Methods and apparatus to extract a pitch-independent timbre attribute from a media signal

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10482863-B2
Application number	US-201916239238-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 3, 2019
Priority date	Mar 13, 2018
Publication date	Nov 19, 2019
Grant date	Nov 19, 2019

Abstract

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.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
an interface to receive a media signal;
a timbre database to store reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and
one or more processors 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.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to identify a media source of the media signal based on at least one of the timbre or the classification.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the one or more processors are to generate a report based on at least one of the classification or the identification.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are to, when the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal does not match a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums, prompt for additional information corresponding to the media signal.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the timbre database is to store the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal as a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum in conjunction with the additional information.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further including an audio settings adjuster to determine a device setting adjustment based on the classification.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the one or more processors are to generate a report including the device setting adjustment.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the interface is to transmit the report to a device that output the media signal.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal corresponds to an inverse transform of a magnitude of a transform of a spectrum of the media signal.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed cause a machine to at least:
compare a pitch-less timbre spectrum of an obtained media signal to 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.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to identify a media source of the media signal based on at least one of the timbre or the classification.

12. The computer readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to generate a report based on at least one of the classification or the identification.

13. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to, when the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal does not match a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum of the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums, prompt for additional information corresponding to the media signal.

14. The computer readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to store the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal as a reference pitch-less timbre spectrum in conjunction with the additional information.

15. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to determine a device setting adjustment based on the classification.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to generate a report including the device setting adjustment.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to transmit the report to a device that output the media signal.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal corresponds to an inverse transform of a magnitude of a transform of a spectrum of the media signal.

19. A method comprising:
obtaining a media signal;
comparing a pitch-less timbre spectrum of the media signal to the reference pitch-less timbre spectrums; and
classifying 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.

20. The method of claim 19 , further including identifying a media source of the media signal based on at least one of the timbre or the classification.

Assignees

• Nielsen Co Us Llc

Inventors

• Rafii Zafar

Classifications

• G10H1/06 Primary

  Circuits for establishing the harmonic content of tones {, or other arrangements for changing the tone colour} · CPC title

• G10H2250/221

  Cosine transform; DCT [discrete cosine transform], e.g. for use in lossy audio compression such as MP3 · CPC title

• G10H2250/235

  Fourier transform; Discrete Fourier Transform [DFT]; Fast Fourier Transform [FFT] · CPC title

• G10H2210/056

  for extraction or identification of individual instrumental parts, e.g. melody, chords, bass; Identification or separation of instrumental parts by their characteristic voices or timbres · CPC title

• G10H3/125 Primary

  Extracting or recognising the pitch or fundamental frequency of the picked up signal · CPC title