Abstract:
A program product, a graphical user interface, a computer system including such a graphical user interface and method for recording and selecting an audio region are described. Such a method comprises storing multiple takes of the same audio region and storing a data structure representing a take container to store multiple takes.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/713,231, which was filed on Mar. 1, 2007. The contents of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/713,231 are incorporated by reference as part of this application. 
     
    
       [0002]    This application relates to recording and selecting an audio region. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Recently, music projects that in the past would have required an array of professional studio equipment can now be completed in a home or project studio, using a personal computer and readily available resources. A personal computer with a fast processor and enough RAM can serve as a workstation for recording, arranging, mixing, and producing complete music projects, which can be played back on the computer, burnt on a CD or DVD, or distributed over the Internet. 
         [0004]    A user of such a program for producing complete music projects can choose among a lot of alternative window arrangements depending on the workflow he wants to conduct. There are, for example, different window arrangements for editing a selected track or for showing the mixer to manipulate different channels. 
         [0005]    One feature which may be used for music production is cycle recording. Cycle or loop recording means that a specified time interval of a music project is repeated several times, with each repetition creating a new recording. Each of these recordings is saved in a separate track. Afterwards, it is possible to use material of those different tracks to compose one final music region in one track. 
       SUMMARY OF THE DESCRIPTION 
       [0006]    In one aspect, a method for recording and selecting an audio region is provided. Such a method may feature operations such as storing multiple takes of the same audio region and storing a data structure representing a take container to store multiple takes. When recording the same region of an audio part multiple times, each of those recordings is called “take”. 
         [0007]    Certain embodiments may include one or more of the following features. The take container may be associated with a single region on a single track. Furthermore, a take container may be displayed with a first indication showing how many takes are stored in the take container. 
         [0008]    The takes in the take container may be numbered and the take container may be displayed with a second indication showing which take is currently selected. 
         [0009]    A menu may be associated with the take container. The menu may be used to select one of the multiple takes as the currently selected take. The menu may be accessed via an icon displaying the second indication showing which take is currently selected. In certain embodiments, the menu may further provide for functionalities of deleting one or more takes stored within the take container or deleting all takes stored in the take container but the currently selected take. At least for certain embodiments, no first indication showing how many takes are stored in the take container and no second indication showing which take is currently selected may be displayed, if the take container contains only one take. 
         [0010]    Certain embodiments may have one or more of the following advantages. The take container may be a data structure used in a computer&#39;s operating system to represent a subdirectory or logical folder or it may be a data structure of an application program or a file system of a data processing system. When recording the same region of an audio part multiple times, each of those recordings is called “take”. There are no restrictions with respect to the contents of those takes. Different takes may have similar contents but likewise their contents can also be very different from each other. The take container of at least certain embodiments allows that multiple takes of, for example, a cycle recording are all associated with a single region on a single track. Thus, it is no longer necessary to compile an audio region manually out of multiple tracks when working with several takes of a cycle recording. 
         [0011]    At least according to certain embodiments, the take container may feature indications displaying, for example, how many takes are in the take container and which take is currently selected. Furthermore, it is possible that the take container is displayed so that its name and/or a graphical impression of the content of the currently selected version are given. To give a better impression of the recorded data, it is possible to display waveform data for each take. Therefore, the user can easily grasp how many versions of the audio region are within the take container and which of those is currently selected. At least in certain embodiments, the audio region will contain music contents. 
         [0012]    In certain embodiments, the user can select one take of the multiple takes stored within the take container. This selection is preferably done via a menu which may be accessed by an icon associated with the take container. That icon may show the number of the currently selected take. Accordingly, at least certain embodiments enable the user to easily record multiple takes and then to select one of those. It is advantageous, at least in some embodiments, that the user, who might not be a professional, is provided with an easily understandable and intuitive process which does not tend to confuse by providing more information than is desirable. 
         [0013]    These embodiments may be implemented by using a method, a program, a program product, a user interface, a computer system, a data processing system, a consumer electronic device or any combination of such implementations. 
