steps 100-104 and use a pre-created MIDI file rather than create one from a paper score. In this case, one may still wish to test the MIDI file for errors (step 106) as commercially available and free-for-download MIDI files are often imperfect. Additionally, when one elects to skip the paper score altogether (steps 100-104), the analysis process to determine meaningful phrases and points of harmonic or other tension and release may be performed directly upon the MIDI file (step 106). Suitable software that can automatically perform the required harmonic and other analysis steps upon a MIDI file has been developed by Daniel Sleator and Davy Temperley. This software, known as The Melisma Music Analyzer, is available for free download at the following web site: http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/music-analysis/).
To better understand the reasoning behind the next steps, steps 108-112, let us first consider
Thus, after translating the music into a standard MIDI data file (steps 102-106), one can generate a MIDI graph of the music that provides precise numeric x, y coordinate data for all of the individual notes (step 108).
A precise x, y coordinate graph can be generated manually, but. software is widely available that can generate such graphs automatically.
In the MIDI graph version of the fugue (
Thus we see that, although standard notation makes it difficult to perceive visually, the musical path traced by each individual voice of this fugue is actually a linear approximation of a parabolic curve. Linear approximation of curvature is the fundamental concept behind Newtonian calculus and also plays an important role in the music of Bach, Mozart, and many other contrapuntal masters. According to Newton, a particle travels on a curved path only if some force, such as gravity, is acting upon the particle to accelerate it in a particular direction. Otherwise, the particle would continue to travel in a straight line forever. Thus, a baseball that is hit deep into center field follows a predictably parabolic path as its trajectory is bent by gravity, tracing out a graceful curve that thousands of breathless fans and one nervous pitcher follow in anticipation. Musical particles can follow similarly curved paths that generate a similar sense of anticipation, tension, and eventual release in the listener. The process to be outlined in step 110 will help to make those paths, the forces that cause their curvature, and the resulting feelings of tension and release easier to perceive visually than standard notation (
Once the music has been translated into a MIDI graph like that represented in
Given that so many of the great master composers seem to go to great trouble to trace out smooth and interesting curves through a particular succession of pitches, one may ask why they do not simply notate true curves by bending each pitch into the next through glissandi. The reason composers do not generally do this is that a linear approximation is sufficient to give the implication of curvature and the linear approximation method also allows the composer to convey an extra layer of harmonic information. By staying on a single pitch for a defined period of time and then moving immediately to another higher or lower pitch, the composer ensures that the listener will perceive that particular pitch's relationship to the notes above or below it on the pitch axis (y-axis). While employing glissandi or pitch bending might result in more precise musical curves in each individual melodic voice, this would completely obscure the precise relationships between pitches on the y-axis (pitch axis) that are critical to the perception of harmony. Composers who wish to maintain harmonic complexity while also implying complex curves that change direction quickly must employ smaller note values so that a greater number of data points support the perception of the curve that is implied. This phenomena can easily be observed in the music of Bach and many other great masters, who often use running 16th notes or even smaller subdivisions in order to trace out complex curves in contrapuntal forms such as canon and fugue while also preserving a complex progression of harmonies made possible by the fact that the pitch values are always distinct at any given point in time.
Thus, to summarize steps 108 and 110, after a musical score has been translated into a MIDI graph, the path of each individual melodic voice in the composition can be expressed through a sequence of x, y coordinates (step 108) and these coordinates can be analyzed to produce functions that define curves which fit smoothly over these coordinates (step 110). The functions defined through step 110 reveal detailed structural information about individual melodic layers that will inform the choice of effects used to visualize these layers in steps 116 and 118.
Although a process that does not include step 110 will necessarily sacrifice some of the possible nuances that could have been conveyed in the resulting visualizations, step 110 can be thought of as optional, as appealing visualizations can also be generated using only the x, y graph, as discussed below.
In step 112, both the original x, y coordinate data from step 108 and any curves generated by step 110 are imported into a 3D animation program, such as 3ds Max 8, available from Autodesk, Inc., or Maya, available from Alias Systems Corp. (now owned by Autodesk, Inc.). One can then choose either or both of the paths represented by the x, y coordinate data of each individual melodic line developed via step 108 or their smooth equivalents generated via step 110. The chosen two dimensional paths are then placed within a three dimensional space such that each individual path may be given its own unique position with respect to a z-axis, adding depth to the resulting visual composition. As just one possibility amongst many, the positions of each musical path along the added z-axis (the depth axis) might reflect the corresponding orchestrational layers (e.g. Woodwinds, Brass, Percussion, Strings, etc.). Once these paths have been imported into a three dimensional space, they then define the paths along which animated objects will fly to represent the movement of each individual melody against time.
The objects themselves could have any number of visual manifestations. In one embodiment of the invention, the object can be the x, y graph itself or the smooth linear approximation thereof, which can be animated using the principles of the present invention. The user can also select any number of objects to animate from a menu, but it is believed that the most appealing visualizations will have a distinct object to represent each individual melodic line in the composition. Conceivably however, there can be a different object for each instrument. For instance, for chamber music comprising only 3, 4, or 5 instruments, an appealing visualization can be created using a different object for each instrument. It is, in fact, possible to have multiple objects for a single instrument, such as a piano. Solo and ensemble piano compositions often have two (or more) melodic lines. As long as they follow the paths imported via steps 108-112, the listener/viewer will be able to intuitively connect the movement of the objects with their corresponding audio layers within the musical texture. The artist may choose to change the particular object representing a given layer of the music as the piece progresses. This may be aesthetically pleasing, for instance, when the general character of that melody changes or when the melody is picked up by another instrument. The possibilities, of course are endless, and limited only by the artist's imagination.
Note that, as practical matter, it will commonly be desirable to have the axis that most closely corresponds to time, e.g., the x axis in
Each melodic layer in
In order to synchronize the eventual animations with live or recorded performance, the frames-per-beat should be set precisely (step 114). Note that frames-per-beat is merely an exemplary embodiment and that the number of frames can be set as a function of any other musical time unit, such as per beat, per quarter note, per eighth note, per bar, per measure, etc. First, one should determine the smallest subdivision of a beat that occurs in the musical work to be visualized. If, for instance, the piece includes subdivisions down to triplet 16th and regular 16th notes, then one should assign a precise number of frames per beat of the animation to ensure that every note corresponds in time to an integer number of frames. Additionally, one should keep in mind that frame rates in excess of 60 frames-per-second may cause the microprocessor 18 to slow down when a rendered video file stored in the memory 28 is played back. Thus, the tempo of the performance must be taken into consideration when setting the frames-per-beat in the 3D animation software in step 114.
