Signal parameter track time slice control point, step duration, and

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and a method for tracking parameters of a synthesized �an! audio signal that reduces the amount of processing time without causing any discernible degradation in the sound quality of the audio signal. An audio signal is intelligently divided into multiple time slices and the parameters of the audio signal are tracked over the duration of the time slice. The time slices are selected so that the actual characteristic of the parameters over the duration of the time slice can be easily approximated by performing simple, non-processor intensive steps. The characteristics of various components of an audio signal such as a volume envelope, pitch envelope, low frequency oscillator, MIDI commands controlling the audio signal, and various other inputs are used to identify control points. Adjacent control points are then selected as the start point and end point of a time slice. Absolute values for the start point and the end point of the time slice are used to determine a step duration and a step delta. The parameters of the audio signal are tracked by using the absolute values for the start point of the time slice to generate initial control signals for the audio signal at the start point of the time slice. Then, the control signals are modified by the step delta at every step duration to the end point of the time slice.