TuneBuilder
Encyclopedia
TuneBuilder was an early digital music editor that automatically recombined segments of digital audio files to create variations of new musical performances of different duration and order.
The software was designed to replace standard physical music editing techniques in industries using commercial music catalogs, including soundtrack temping, radio and television advertising, film/video sound scoring, and theme production.
Manual editing labor was reduced from a typical time involvement of several minutes per edit by a skilled editor performing a multiplicity of edits per selection, to just a few seconds for an unskilled user to perform all edits required to re-length or re-order the music selection.
The program consisted of several modules including an automatic editor interface (TuneBuilder), a control file production module (AutoBlade), a search utility (TuneFinder), and audio file format exchanges (S/Link).
TuneBuilder's technology was invented by Darryl Goede with a U.S. patent granted in 1998. The TuneBuilder patent was further cited in twenty-three subsequent patents. The patent describes the technology as the creation and storage of a mapping/descriptive file that located sections of music stored as digital files. Then in a subsequent process, the mapping file then directed a processor to produce an audio output stream consisting of a new sequence of the sections.
There were 18,000 commercial music selections mapped to work under TuneBuilder, drawn from libraries including Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG
), Killer Tracks
, and KPM
.
As an editing software, TuneBuilder was commercialized and marketed from 1996 to 1999 by AirWorks Media Incorporated, a Canadian company.
Editing systems were initially developed for DOS
, Mac
, and Amiga
.
A Windows 95 version was released in mid-1996 that incorporated software purchased by AirWorks in late 1995 from SOC Associates who had acquired the software in the breakup of New England Digital
, developers of the Synclavier
.
The components of TuneBuilder were being re-integrated in 1999 into a sound handling suite called "SoundHouse" when AirWorks Media ceased operations.
The software was designed to replace standard physical music editing techniques in industries using commercial music catalogs, including soundtrack temping, radio and television advertising, film/video sound scoring, and theme production.
Manual editing labor was reduced from a typical time involvement of several minutes per edit by a skilled editor performing a multiplicity of edits per selection, to just a few seconds for an unskilled user to perform all edits required to re-length or re-order the music selection.
The program consisted of several modules including an automatic editor interface (TuneBuilder), a control file production module (AutoBlade), a search utility (TuneFinder), and audio file format exchanges (S/Link).
TuneBuilder's technology was invented by Darryl Goede with a U.S. patent granted in 1998. The TuneBuilder patent was further cited in twenty-three subsequent patents. The patent describes the technology as the creation and storage of a mapping/descriptive file that located sections of music stored as digital files. Then in a subsequent process, the mapping file then directed a processor to produce an audio output stream consisting of a new sequence of the sections.
There were 18,000 commercial music selections mapped to work under TuneBuilder, drawn from libraries including Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG
BMG
Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
), Killer Tracks
Killer Tracks
Killer Tracks is a company that provides production music for use in film, television, radio, advertising and interactive media. The company was founded in Hollywood, California in 1989 with an original catalog of 30 CDs. Today, Killer Tracks' catalog contains over 2,000 CDs of music from 21...
, and KPM
KPM
KPM is an acronym or abbreviation for:* The King's Police Medal for Gallantry* The Knuth–Pratt–Morris algorithm* Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc...
.
As an editing software, TuneBuilder was commercialized and marketed from 1996 to 1999 by AirWorks Media Incorporated, a Canadian company.
Editing systems were initially developed for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
, and Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
.
A Windows 95 version was released in mid-1996 that incorporated software purchased by AirWorks in late 1995 from SOC Associates who had acquired the software in the breakup of New England Digital
New England Digital
New England Digital Corp. , founded originally in Norwich, Vermont and eventually relocated to White River Junction, Vermont, was best known for its signature product, the Synclavier Synthesizer System, which evolved into the Synclavier Digital Audio System or "Tapeless Studio." The company sold...
, developers of the Synclavier
Synclavier
The Synclavier System was an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation, manufactured by New England Digital Corporation, Norwich, VT. The original design and development of the Synclavier prototype occurred at Dartmouth College with the collaboration of...
.
The components of TuneBuilder were being re-integrated in 1999 into a sound handling suite called "SoundHouse" when AirWorks Media ceased operations.