Once the music is translated into a MIDI graph or other graphical form (step 108), the resulting numeric x, y coordinate values of the music are entered into a 3D animation program (step 112), and the frame rate is properly established (step 114), the artist can then, as detailed in steps 116 and 118, apply any number of 3D animation techniques to bend, stretch, wrap, or otherwise alter the visual objects representing the various musical paths in order to convey visually the structural elements that were determined through the analysis steps (100, 106, 110) while still maintaining the one-to-one correspondence between the resulting 3D visualizations and the original information embedded in the musical score.
In one realization of step 116, 3D animation techniques are applied to shape the musical paths imported into the animation program for the purpose of representing harmonic structure. Merely as one possible example, all of the musical paths representing each individual voice/layer in a musical texture may be wrapped around the surface of a rotating cylinder, cone, or other shape to create a macro-level vortex or other structure while maintaining the micro-level one-to-one correspondence between the movement of each individual voice on its own relative x, y coordinate plane and the movement dictated by the x, y coordinate plane of the MIDI score developed in step 108 (or the piecewise linear approximation thereof developed in step 110).
For step 116 s and 118, a variation of this technique can also be used to represent a change of key (e.g. from F-minor to A-flat Major). The macro-level path relative to which all individual voices move may change angles when the key changes and eventually wrap back upon itself and return to the starting angle when the piece returns to the original key. For instance, with reference to
Another visual concept that can be used in steps 116 and 118 to represent harmonic structures involves projecting a semi-transparent grid into the space through which the musical paths flow with said grid representing the overtone series projected above the lowest note sounding at any given time. This technique can be used to accentuate the harmonic structure by highlighting or otherwise accentuating any notes above the bass that line up with the grid (forming stable, relaxed harmonies) or strongly negate the grid (forming unstable tense harmonies with more dissonance). Thus, the acoustics/physics of the overtone series and its harmonic implications may be incorporated into the visualization in order to make harmonic information easy to perceive visually. Again, the analysis of the music in steps 100 and/or 106 has been incorporated into the visualization in order to aid intuitive perception of musical harmonic structures.
Contrapuntal techniques may also be elucidated in step 116 via application of 3D animation techniques that enhance the symmetries already embedded in the musical paths that were brought into the 3D animation software via steps 108-112. Canonic writing can be represented by having the first voice leave a trail in space representing its path and then moving that trail below or above on the pitch and time axes and inverting or reversing its orientation so that, once it locks into the correct position, it represents the delayed entrance of the second canonic voice either above or below the first voice and either inverted or in retrograde according to the contrapuntal technique utilized. Here, the micro-level analysis results from step 110 can serve as a guide for decisions involving which 3D effects may be applied in order to best visualize contrapuntal structures intuitively.
Relating specifically to step 118, camera angles can be manipulated in the 3D visualizations so that the viewer can follow the path of any individual voice and experience the acceleration (curvature) of that voice as it flies up and down in a manner similar to that used by virtual reality flight simulators to fool the brain into perceiving motion and acceleration.
This technique could even be extended into a virtual reality ride that reproduces actual sensations of acceleration via physical movement. In this case, the ride would move the occupants against gravity to physically approximate feelings of acceleration that maintain a one-to-one correspondence to the visual perception of acceleration that is created when a first-person perspective camera angle is used to view the 3D animation from the perspective of a given musical line. For instance, a person could visually "ride" the viola's path as if it were a roller coaster on a track. The viola could climb up past the second violin track and then dive down through the cello track before returning to its original location in the middle of the texture. This virtual flight experience through the abstract world of music would be depicted visually, acoustically, and physically with the physical sensations of acceleration produced by the ride linked precisely to visual and acoustic information presented on a screen and via speakers. In order for this to be effective, however, the visual and gravitational effects must be a function of the music as analyzed in steps 100 and/or 106, and step 110.
In another realization of step 116, changes in key and harmony may be interpreted via colors that represent the energy levels of the keys and specific chords with respect to the home key, possibly based on the ROYGBV (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Violet) succession from lowest to highest energy, so that the key and harmonic changes are consistently represented visually in a way that the brain intuitively understands. In this case, the color would become a function of the harmonic structure as determined via the analysis (steps 100 and/or 106).
These are but a few of the possible realizations of steps 116 and 118. Countless others will be apparent to those skilled in the art of music and 3D animation. However, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, at all times, the 3D animation techniques employed to create visually appealing abstract forms are informed by the results of the analysis steps (100, 106,110) and are designed to preserve the original one-to-one relationship back to the information in the score itself. Because these relationships are always preserved, the average listener/viewer is able to intuitively understand that the visuals are directly linked to and generated by the music itself and the resulting abstract visual art is not only aesthetically pleasing but also functional as it helps the viewer to follow the music more precisely.
As previously noted, a significant aspect of the present invention is to analyze the musical composition to extract meaningful discrete coherent musical phrases from it that can be represented and animated with corresponding discrete coherent visual phrases (steps 100, 106, 110 in
Any serious student of music is well acquainted with various techniques, such as tonal analysis and other analysis methods, for parsing out from a score these discrete coherent musical phrases, such as, but not limited to, sequences of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release and other musical antecedent/consequent structures.
For instance, a discrete coherent musical phrase is a section of a melodic line of a composition that a listener intuitively perceives as a unit, such as the "hook" of a popular music song. Another likely musical phrase would be a portion of the piece comprising a build up of musical tension and its release. To reiterate the specific examples cited previously as illustration, the famous four-note opening of Beethoven's 5th Symphony creates rhythmic tension that is built and released throughout the first movement, an upward melodic leap in a solo voice creates melodic tension that is usually released downward by step in Mozart, Bach's V-pedal passages build harmonic tension that is eventually released with a return to the tonic, and the juxtaposition of thickly orchestrated strings followed by a solo in the woodwinds creates orchestrational tension and release in Brahms. The location of these tension and release elements throughout the score is part of the critical structural information about the music that will be translated into intuitive visual elements in the visualization process.