         [0014]    Other aspects, features, and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0015]    The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a computer. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a user interface, in one embodiment, for producing a music project. 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a schematic view of an embodiment of a take container. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a schematic view of an embodiment of an open menu. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view of an embodiment of a take container containing only one take. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0021]    Various embodiments and aspects of the inventions will be described with reference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. Numerous specific details are described to provide a through understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present inventions. 
         [0022]    The present description includes material protected by copyrights, such as illustrations of graphical user interface images. The owners of the copyrights, including the assignee of the present invention, hereby reserve their rights, including copyright, in these materials. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrights whatsoever. Copyright Apple Inc., 2007. 
         [0023]    When recording the same region of an audio part (e.g. a guitar solo) multiple times, each of those recordings is called “take”. In one example, this same region may be specified by a portion of a musical score, and is typically one or more bars of the musical score, such as a score written in 4/4 time. The actual sound in each take may only be slightly different, but the performance of the take is of the same region. In another example, each take may contain an improvisation for the same region. Accordingly, the different takes do not need to be similar. There are many other purposes for which takes may also be used. Takes are usually created by recording in cycle mode (also called loop mode), but may also be created by recording over existing regions of an audio track. 
         [0024]    At least in certain embodiments, a plurality of takes are stored in a take container. The takes are preferably not stored in different tracks. The take container may be a region of the currently selected track (e.g. a single audio track or single movie track) which includes audio. 
         [0025]      FIG. 1  illustrates a data processing system  10  such as a computer system which may include a graphical user interface which is displayed on a display device such as a screen. The computer system comprises a screen  11  which is connected to a processing system incorporating a processor and a memory such as a semiconductor memory (e.g. RAM) and/or a magnetic memory. The computer system may also include a keyboard  12 , a touch pad  13  and a mouse (not shown) connected to the processing system. 
         [0026]    The processing system  10  includes, in one embodiment, system computer software for controlling the computer system. The software also includes control of the graphical user interface. The software may be downloaded from a server through a network or stored on an optical media, such as CD-ROM  14  or stored on other machine readable media (e.g. non-volatile memory such as magnetic hard drive or flash memory). 
         [0027]    The processing system  10  may be used for recording, arranging, mixing, and producing complete music projects, which can be played back, burnt on a CD or DVD, or distributed over the Internet. 
         [0028]    The present invention can relate to an apparatus for performing one or more of the operations described herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a machine (e.g. computer) readable storage medium, such as, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CDROMs, and magneticoptical disks, readonly memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmable ROMs (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable ROMs (EEPROMs), flash memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a bus. 
         [0029]      FIG. 2B  of U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,549, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, shows one example of a data processing system, such as a computer system, which may be used with the present invention. Note that while this Figure illustrates various components of a data processing system, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components as such details are not germane to the present invention. It will also be appreciated that network computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones, handheld computers, special purpose computers, entertainment systems and other data processing systems and consumer electronic devices which have fewer components or perhaps more components may also be used with the present invention. The system of this Figure may, for example, be a Macintosh computer from Apple Inc. 
         [0030]    A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium includes read only memory (“ROM”); random access memory (“RAM”); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of storage systems. 
         [0031]    It will be apparent from this description that aspects of the inventions may be embodied, at least in part, in software. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computer system or other data processing system in response to its processor or processing system executing sequences of instructions contained in a memory, such as RAM, etc. In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combination with the software instructions to implement the present inventions. Thus, the techniques are not limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source for the instructions executed by the data processing systems. 
