TITLE:: FluidBufMelBands
SUMMARY:: A Perceptually Spread Spectral Contour Descriptor on a Buffer
CATEGORIES:: Libraries>FluidDecomposition
RELATED:: Guides/FluCoMa, Guides/FluidDecomposition, Guides/FluidBufMultiThreading, Classes/FluidBufMFCC


DESCRIPTION::
This class implements a spectral shape descriptor where the amplitude is given for a number of equally spread perceptual bands. The spread is based on the Mel scale (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_scale) which is one of the first attempt to mimic pitch perception scientifically. This implementation allows to select the range and number of bands dynamically. It is part of the LINK:: Guides/FluidDecomposition:: of LINK:: Guides/FluCoMa::. For more explanations, learning material, and discussions on its musicianly uses, visit http://www.flucoma.org/

The process will return a single multichannel buffer of STRONG::numBands:: per input channel. Each frame represents a value, which is every hopSize.

STRONG::Threading::

By default, this UGen spawns a new thread to avoid blocking the server command queue, so it is free to go about with its business. For a more detailed discussion of the available threading and monitoring options, including the two undocumented Class Methods below (.processBlocking and .kr) please read the guide LINK::Guides/FluidBufMultiThreading::.

CLASSMETHODS::

METHOD:: process
	This is the method that calls for the spectral shape descriptors to be calculated on a given source buffer.

ARGUMENT:: server
	The server on which the buffers to be processed are allocated.

ARGUMENT:: source
	The index of the buffer to use as the source material to be described through the various descriptors. The different channels of multichannel buffers will be processing sequentially.

ARGUMENT:: startFrame
	Where in the srcBuf should the process start, in sample.

ARGUMENT:: numFrames
	How many frames should be processed.

ARGUMENT:: startChan
	For multichannel srcBuf, which channel should be processed first.

ARGUMENT:: numChans
	For multichannel srcBuf, how many channel should be processed.

ARGUMENT:: features
	The destination buffer for the STRONG::numBands:: amplitudes describing the spectral shape.

ARGUMENT:: numBands
	The number of bands that will be perceptually equally distributed between STRONG::minFreq:: and STRONG::maxFreq::. It will decide how many channels are produce per channel of the source.

ARGUMENT:: minFreq
	The lower boundary of the lowest band of the model, in Hz.

ARGUMENT:: maxFreq
	The highest boundary of the highest band of the model, in Hz.

ARGUMENT:: normalize
	This flag enables the scaling of the output to preserve the energy of the window. It is on (1) by default.

ARGUMENT:: windowSize
	The window size. As spectral description relies on spectral frames, we need to decide what precision we give it spectrally and temporally, in line with Gabor Uncertainty principles. http://www.subsurfwiki.org/wiki/Gabor_uncertainty

ARGUMENT:: hopSize
	The window hop size. As spectral description relies on spectral frames, we need to move the window forward. It can be any size but low overlap will create audible artefacts. The -1 default value will default to half of windowSize (overlap of 2).

ARGUMENT:: fftSize
	The inner FFT/IFFT size. It should be at least 4 samples long, at least the size of the window, and a power of 2. Making it larger allows an oversampling of the spectral precision. The -1 default value will use the next power of 2 equal or above the windowSize.

ARGUMENT:: action
	A Function to be evaluated once the offline process has finished and all Buffer's instance variables have been updated on the client side. The function will be passed [features] as an argument.

RETURNS::
	Nothing, as the destination buffer is declared in the function call.

EXAMPLES::

code::
// create some buffers
(
b = Buffer.read(s,File.realpath(FluidBufMelBands.class.filenameSymbol).dirname.withTrailingSlash ++ "../AudioFiles/Nicol-LoopE-M.wav");
c = Buffer.new(s);
)

// run the process with basic parameters
(
Routine{
	t = Main.elapsedTime;
	FluidBufMelBands.process(s, b, features: c, numBands:10);
	(Main.elapsedTime - t).postln;
}.play
)

// listen to the source and look at the buffer
b.play;
c.plot
::

STRONG::A stereo buffer example.::
CODE::

// load two very different files
(
b = Buffer.read(s,File.realpath(FluidBufSpectralShape.class.filenameSymbol).dirname.withTrailingSlash ++ "../AudioFiles/Tremblay-SA-UprightPianoPedalWide.wav");
c = Buffer.read(s,File.realpath(FluidBufSpectralShape.class.filenameSymbol).dirname.withTrailingSlash ++ "../AudioFiles/Tremblay-AaS-AcousticStrums-M.wav");
)

// composite one on left one on right as test signals
FluidBufCompose.process(s, c, numFrames:b.numFrames, startFrame:555000,destStartChan:1, destination:b)
b.play

// create a buffer as destinations
c = Buffer.new(s);

//run the process on them
(
Routine{
    t = Main.elapsedTime;
	FluidBufMelBands.process(s, b, features: c, numBands:10);
    (Main.elapsedTime - t).postln;
}.play
)

// look at the buffer: 10 bands for left, then 10 bands for right
c.plot(separately:true)
::