Because the parsing of music into discrete coherent musical phrases based on principles of music cognition and perception has been well studied, there are several available methods of analysis that provide meaningful ways to control music visualizations. For example, a semantic parser might analyze the rhythmic structure of the music on the level of a musical measure and determine patterns of tension and release. Examples of existing methods developed within the academic field of music perception, include Eugene Narmour's Implication-Realization Model(The Analysis and Cognition of Basic Melodic Structures, The University of Chicago Press, 1990), J. Thomassen's model of melodic salience (see Thomassen, J. (1982) "Melodic accent: Experiments and a tentative model", Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 71(6), 1598-1605), F. Lerdahl's model of melodic attraction, Lerdahl, F. (1996) "Calculating tonal tension", Music Perception, 13(3), 319-363, M. R. Jones' model of Phenomenal accent synchrony, (Jones, M. R. (1987), "Dynamic pattern structure in music: Recent theory and research", Perception and Psychophysics, 41, 621-634, and P. von Hippel's method for calculating Melodic Mobility, (von Hippel, P. (2000), "Redefining pitch proximity: Tessitura and mobility as constraints on melodic interval size", Music Perception, 17 (3), 315-327).
Once the manipulation of the musical paths and other visual information within the 3D animation software is complete (steps 116 and 118 of
The following steps (steps 124-128) will ensure that the video file is played back in perfect synchronization with a recorded or live musical performance, either through manual synchronization (step 124) or automatic synchronization (steps 126 and 128).
Nothing is more critical to maintaining the intuitive connection between auditory and visual phenomena required to achieve a synaesthetic experience in the listener/viewer than precise synchronization of the visuals with the rhythm of the musical performance. In most performances of complex music, the musicians constantly stretch and compress their tempos for expressive purposes. The musicians are playing exactly what is in the score, but they are doing so with expressive license and a fluid approach to tempo that is more like breathing than clockwork. Step 114 described how the frames-to-beats ratios are set to ensure that a precise number of frames consistently correspond to each beat subdivision found in a particular piece of music. Depending on the situation, either step 124 or steps 126 and 128 are then taken to ensure that the rendered animation is perfectly synchronized with the actual performance.
When synchronizing the video playback to a recorded or live performance manually via step 124, the user manually taps the tempo into the system. This can be accomplished in any reasonable fashion, such as by tapping a key on a keyboard or other tempo input device 14. The tempo input device 14 may be a foot switch so that the user's hands may be free to perform other tasks, such as some of the tasks described below in connection with the second embodiment of the invention, in which the user may manually control the animation during the musical performance. The System provides for tapping at any desired musical sub-division from a whole note to a 16th-note triplet. The user is free to change their tapping to any sub-division during a performance to accommodate the music to which they're synchronizing. For instance, the user can instruct the system to change the taps to correspond to eighth notes rather than quarter notes at any time.
Intelligent tempo control software stored in the memory 28 allows a precise number of frames to play for each beat tapped into the tempo control input device 14. The tempo control software automatically corrects common user errors by, for instance, continuing at a set tempo if the user misses a beat. The tempo control software also tracks the total number of beats that have gone by so that it may track the precise position within the MIDI score and the total number of frames that have gone by based upon the frame-to-beat rates that were set in step 114. This allows the tempo control software to catch up to or jump back to any point in the score when the user enters in the bar number of the measure requested using the computer's general input device 12. The tempo control software is also able to anticipate acceleration or slowing of the tempo based on the user's indication of a pending tempo change so that the auto-correct features that normally help to maintain a steady beat within a predetermined threshold may be temporarily disabled to allow a sudden change of tempo.
In order to synchronize the video playback to a live performance automatically via steps 126 and 128, one first sets up at least one microphone dedicated to each instrumental group that is treated independently in the score so that audio data may be isolated for each group and inputted to the audio input device 16 (step 126). Pitch and rhythm tracking software stored in the memory 28 then compares the actual audio data from the performance to the MIDI score generated in step 104 to determine precisely the measure and beat position of the performance with respect to the score at any time throughout the performance (step 128). Software having suitable pitch and rhythm tracking functionality is used currently in commercially available products such as Karaoke programs that have pitch correction features for indicating when the singer is off-key, audio production software with pitch editing features that can be readily adapted for use in connection with the present invention(such as Digital Performer 4.6 from MOTU), or audio-to-MIDI conversion software (such as Solo Explorer WAV to MIDI software, available from the Recognisoft company). Based on the frames-per-beat rates established in step 114, the pitch and rhythm tracking software allows a set number of frames to pass for every beat that it reads from the performers. The pitch and rhythm tracking software maintains various thresholds that can be set by the user to control limited auto-correcting features that will help ensure that the tracking software does not lose its place in the event that unexpected data comes out of the performance (for instance, if a musician knocks over the stand holding a microphone resulting in a sudden arrhythmic spike in the audio levels on that microphone's channel, the pitch and rhythm tracking software ignores this data spike because it exceeds the tolerance threshold and is therefore dismissed as accidental). However, the pitch and rhythm tracking software's auto-correct features may be disabled or altered to anticipate sudden changes in tempo, volume, or pitch that are indicated in the score. Preferably, the pitch and rhythm tracking software automatically reads ahead in the MIDI score to anticipate such changes and disables or alters its auto-correct thresholds accordingly.
Various permutations of the multi-step process disclosed herein are possible depending on the level of detail desired in the resulting visuals, the time, and/or budget available to complete the visualization process, and whether or not the visuals are to incorporate user-controlled live-input.
For instance, the most nuanced images are achieved when one visualizes not only the raw data embedded within the (x, y) position of the notes in a musical score (x=time; y=pitch) but also the results of a mathematical analysis and interpolation of the raw musical data. Often, such mathematical analysis will reveal complex curves that are embedded within the musical lines, and incorporating these curves into the final visualization can significantly enhance the final results.
Similarly, the visuals resulting from this invention may be pre-rendered using multiple computers in a render farm when one desires the most detailed images possible and budget and/or time constraints are not a concern, but visuals may also be live-rendered from a single computer if budget and/or time constraints prevent the use of multiple pre-rendering computers.
