Using recognition-segments to find and act-upon a composition

• US 9,135,901 B2
• Filed: 03/18/2013
• Issued: 09/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Synergy Technologies LLC
• Original Assignee: James W. Wieder
• Inventors: Wieder, James W.
• Primary Examiner(s): FLETCHER, MARLON T
• Application Number:
  US13/846,623
• Publication Number:
  US 20140230631A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0008 Associated control or indicating means
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/0033 Recording/reproducing or transmission of music for electrophonic musical instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/46 Volume control
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2210/061 for extraction of musical phrases, isolation of musically relevant segments, e.g. musical thumbnail generation, or for temporal structure analysis of a musical piece, e.g. determination of the movement sequence of a musical work
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 2240/151 Thumbnail, i.e. retrieving, playing or managing a short and musically relevant song preview from a library, e.g. the chorus

Abstract

A method, apparatus and system that enables a user to find and act-upon a sound-containing composition, in a group of compositions. One or more sound-segments, which are intended to prompt a user'"'"'s memory, may be associated with each composition in a group of compositions. A recognition sound-segment may include a portion of its associated composition, which is more recognizable to users than the beginning part of its associated composition. A recognition-segment may contain one or more highly recognizable portion(s) of a composition. When the user is trying to locate or select a particular composition, the recognition-segments are navigated and played-back to the user, based upon a user-device context/mode. When a user recognizes the desired composition from its recognition-segment, the user may initiate a control action to playback; arrange; and/or act-upon, the composition that is associated with the currently playing recognition-segment.

Claims

1. Apparatus to act-upon a composition containing a sound component, the apparatus comprising:

one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s) that;

obtain or provide, an ordering of sound-segments;

wherein three or more sound-segments are associated with each composition and there are a plurality of compositions;

wherein said three or more sound segments associated with each composition include;

a first sound segment which includes a beginning portion of said composition,

a second sound segment that is a recognition sound segment;

wherein each said recognition segment includes a portion of its associated composition, which is more recognizable to user(s) than a beginning part of its associated composition;

a third sound segment which includes an ending portion of said composition;

obtain or provide, a current-location in said ordering that refers to one of said sound-segments in said ordering;

said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s) that;

in response to user navigation action(s);

change said current-location in said ordering and initiate a playback of the sound-segment that is associated with said current-location in said ordering; and

in response to act-upon action(s) by the user;

perform one or more of;

play, add, move, remove, cut, copy, paste, arrange, organize, or order, said composition that is associated with the sound-segment at said current-location.

2. The apparatus of 1 wherein one or more of electronic-circuitry or processor(s) are configured to also:

change the current-location in said ordering, to a new current-location in said ordering, in response to a completion of a playback of a said sound-segment in said ordering.

3. The apparatus of 1 wherein the user can navigate through said ordering using navigation actions, without the user needing to view said ordering on an active visual display.

4. The apparatus of 1 wherein said ordering was automatically generated, for the user based on a user-request.

5. The apparatus of 1 wherein the ordering was automatically generated for the user based on a user-request, and the sound-segments are ordered by their probability of satisfying said user-request;

wherein said user-request was for a composition title and/or artist.

6. The apparatus of 1 further including one or more of:

electronic-circuitry or processor(s), that generate said ordering for the user, based on an operating mode or context of a user-device.

7. The apparatus of 1 wherein said ordering corresponds to a playback order of a sequence or stream of compositions;

wherein the playback order was customized for the user.

8. The apparatus of 1 wherein said ordering corresponds to a playback order of a playlist.

9. The apparatus of 1 wherein the sound-segments are related to their associated compositions by pointers, links, hyperlinks, universal resource locators and/or universal object identifiers.

10. The apparatus of 1 wherein the sound-segments are related to their associated compositions by a standardized file-naming convention, tables, databases and/or linked-lists.

11. The apparatus of 1 wherein one or more of said recognition sound-segments was configured at least partially based upon a test of a recognition time of people who have previously experienced its associated composition.

12. The apparatus of 1 wherein at least one of the sound-segments has been previously tested against a user or users, in-order to verify that the sound-segment is substantially immediately recognized by the user or users who have previously experienced its associated composition.

13. The apparatus of 1 wherein at least one of said sound-segments was chosen from a plurality of alternative sound-segments that were created for a given composition;

based on how quickly users were able to recognize each one of the alternative sound-segments for the given composition.

14. The apparatus of 1 wherein at least one of said sound-segments was previously determined to be recognized the soonest among a plurality of alternative sound-segments, that had been created for its associated composition and tested for recognition times of people who have previously experienced its associated composition.

15. The apparatus of 1 further including one or more of:

electronic-circuitry or processor(s), that provide a visual representation of said ordering and an indicator of the current-location in said visual representation of said ordering, to an active-display.

16. The apparatus of 1 wherein at least one of said sound-segments includes a mix or addition of a plurality of different sound-segments;

wherein at least one of the mixed or added segments, includes a portion of its associated composition, which is more recognizable to the user than a beginning part of its associated composition.

17. The apparatus of 1 wherein some of said sound-segments include an audio description of characteristics of its associated composition;

wherein said characteristics include an artist name or composition title.

18. The apparatus of 1 wherein said sound segments are navigated in one or more of:

an up-down direction or a left-right direction.

19. An apparatus-implemented method for acting-upon compositions that contain a sound component, the method comprising:

obtaining or providing, by one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), an ordering of sound-segments;

wherein three or more sound-segments are associated with each composition and there are a plurality of compositions;

wherein said three or more sound segments associated with each composition include;

a first sound segment which includes a beginning portion of said composition,

a second sound segment that is a recognition sound segment;

wherein each said recognition segment includes a portion of its associated composition, which is more recognizable to user(s) than a beginning part of its associated composition;

a third sound segment which includes an ending portion of said composition;

obtaining or providing, by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), a current-location in said ordering that refers to one of said sound-segments in said ordering;

changing, by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), said current-location in said ordering, in response to user navigation action(s);

initiating, by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), a playback of the sound-segment that is associated with the current-location in said ordering, in response to each change to the current-location;

in response to an act-upon action(s) by the user, perform by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), one or more of;

playing, adding, moving, removing, cutting, copying, pasting, arranging, organizing, or ordering, said composition that is associated with the sound-segment at said current-location.

20. One or more computer-readable memories or media, not including carrier-waves, having computer-readable instructions thereon which, when executed by one or more processing devices, implement a method of:

obtaining or providing, by one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), an ordering of sound-segments;

wherein three or more sound-segments are associated with each composition and there are a plurality of compositions;

wherein said three or more sound segments associated with each composition include;

a first sound segment which includes a beginning portion of said composition,

a second sound segment that is a recognition sound segment;

wherein each said recognition segment includes a portion of its associated composition, which is more recognizable to user(s) than a beginning part of its associated composition;

a third sound segment which includes an ending portion of said composition;

obtaining or providing, by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), a current-location in said ordering that refers to one of said sound-segments in said ordering;

changing, by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), said current-location in said ordering, in response to user navigation action(s);

initiating, by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), a playback of the sound-segment that is associated with the current-location in said ordering, in response to each change to the current-location;

in response to an act-upon action(s) by the user, perform by said one or more electronic-circuitry or processor(s), one or more of;

playing, adding, moving, removing, cutting, copying, pasting, arranging, organizing, or ordering, said composition that is associated with the sound-segment at said current-location.