Introduction

The invention is a packet loss concealment method for ultralow latency network streaming of audio signals in MIDI format exchanged among a group of musicians interconnected via a telecommunication network (Internet) for networked music performance applications.

Technical features

The invention mitigates the effects of packet losses and delays during the real-time exchange of audio and control data in MIDI format among groups of musicians and sound engineers over the Internet in order to maintain low latency, as required by Networked Music Performance applications. To this aim, the invention involves a controller that is placed between the MIDI source device and the device responsible for transmitting MIDI messages over the network. The controller intercepts data from the MIDI source and organizes them into packets, periodically adding the set of values assumed by the variables that represent the notes and / or commands being executed by the MIDI source at predefined time instants. This allows for the recovery of the system status while avoiding retransmission mechanisms, in order to minimize latency.

Possible Applications

• Networked music performances (concerts, rehearsals, jam sessions);
• Online music teaching;
• Teleauditions.

Advantages

• It does not require packet retransmission mechanisms;
• It does not require clock synchronization;
• Limited and tunable data transmission overhead;
• Limited and tunable computational overhead;
• Reduced latency between source and destination.