One may also elect to use live-rendering in order to accommodate user-controlled live-input. For instance, the score does not tell us exactly how a particular artist will interpret the notes, timings, and phrasings indicated by the score in any particular performance, but the addition of user-controlled live-input allows the score-based visuals to be expressively shaped by the performing musician(s), a music visualization artist or artists, or automated software. This will allow the visuals to take into account the audio data created by any given score-based performance without losing interpretive elements that have been added by the performer and go beyond the indications of the score.
The decision to use the pre-rendered approach versus the live-rendered approach will necessarily impact the methods used to shape and bend the resulting score-based visuals such that the information extracted from the first step in the process, the analysis of the score, is conveyed in meaningful and intuitive visual form. For instance, if the first step, i.e., analyzing the score, revealed several sequences of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and/or orchestrational tension and release or any other musical antecedent/consequent sequence, this information could be used to trigger different 3D animation effects at different points in the score corresponding to those tension and release events. The decision regarding live-rendering versus pre-rendering will necessarily impact the way in which these animation effects are applied. In the case of pre-rendering, the effects would be applied by the animator before the final rendering. In the case of live-rendering, the effects would be triggered from amongst several pre-programmed effect options during a live performance. As an example of one live-rendering embodiment, a simple graphic user interface, or GUI, may be employed that allows a music visualization artist to select from amongst several pre-programmed visual effects and either trigger those effects manually or associate them with the moments of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release identified through the analysis step. The results of the music analysis would be indicated visually in the GUI such that the selected visual effects may be triggered automatically when the music reaches the appropriate point in the score.
Similarly, the decision to pre-render or live-render impacts the way in which the resulting score-based visuals are synchronized to the changing tempos of an actual performance. In the case of pre-rendering, the synchronization may be achieved by associating a precise number of frames with a precise beat value or subdivision thereof and employing a user-controlled or automated device that allows a precise number of frames to play for each beat. In the case of live-rendering, one may opt to use a fixed frame rate of, for instance, 30 frames per second, with the synchronization of the resulting visuals to the actual performance achieved through other means. Detailed further below are several options for visualizing score-based music that one may adopt as approaches according to time and/or budget constraints as well as the artistic goals of any particular project.
No matter which options are chosen in developing score-based visualizations, the process involves reducing the music to its component structural parts and assigning visual effects appropriate to each part. As such, the present invention provides a method that may be adapted for a wide range of applications.
Also, no matter which options are chosen in developing score-based visualizations, the process will necessarily employ anticipating what is coming in the score. For instance, analyzing the score's structure necessarily involves looking ahead in the score, far beyond whatever part of the music is playing at any given moment, so that the music's structural elements can be linked to 3D animation effects across long phrases that may take 8, 16, or even 100 measures to realize their tension and release cycles. The process outlined in the present invention takes into account where the music is going before a particular visualization tool is assigned to any given point in the music.
B. 3D Animated Music Visualizations for Improvisational Music Performance (Not Score-Based)
The invention can also be adapted to generate visualizations corresponding to live performances having no predetermined written score. The following is a description of such an embodiment of the invention
If the music is improvisational and is performed live, the entire multi-step visualization process must happen virtually instantaneously in real time within a computer system. Again, it relies on analyzing the audio and/or MIDI/electronic information generated by the live performance using all available methods to extract meaningful structural information such as, but not limited to, rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release structures. The improvisatory nature of the performance may require that predictive modeling be employed to anticipate what is likely to follow any musical phrases that have just been performed by considering the standardized harmonic norms and phrase structures of any particular musical style.
1. Elements of the System
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the views, and referring in particular to
2. The Preferred Method
A flow chart illustrating one preferred method of creating real-time rendered 3D animations synchronized to a live musical performance is shown in
In step 202, one sets up a default 3D mapping that places the visuals that will be generated by each individual instrument in a distinct position within a virtual three-dimensional space. In a live performance with improvisational elements like a rock concert, although predictive modeling can provide some useful insight in real time, one does not have the advantage of complete fore-knowledge of the music before it is played, as in a score-based performance. Thus, the mappings cannot be custom-tailored to each individual harmonic or contrapuntal situation before it occurs, but rather must be more standardized to accommodate a number of possible harmonic and contrapuntal situations. One standardized mapping technique that is easy for the audience to intuitively understand is to project a virtual three-dimensional space above the performance stage and place the individual visuals generated by each instrument (or group of instruments) at distinct locations within the three-dimensional virtual space such that they mirror the positions of the instruments on the actual performance stage below.
In step 204, pitch and rhythm tracking software translates the audio data from the microphones into MIDI data and combines this MIDI data with any MIDI data coming from MIDI instruments to generate a complete MIDI score for the entire ensemble in real-time. Audio-to-MIDI conversion software is readily available, such as Solo Explorer WAV to MIDI conversion software from the Recognisoft company, which can be used in combination with MIDI sequencing software, such as MOTU's Digital Performer 4.6, to complete step 204. The results of the audio-to-MIDI conversion are then analyzed using predictive modeling to identify patterns that are expected within a given style of music such that the likely resolution of a tension-building pattern, for instance, may be anticipated and may inform the visualization. Existing software already incorporates the necessary phrase recognition functionality, such as Daniel Sleator and Davy Temperley's Melisma Music Analyzer available for free download at http://www.link.cs.cmu.edu/music-analysis/.
Once the complete MIDI score has been generated, it is immediately imported into another software program that translates each instrument/layer of the MIDI score into a series of x, y coordinates representing the position and length of each individual note with respect to pitch (y) and time (x) (step 206). Again, MOTU's Digital Performer 4.6 can quickly and easily generate x, y coordinate graphs like those required by step 206.
In step 208, the x, y coordinate information for each instrument resulting from step 206 is inputted to a 3D animation software and/or hardware capable of live-rendering three-dimensional shapes via predetermined mappings from 2D space to 3D space previously set up by the user of the system. The hardware and software technology required for live-rendering 3D animations that are responsive to real-time input is already widely used within commercial video game systems, such as the Nintendo Game Cube, Sony's Play Station 2, and Microsoft's X-Box.
These real-time rendered visuals preserve the precise shape of the melodic lines performed by each musician and extend those forms into three-dimensions using predetermined or flexible mapping algorithms that are either fixed or are informed by the predictive modeling analysis such that each instrument creates its own three-dimensional visuals while it plays and those visuals are located within the virtual space determined by step 202. The musicians are then composing abstract visual animations that are controlled by the notes they play and will illustrate their melodic patterns and interaction with the other instruments visually in real-time.