         [0032]      FIG. 2  shows an example of a user interface  200  of a program which can be used for the above mentioned purposes. Additional menu bars may be provided. In this assembly, the user interface  200  lists tracks in the left most column. The example shown features one track  210  with a piano assigned to it. The piano may be replaced by any other instrument. Further tracks with the same or other instruments or MIDI tracks may be added as needed. The user interface  200  shows a mixer  220  in the column next to the tracks. The mixer  220  is assigned to the track  210  and can be used to manipulate the output of the track  210  by e.g. changing the pan or the volume. The third column being the right most one of the user interface  200  shows the arrange area. The arrange area gives an indication of the content of the audio data belonging to the different tracks. A timeline is provided at the top of the arrange area. In this example, the timeline is divided by bars. The first line  230  of the arrange area belongs to the track  210 . The first line  230  shows a music region  240  of the track  210 . The part in the arrange area between the timeline at the top and the first line  230  of the arrange area is designated to indicate a region which is cycled either for recording or for playback. Regions which are cycled are marked by a darker color in the example shown. Accordingly, in  FIG. 2  the music region  240  is recorded multiple times which is indicated by a cycle bar  250  which has the same start and end positions as the music region  240 . The user interface  200  also features at the bottom an area with buttons for e.g. starting and stopping playback or recording along with other options. 
         [0033]      FIG. 3  shows one possible embodiment of a take container  300 . This take container  300  may be provided with a name  310 , being “Grand Piano” in this example. The take container  300  may feature a first indication  320  showing how many takes are stored in the take container  300 . In this example, four takes are stored in the take container  300 . The first indication  320  may help the user to easily grasp how many takes are within the take folder. 
         [0034]    The first indication  320  does not necessarily give an indication how many takes were recorded. However, an indication giving such information could be added. Nevertheless, at least certain embodiments focus on reducing the amount of information displayed in order not to confuse the user and to facilitate the handling for the user. If desired, the level of detail and the amount of information provided may be changed by setting preferences. 
         [0035]    A second indication  330  may be provided in order to show which take of the multiple takes stored in the take container  300  is currently selected. In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , take 4 is currently selected. Furthermore, the second indication  330  may be implemented as an icon which can be used to open a menu. 
         [0036]    The take container  300  may also be provided with a graphical impression  340  of the content of the currently selected take. Such a graphical impression  340  may be a schematic using symbolized notes or a waveform or some other suitable visualization. 
         [0037]    By an embodiment such as that shown in  FIG. 3 , the user is able to easily recognize that this music region is a take container  300 , i.e. contains multiple takes of a music region. Furthermore, the user may intuitively grasp how many takes are stored in the take container  300  and which one is currently selected. Such a take container may be created by specifying a certain part of the music project for cycle recording using the cycle bar  250  and by recording over this part then as many times as desired. 
         [0038]      FIG. 4  shows the take container  300  along with an open menu  400 . The menu  400  may be opened by clicking or double-clicking an icon showing the second indication  330 . Alternatively, it may also be possible to open such a menu via a tool bar or some other suitable technique, such as a voice input or an input via a touch-screen. The menu  400  shows in this embodiment a list of the takes stored in the take container  300 . Additionally, other options may be provided. For example, the menu  400  may feature options like “Delete Unused Takes” or “Delete Take x”, wherein x stands for the currently selected take. Next, the menu  400  may be provided with a marking showing which of the takes is currently selected. Such a marking is illustrated adjacent to “Take 4” in  FIG. 4 . However, such a marking could also be highlighting the currently selected take or changing its text or background color or any other suitable marking. 
         [0039]    The menu  400  may be used to select a take stored in the take container  300  different from the currently selected take. However, the menu  400  may also be used to delete certain takes of the take container  300 . The user may have selected a certain take and have listened to it. Based thereon, the user may decide that this take is the one he likes best and therefore wants to delete all other takes of the take container or the user may decide that this take is to be deleted. Then the user may open the menu  400  to change his selection or to change the content of the take container accordingly. 
         [0040]      FIG. 5  illustrates a possible implementation for a situation where a take container  500  stores only one take. Such a case will for example occur, if the user chooses the option “Delete Unused Takes” in the menu  400  of  FIG. 4 . At least in certain embodiments, the take container  500  which stores only one take will not show the first and second indications illustrating how many takes are stored in the container and which take is selected. Such information may no longer be advantageous for the user. 
         [0041]    Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims. 
         [0042]    In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.