Audio player that allows recordings to be played which sound different each time they are played. The audio segments follow a graph which can introduce random choices and multiple branches that the player can choose from as the song is played.
When a band makes a recording, they usually do a bunch of takes, say 5 or 6 alternate versions. Instead of throwing away most of this raw music, and ending up with a single 3 minute track, let's use a "smart" music player to combine parts of it to make a different but seamless performance every time you hit play.
A Multipath song is divided up into smaller pieces or segments. Using a special computer code called XML, the recording artist can define a set of possible paths through a song, made up of these segments, and specify when and how likely each path is to be chosen.
The end result may seem almost magical. Your recordings will stay fresh longer and as a listener you'll feel closer to the musicians, as if they are performing just for you, right inside your computer or music device.
We're making tools for musicians to create their own recordings that sound different every time, and we're giving them away free and open-source (under the Apache License 2.0). We believe this idea is too good to keep secret!
Instructions on how to create your own Multi Path Audio files are coming soon. In the meantime, please email me ([email protected]) if you are interested.
MultiPathAudio is based on Wordpress Audio Player. To use the Multi Path Audio player in your own page, download the MultiPathPlayer and follow the instructions used for the non-multipath player.
MultiPathAudio music is specified using XML. More documentation on the XML schema will be posted soon. In the meantime you can see an example XML file in the Downloads section.
MultiPathAudio Player is coded in Flash/Actionscript 2.0. Go to the "Downloads" section for a link to the current Source Code and a sample song.
Multi Path Audio was created by Geoff Peters, a software developer and jazz pianist from Vancouver BC Canada.
The idea was initially published by Geoff on his weblog on June 11th 2010.
Geoff Peters can be contacted at [email protected] or via his personal website.