Step 210 provides for an additional degree of expressive control of the visuals that result from steps 200-208. While the instruments themselves generate three-dimensional patterns automatically via steps 200-208, a music visualization artist (i.e., the "user") may control/trigger color changes and other pre-determined effects that shape or bend the three-dimensional abstract composition in order to visually express the phrases or tension and release structures determined by the analysis. Possible bending and shaping effects include all of those listed in connection with step 116 of the previous section. All of these effects are pre-programmed into the real-time rendering 3D animation software such that they may be easily triggered and/or controlled at any time during the performance, such as by the pressing of a key on the general input device 52. A range of possible MIDI control devices could be connected to the MIDI input device 54 for the purpose of "playing" the visual effects expressively using a MIDI keyboard, breath controller, or other MIDI instrument. For example, the vortex effect previously described as a way to visualize a harmonic V-Pedal (
C. Recording-Based Music Visualization
When the music to be visualized is based only upon a recording and not a predetermined score, referred to throughout this disclosure as "recording-based" music visualization, a multi-step process similar to that used for score-based music is utilized such that, again, the process takes advantage of detailed fore-knowledge of all musical events, with such knowledge provided in this case by the recording rather than a pre-existing score. In the first step of the recording-based process, the recording is analyzed using one or several available systems and software products to extract meaningful structural information such as, but not limited to, points of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release. As with score-based visualizations, various permutations of additional steps in a multi-step process are possible depending on the level of detail desired, the time and/or budget available to complete the visualization process, and whether or not the visuals are to incorporate user-controlled live-input.
1. Elements of the System
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate like elements throughout the views, and referring in particular to
2. The Preferred Embodiment
A flow chart illustrating one preferred method of creating real-time rendered 3D animations synchronized to a recorded musical performance is shown in
Next, one applies detailed audio analysis in order to construct an electronic file that represents all of the information that would normally be present within a traditional paper score, a MIDI electronic score, or another electronic score format (step 302). In this case, the process essentially comprises reverse-engineering a score from the recording. Suitable software for this purpose is readily available. For instance, Solo Explorer WAV to MIDI conversion software, available from Recognisoft, may be used to translate layers of the recording into MIDI tracks, which can then be pieced together into a full MIDI score using MIDI sequencing software such as MOTU's Digital Performer 4.6. In step 303, a detailed MIDI score or the like is generated as described above in connection with the score-based embodiment of the invention. Then, in step 304, all of the steps utilized for score-based music visualization and the various options outlined for score-based music are then applicable for recording-based music, i.e., steps 106 through 128. In effect, the recording-only music has then been transformed into score-based music such that the most nuanced visuals are now possible, following the steps described for score-based music visualization (see
Alternately, the reverse-engineering of a score for recording-only music may not be practical or necessary in all cases. In some cases, satisfactory visualizations can be generated by simpler means. Particularly, even without complete information about the x, y pitch and time location information for all notes within a recording, one still can create compelling visualizations that go far beyond those currently available by simply ensuring that the movements of objects represented on screen are synchronized to the rhythm of the music. Similarly, even without a complete score, automated analysis of a recording can determine meaningful points of harmonic tension and release such that one may apply swirling vortex or other effects to various abstract objects on screen, with the effects triggered on and off in accordance with the buildup and release of harmonic tension synchronized to the recording playback. In such cases, flow instead proceeds from step 300 to step 306.
In step 306, a MIDI or similar file is created using, for instance, audio-to-MIDI conversion software, audio analysis software, or any other manual or automated process for identifying simple coherent musical phrases within the music, such as, but not limited to, points of rhythmic, melodic, harmonic, and orchestrational tension and release in the musical work). In step 308, the structural information generated in step 306 is imported into a 3D animation program. The 3D animation program may be used to trigger any number of 3D animation effects designed to convey the appropriate tension and release structures within the music in intuitive visual form (step 310). Alternately or additionally in step 310, certain effects may be triggered directly by a music visualization artist using the MIDI input device (154 in
The present invention allows one to create 3D abstract animations that intuitively represent the music they are intended to visualize and are artistically as complex and expressive as the music itself. The primary reason that this invention is successful in this regard is that it draws all of its source data used to generate abstract visuals from the abstract visual relationships embedded in the composer's version of visual music, the score. In math, it is a simple procedure to develop a mapping equation that translates a two-dimensional data set from an x, y coordinate plane into a three-dimensional data set in an x, y, z coordinate plane while maintaining a one-to-one correspondence between the original two-dimensional data set and the new three-dimensional data set created by the mapping equation. The present invention applies this process to the visualization of music by transforming it from the two-dimensional x, y coordinate plane embedded in the score to a three-dimensional x, y, z coordinate plane via various mapping equations that maintain a one-to-one correspondence between the original two-dimensional data set (the score) and the resulting three-dimensional data set. 3D effects are then applied to the resulting abstract objects as a function of the information extracted by a structural analysis of the score.
In the case of the application of the invention to improvisatory performance, the score is still the driving force behind the visualizations because the invention analyzes the audio data from the actual performance to reverse-engineer a MIDI or other electronic version of a score that becomes the basis for visualizations.
While most approaches to music visualization ignore the architecture of the music itself, the present invention was designed to utilize it as much as possible. The resulting synaesthetic combination between the music and the visualization represents a significant advance in music notation, as well as a new art form that has been in artists' imaginations for over one hundred years and can now be realized through today's computer technology.
This invention may also be used with the Internet in connection with popular computer music jukebox programs like Apple I-Tunes and MusicMatch Jukebox. Currently, programs like I-Tunes and MusicMatch Jukebox offer a visualization window that provides primitive visual accompaniment for whatever music happens to be playing at the time. The present invention could replace these primitive visualizations with visualizations built upon the actual architecture of the music. A database of music visualizations for popular score-based musical pieces may be developed such that users of programs like I-Tunes can download visualizations specifically developed for the music they are listening to. I-Tunes already lets its users access a database containing the track names, album titles, and other information to fill in such information on-screen for any consumer CD that is played by the computer. A similar automated system could be used to download pre-rendered music visualizations that could be synchronized to the digital music file's playback.
