Methods and apparatus to classify media based on a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an interface to receive a media signal; a timbre database to store reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and a processor to: compare a pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal to the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and classify the media signal based on data corresponding to a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums that matches the pitch-less timbre spectrum, the classification corresponding to at least one of an instrument or a genre.

With reference to FIG. 7a the present invention relates to transducer apparatus (200) for use with a reed instrument (201) having an air chamber (15) forming a resonant cavity whose resonance characteristics are controlled by opening and closing of tone holes (17A, 17B) connecting the air chamber to the exterior of the reed instrument. The transducer apparatus comprises attachment means (202) for releasably securing the transducer apparatus to a mouthpiece (201) of the reed instrument in place of a reed. A reed replacement section (203) has a housing with an abutment surface for abutting a surface part of the mouthpiece which would be abutted by a reed secured to the mouthpiece. An air passage extends through the housing of the reed replacement section (203) from an air inlet (211) through which a player of the instrument can blow to an air outlet (213) through which air blown by the player is delivered to atmosphere, without passing through the air chamber (15) within the reed instrument. A speaker (208) is supported by the housing and delivers sound to the air chamber (15). An air chamber microphone (209) is supported by the housing and receives sound in the air chamber (15). An electronic processing unit (204) has: an excitation unit (101) which produces an excitation signal for driving the speaker (208); a processor (102) for receiving a measurement signal produced by the microphone and for detecting from the measurement signal a musical note played by the instrument; a synthesizer (220) for generating an electronic signal embodying a musical note which corresponds to the detected musical note; and output means (103) for transmitting the musical note generated by the synthesizer to a receiver external of the transducer apparatus. The invention also relates to a system for representing the sounds of a reed instrument having the components of the transducer apparatus, to an electronic system for determining a musical note played by a reed instrument having the components of the transducer apparatus and to a method of practising playing of a reed instrument comprising use of the components of the transducer apparatus.

There is provided an apparatus for detecting a musical note of an instrument comprising a sensor unit including a sensor configured to sense a vibration of the instrument and a control unit configured to identify a component of the musical note based on a frequency of the vibration recognized by the sensor unit, wherein the sensor unit is connected to a port of a microprocessor of the control unit through a first route to transfer the recognized vibration, and wherein the sensor unit is selectively connected to a port of the microprocessor through a second route different from the first route to output a sound based on a signal supplied from the microprocessor.

Methods and apparatus to classify media based on a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal are disclosed. An example apparatus includes an interface to receive a media signal; a timbre database to store reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and a processor to: compare a pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal to the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and classify the media signal based on data corresponding to a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums that matches the pitch-less timbre spectrum, the classification corresponding to at least one of an instrument or a genre.

Provided are, among other things, systems, methods and techniques for processing an audio signal to add virtual bass. In one representative embodiment, an apparatus includes: (a) an input line that inputs an original audio signal; (b) a bass extraction filter that extracts a bass portion of such original audio signal; (c) an estimator that estimates a fundamental frequency of a bass sound within such bass portion; (d) a frequency translator that shifts the bass portion by a positive frequency increment that is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency estimated by the estimator, thereby providing a virtual bass signal; (f) an adder having (i) inputs coupled to the original audio signal and to the virtual bass signal and (ii) an output; and (g) an audio output device coupled to the output of the adder.

The present invention relates to the field of audio recognition, in particular to computer implemented note recognition methods in a gaming application. Furthermore, the present invention relates to improving latency of such audio recognition methods. One of the embodiments of the invention described herein is a method for note recognition of an audio source. The method includes: dividing an audio input into a plurality of frames, each frame having a pre-determined length, conducting a frequency analysis of at least a set of the plurality of frames, based on the frequency analysis, determining if a frame is a transient frame with a frequency change between the beginning and end of the frame, comparing the frequency analysis of each said transient frame to the frequency analysis of an immediately preceding frame and, based on said comparison, determining at least one probable pitch present at the end of each transient frame, and for each transient frame, outputting pitch data indicative of the probable pitch present at the end of the transient frame.

Techniques are described that relate to various aspects of converting the mechanical energy of instrument strings to digital representations for use in a variety of applications.

A process includes collecting a digital input signal and performing initial pitch detection to detect one or more pitches on the digital input signal. The process also includes manipulating the digital input signal to form a manipulated digital signal based on the one or more pitches detected.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for removing reverberation from signals. The systems and methods can be applicable to audio signals, for example, to voice, musical instrument sounds, and the like. Signals such as the vowel sounds in speech and the sustained portions of many musical instrument sounds can be composed of a fundamental frequency component and a series of harmonically related overtones. The systems and methods can exploit the intrinsically high degree of mutual correlation among the overtones. When such signals are passed through a reverberant channel, the degree of mutual correlation among the partials can be reduced. An inverse channel filter for the removal of reverberation can be found by employing an adaptive filter technique that maximizes the cross-correlation among signal overtones.

With reference to FIG. 7a the present invention relates to transducer apparatus (200) for use with a reed instrument (201) having an air chamber (15) forming a resonant cavity whose resonance characteristics are controlled by opening and closing of tone holes (17A, 17B) connecting the air chamber to the exterior of the reed instrument. The transducer apparatus comprises attachment means (202) for releasably securing the transducer apparatus to a mouthpiece (201) of the reed instrument in place of a reed. A reed replacement section (203) has a housing with an abutment surface for abutting a surface part of the mouthpiece which would be abutted by a reed secured to the mouthpiece. An air passage extends through the housing of the reed replacement section (203) from an air inlet (211) through which a player of the instrument can blow to an air outlet (213) through which air blown by the player is delivered to atmosphere, without passing through the air chamber (15) within the reed instrument. A speaker (208) is supported by the housing and delivers sound to the air chamber (15). An air chamber microphone (209) is supported by the housing and receives sound in the air chamber (15). An electronic processing unit (204) has: an excitation unit (101) which produces an excitation signal for driving the speaker (208); a processor (102) for receiving a measurement signal produced by the microphone and for detecting from the measurement signal a musical note played by the instrument; a synthesizer (220) for generating an electronic signal embodying a musical note which corresponds to the detected musical note; and output means (103) for transmitting the musical note generated by the synthesizer to a receiver external of the transducer apparatus. The invention also relates to a system for representing the sounds of a reed instrument having the components of the transducer apparatus, to an electronic system for determining a musical note played by a reed instrument having the components of the transducer apparatus and to a method of practising playing of a reed instrument comprising use of the components of the transducer apparatus.