Alternately, such jukebox programs could be supplied with rendering programs as described above that produce visuals in real-time responsive to the music that are tailored to the audio data in the digital music file.
The preferred embodiments described herein are intended to illustrate only a few possible embodiments of the invention with specific emphasis on an embodiment for performances that follow a score, another embodiment for improvisational performances, and a third embodiment for situations when only an audio recording is available. Other embodiments and modifications will no doubt occur to those skilled in the art of music, 3D animation, mathematical analysis of trajectories and curves, virtual reality simulators and rides, and other existing music visualization techniques. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements as are made obvious by this disclosure are intended to be part of this description though not expressly stated herein, and are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, the examples given should be interpreted only as illustrations of some of the preferred embodiments of the invention. The invention is limited only as defined in the following claims and equivalents thereto.
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|Nov 17, 2003
|Aug 9, 2005
|Rainer Haase
|Method for the program-controlled visually perceivable representation of a music composition
|Dec 18, 2002
|Dec 6, 2005
|Medialab Solutions Llc
|Systems and methods for creating, modifying, interacting with and playing musical compositions
|Sep 26, 2002
|Aug 29, 2006
|Pioneer Corporation
|Map drawing apparatus with audio driven object animations
|Oct 1, 2003
|Oct 3, 2006
|Sony Corporation
|Information-processing apparatus, image display control method and image display control program
|May 14, 2004
|Jan 16, 2007
|Konami Digital Entertainment
|System and method for synchronizing a live musical performance with a reference performance
|Sep 13, 2002
|Jun 5, 2003
|Michael Neuman
|Dynamic variation of output media signal in response to input media signal
|Jun 20, 2002
|Oct 14, 2004
|Phillips Maxwell John
|Musical invention apparatus
|Dec 22, 2004
|Sep 1, 2005
|Hartwell Brown
|Apparatus and method for identifying and simultaneously displaying images of musical notes in music and producing the music
|Jun 30, 2005
|Jan 4, 2007
|Body Harp Interactive Corporation
|Free-space human interface for interactive music, full-body musical instrument, and immersive media controller
|Nov 21, 2003
|Jan 24, 2008
|Yongwei Zhu
|Method and Apparatus for Melody Representation and Matching for Music Retrieval
|Title not available
|Jan 18, 2006
|Jul 27, 2006
|Haeker Eric P
|Method and apparatus for generating visual images based on musical compositions
|"Classical Concert pulls off visuals" Jan. 20, 2004 www.philly.com.
|Arts in motion http://www.artsinmotion.org Dec. 19, 2005 pp. 1-3.
|Computer-Music Interfaces: A Survey Bruce W. Pennycook Computing Surveys, vol. 17, No. 2, Jun. 1985 pp. 267-289.
|International Search Report for International application No. PCT/US06/01480 dated Apr. 10, 2008.
|Stephen Malinowski, Music Animation Machine User Guide, pp. 1-29, Oct. 1994.
|Stephen Malinowski, The Music Animation Machine, Software Application as Described and Downloaded at URL: <http://www.well.com/user/smalin/mam.html>, Downloaded on Jun. 30, 2000, pp. 1-28, Jul. 1993.
|Tadamura et al. Synchronizing Computer Graphics Animation and Audio. IEEE. 1998.
|The Sound Studio, Sixth Edition, 1995 Alec Nisbett pp. 14-16.
|Citing Patent
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|Apr 22, 2005
|Aug 10, 2010
|Creative Technology Ltd
|Method and apparatus for enabling a user to amend an audio file
|May 29, 2009
|Apr 12, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Practice mode for multiple musical parts
|May 29, 2009
|May 3, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Dynamically displaying a pitch range
|May 29, 2009
|Jul 19, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Displaying an input at multiple octaves
|May 29, 2009
|Sep 13, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Dynamic musical part determination
|May 29, 2009
|Sep 27, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Selectively displaying song lyrics
|Jul 18, 2008
|Nov 29, 2011
|Adobe Systems Incorporated
|Visualizing audio properties
|Jul 18, 2008
|Dec 6, 2011
|Adobe Systems Incorporated
|Adjusting audio properties and controls of an audio mixer
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 13, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Scoring a musical performance after a period of ambiguity
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 20, 2011
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Preventing an unintentional deploy of a bonus in a video game
|Jul 18, 2008
|Dec 27, 2011
|Adobe Systems Incorporated
|Representing and editing audio properties
|Sep 28, 2007
|Apr 2, 2013
|Activision Publishing, Inc.
|Handheld device wireless music streaming for gameplay
|Mar 31, 2008
|Apr 30, 2013
|Fujitsu Ten Limited
|Data display apparatus for displaying measurement data in a time serial manner
|Jun 16, 2008
|May 14, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Systems and methods for reinstating a player within a rhythm-action game
|Sep 30, 2011
|May 21, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Prompting a player of a dance game
|Oct 20, 2009
|May 21, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Systems and methods for indicating input actions in a rhythm-action game
|May 29, 2009
|May 28, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Displaying song lyrics and vocal cues
|May 29, 2009
|Jun 18, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Biasing a musical performance input to a part
|Oct 23, 2009
|Aug 6, 2013
|Sony Corporation
|Music-visualizer system and methods
|Mar 16, 2011
|Oct 8, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Simulating musical instruments
|Jun 10, 2011
|Oct 22, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Prompting a player of a dance game
|Mar 16, 2011
|Oct 29, 2013
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Simulating musical instruments
|Mar 18, 2008
|Dec 31, 2013
|Sean Patrick O'Dwyer
|File creation process, file format and file playback apparatus enabling advanced audio interaction and collaboration capabilities
|Jun 16, 2008
|Mar 25, 2014
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Systems and methods for online band matching in a rhythm action game
|Sep 14, 2009
|Mar 25, 2014
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Systems and methods for asynchronous band interaction in a rhythm action game
|Oct 31, 2008
|Apr 1, 2014
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Providing realistic interaction to a player of a music-based video game
|Jun 16, 2008
|Apr 8, 2014
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Systems and methods for simulating a rock band experience
|Nov 5, 2010
|Apr 22, 2014
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Dance game and tutorial
|Jan 11, 2011
|Aug 5, 2014
|Yamaha Corporation
|Tone reproduction apparatus and method
|Mar 16, 2011
|Oct 28, 2014
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Simulating musical instruments
|Sep 9, 2010
|May 5, 2015
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Preventing subtractive track separation
|Jul 15, 2010
|Dec 22, 2015
|James BARTOS
|Self-teaching and entertainment guitar systems
|Oct 27, 2014
|Mar 8, 2016
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Simulating musical instruments
|Mar 14, 2013
|Jun 7, 2016
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Dance competition game
|Mar 8, 2013
|Jul 5, 2016
|Activision Publishing, Inc.
|Handheld device wireless music streaming for gameplay
|Jul 29, 2015
|Jan 24, 2017
|Quantz Company, Llc
|Systems and methods for quantifying a sound into dynamic pitch-based graphs
|Dec 15, 2011
|Jun 27, 2017
|Brightstar Learning
|Monotonous game-like task to promote effortless automatic recognition of sight words
|Apr 22, 2005
|Jun 1, 2006
|Creative Technology Ltd.
|Method and Apparatus for Enabling a User to Amend an Audio FIle
|Mar 31, 2008
|Nov 6, 2008
|Fujitsu Ten Limited
|Data display apparatus
|Sep 28, 2007
|Apr 2, 2009
|Oberg Gregory Keith
|Handheld device wireless music streaming for gameplay
|Mar 18, 2008
|Jun 3, 2010
|Igruuv Pty Ltd
|File creation process, file format and file playback apparatus enabling advanced audio interaction and collaboration capabilities
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music System, Inc.
|Practice Mode for Multiple Musical Parts
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music System, Inc.
|Dynamic musical part determination
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Selectively displaying song lyrics
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Preventing an unintentional deploy of a bonus in a video game
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Scoring a Musical Performance After a Period of Ambiguity
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Displaying an input at multiple octaves
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Displaying A Harmonically Relevant Pitch Guide
|May 29, 2009
|Dec 2, 2010
|Harmonix Music Systems, Inc.
|Scoring a Musical Performance Involving Multiple Parts
|Jul 15, 2010
|Jan 20, 2011
|Bartos James
|Self-teaching and entertainment guitar systems
|Nov 23, 2010
|Mar 17, 2011
|Huawei Device Co., Ltd
|Method and Media Player for Playing Images Synchronously with Audio File
|Oct 23, 2009
|Apr 28, 2011
|Sony Corporation, A Japanese Corporation
|Music-visualizer system and methods
|Jan 11, 2011
|Jul 21, 2011
|Yamaha Corporation
|Tone reproduction apparatus and method
|Feb 8, 2011
|Aug 4, 2011
|Luca Diara
|Method for converting sounds characterized by five parameters in tridimensional moving images
|Dec 15, 2011
|Jun 28, 2012
|Brightstar Learning
|Monotonous game-like task to promote effortless automatic recognition of sight words
|May 3, 2013
|Mar 26, 2015
|Koninklijke Philips N.V.
|Device and method for supporting a behavior change of a person
|Jul 6, 2015
|Oct 29, 2015
|Chi Leung KWAN
|Raw sound data organizer
|Oct 4, 2012
|May 24, 2016
|James BARTOS
|Illuminated fret board
|Feb 6, 2017
|Aug 10, 2017
|New Resonance, Llc
|Mapping characteristics of music into a visual display
|U.S. Classification
|345/440, 84/609
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 21, 2010
|Certificate of correction
|Mar 14, 2013
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
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|Sep 15, 2017
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
September 23, 2011 BY John Kim
If you're on that Nike retro flow, then look no further than…what else? The Nike Air Flow. The earlier Tier Zero releases of the OG colorways were an absolute hit and even the Lunar-version of the original did quite well, but if you've been looking for more of the original model, Summer 2012 will feature two new color-ups of the Bruce Kilgore-designed running shoe. A white/teal/royal and a grey/red/purple with a Mexican blanket-like print will be available beginning in next April with a $130 price-tag. More individual shots of these true-to-the-OG re-issues are below, so take a look and let us know what you think. via CK.
Filed under: Nike Retro Running Upcoming Sneakers
Tags: Nike Air Flow


text:
In a number of blog posts on Reformation 21 and also a recent episode of the Mortification of Spin podcast, Carl Trueman has been making note of a recent book titled The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey into Christian Faith by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield (Crown & Covenant Pub, 2012). In his review Trueman says, "I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I do not agree with everything she says; but I did learn from everything she wrote. It deserves the widest possible readership."
Back in 2007 we published Truth and Love In a Sexually Disordered World by David Searle (editor). Chapter five of this book (One Homosexual's View) is a helpful addition to this conversation, giving one homosexual's view of how undermining the Biblical witness on sexual ethics harms those who struggle with same-sex attraction. It's available as a free PDF download here: LINK.
Links to Note:
- Carl Trueman's review of The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
- Unsensational Supernatural Unlikely Conversion – Mortification of Spin Podcast
Where to Buy:
Truth and Love In a Sexually Disordered World by David Searle (editor) is available at any good Christian bookstore. If you don't have a Christian bookstore near you, you may want to consider purchasing a copy from one of the online book retailers listed below:
|Buy Now:


text:
Sunday morning service was opened with the Praise Team leading songs of praise. The Sunday special was sung by Charis Potter who always does an awesome job. We didn't make it to church on Sunday due to the death of ...Read More »
Sandy News
We had a time of prayer at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday morning and began our 10 a.m. service with our devotional reading from Hebrews 7 with Superintendent Brad Siler. After prayer requests were given, Doyle Humbyrd led in prayer. We ...Read More »
Red Bank News
Hello everyone. I looked out my kitchen window yesterday, and what to my wandering eyes should appear, but fluffy, white snowflakes gently floating in the air. Of course, they melted as soon as they lit on the carpet of green ...Read More »
Quad Cities
4-7-14. Hello there everyone. How's it going? Fine I hope. We're getting some nice weather. I'm really glad for that. We had a good weekend. Candi sent a text to let us know they had an antenna to bring to ...Read More »
Olga News
I hope everyone has been out enjoying this beautiful weather! We have spent several evenings over the past week or so, enjoying the warmth out on the front porch watching the sun go down. It is so peaceful to finish ...Read More »
Oak Grove Church
The Lord is good isn't he? We need rain he sends rain. We were very blessed to have a young family as our guests and two beautiful little girls to brighten up our Palm Sunday morning. Our Sunday morning message ...Read More »
Nubbin Ridge Homemakers Club
The Nubbin Ridge Homemakers Club met April 10th at 1:00 p.m. in the home of Terri Hall. President Norma Stillings led the reading of the club collect. Eva brought the humorous reading,"I Am Fine." Treasurer Lois Strong read the minutes ...Read More »
Mt. Zion News
Our weekly radio broadcast airs on KKOZ Sundays at 9:00-9:30 AM.. Several visitors were present at 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 6, to see pictures taken in Israel recently. Jesse Paxton led the congregational singing. After prayer, Cinda Thompson, Barbara ...Read More »
Mt. Tabor Church
Church began with Amazing Grace, followed by mentioning the names of so many of our loved ones, church family and some recovering from illnesses. We are very thankful for our visitors and invite them back. Brother Ric read John 10:11-17, ...Read More »
Little Creek
I have certainly appreciated the nice spring days the Lord Jesus has given us. I have green onions big enough to eat and my lettuce is coming up. Kasey mowed my yard already and he will mow again this weekend. ...Read More »


text:
By Jenna Duncan
Alexis Reese, a senior broadcast and digital journalism major, will spend her summer at Arizona State University for the Carnegie-Knight News21 multimedia investigative reporting initiative.
She is one of 20 students chosen for the paid summer internship program, and the second student from the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism in two years to get the offer.
The topic for summer's investigation is already set: Examining contamination and pollution of drinking water, and how that impacts communities nationwide. This semester, she's doing an online seminar to prepare for the...


text:
Fishing and Canoeing
There is a choice of Crystal Lake and Rainbow Lake. You'll find bass, bluegill, and catfish, as well as frogs, tadpoles, minnows, and geese. For serious trout fishing, the cold waters of the Chestatee River and other trout streams are only a few miles away. Please note that at this time Rainbow Lake has been temporarily drained for repairs to its dam system. We apologize for any inconvenience.


text:
I love quiches… the crispy, buttery crust, the creamy filling, the savory aroma… Then one day I discovered that gluten upsets my digestion, and my love for quiches… continued, except that I stopped eating them. I just longingly watched and smelled them from a distance. For a while, I tried to just scrape the filling out, but somehow that wasn't as satisfying. Then one day I decided to just make a quiche with no crust (in other words, a frittata), and add potatoes as a starch. The results were delicious, and I never went back to craving quiches, except maybe sometimes, when I smell that buttery crust 😉
This is one of our favorite make ahead breakfasts/dinners. It's easy to make, cheap, and nutritious. Today I made it right before I went to work, stuck it in the fridge, and had my husband place it in the oven when he came home. It was a hit!
- 5 pastured eggs
- 1/2 cup butter, used to sautee the potatoes, spinach, and onions
- 1 tomato
- 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar
- 1/4 onion
- 2 medium potatoes
- 2 big handfulls spinach
- 1 cup of raw cream
- fresh cracked pepper to taste
- Sea salt to tase
Serves: 2 large potions
Prep Time: 30 min prep, 30 min bake.
1. Dice the potatoes. This way they cook faster and distribute evenly in the batter.
2. Sautee them in butter until golden brown and soft, about ten minutes. Set aside.
3. Dice the onion.
4. Sautee and set aside. Sauteed onion in butter smells divine. Every single time I start cooking something everyone starts asking me what's cooking as soon as I sautee the onions. My response: Umm… onions …
5. Sautee the spinach and set aside.
Now that you have finished sauteeing the potatoes, onions, and spinach, its time to assemble the frittata. Here are all the key players:
6. First crack all the eggs in a large bowl.
7. Then add the onions,
spinach, tomatoes and cheese.
8. Mix everything with a fork.
9. Add the raw cream.
Mix it well.
12. Add the fresh cracked pepper and sea salt.
13. Butter a pie pan.
14. Pour in the mixture.
Here is your frittata. You can cook it right away or you can place it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.
15. Final step: Place it in the oven for 400* degrees for about 30 minutes. When it is golden brown and firm (but not dry) it is ready.
Try it with a fresh mixed green salad!


text:
Aventura, FL (PressExposure) June 22, 2012 -- Hair Demand announces its website launch for Hair Loss Sufferers
Vatelle, in collaboration with senior pharmacist and organic chemists, introduces the launch of Hair Demand worldwide. The Hair Demand website allows men and women suffering from hair loss, hair thinning, male pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia the ability to purchase Hair Demand. The first 100 customers in June 2012 who purchase 3 bottles for a 3 month's supply are eligible to receive a 4th bottle, FREE.
Hair Demand is a product based on a unique Deep Penetrating Formula (DPF) with Capixyl, to provide stronger, longer, thicker looking hair and reduce the appearance of hair loss.
Vatelle refers to the product as "the ultimate hair solution to reduce and prevent the appearance of hair loss and hair thinning."
Capixyl is an innovative biomimetic peptide used in the formulation of Hair Demand. The peptide has a direct effect on the appearance of your hair. Since its development, many articles have been written about Capixyl and Hair Demand is the first product to contain this peptide and make it available to the public.
Hair Demand uses red clover extract rich in Biochanin A to provide fuller, thicker, and healthier looking hair. Hair Demand⢠has been developed by the transdermal specialists at Cosmeceutical Research Center that enables the ingredient Capixyl to penetrate to the base of the follicle and stimulate the hair root for stronger, longer, thicker-looking hair.
Hair Demand works by controlling the enzymatic pathway that causes hair loss. It also reduces inflammation of the scalp, which can prevent hair to grow.
Hair Demand is said to rebuild the tissues that anchor the hair with a protein that mimics nature in reconstituting the collagen and other supporting material in and around the hair follicle.
The company states that Hair Demand is far less expensive than hair transplant procedures.
Hair Demand takes into account the differences in hormonal balances between men and women; therefore, there are two versions available of Hair Demand. No prescription is required.
Hair Demand is a topical spray with a recommended usage of at least 3 months. It should be applied twice daily, morning and evening. For more information, please visit http://www.HairDemand.com