Chris Baume

IPS Pro Audio Show

The Future of Broadcast Audio

London

Slides

14th October 2023

The Soundtrack 13:1

Spatial audio production for immersive media experiences: Perspectives on practice-led approaches to designing immersive audio content

by Daniel Turner, Damian Murphy, Chris Pike, Chris Baume.

Sound design with the goal of immersion is not new. However, sound design for immersive media experiences (IMEs) utilizing spatial audio can still be considered a relatively new area of practice with less well-defined methods requiring a new and still emerging set of skills and tools. There is, at present, a lack of formal literature around the challenges introduced by this relatively new content form and the tools used to create it, and how these may differ from audio production for traditional media. This article, through the use of semi-structured interviews and an online questionnaire, looks to explore what audio practitioners view as defining features of IMEs, the challenges in creating audio content for IMEs and how current practices for traditional stereo productions are being adapted for use within 360 interactive soundfields. It also highlights potential direction for future research and technological development and the importance of practitioner involvement in research and development in ensuring future tools and technologies satisfy the current needs.

DOI: 10.1386/ts_00017_1

28th October 2021

European Signal Processing Conference

An Audio-Based Deep Learning Framework for BBC Television Programme Classification

by Lam Pham, Chris Baume, Qiuqiang Kong, Tassadaq Hussain, Wenwu Wang, Mark Plumbley.

This paper proposes a deep learning framework for classification of BBC television programmes using audio. The audio is firstly transformed into spectrograms, which are fed into a pre-trained convolutional Neural Network (CNN), obtaining predicted probabilities of sound events occurring in the audio recording. Statistics for the predicted probabilities and detected sound events are then calculated to extract discriminative features representing the television programmes. Finally, the embedded features extracted are fed into a classifier for classifying the programmes into different genres. Our experiments are conducted over a dataset of 6,160 programmes belonging to nine genres labelled by the BBC. We achieve an average classification accuracy of 93.7% over 14-fold cross validation. This demonstrates the efficacy of the proposed framework for the task of audio-based classification of television programmes.

DOI: 10.23919/EUSIPCO54536.2021.9616310

23rd August 2021

Frontiers in Virtual Reality

Interactive Audio Augmented Reality in Participatory Performance

by Anna N. Nagele, Valentin Bauer, Patrick G. T. Healey, Joshua D. Reiss, Henry Cooke, Tim Cowlishaw, Chris Baume and Chris Pike.

Interactive Audio Augmented Reality (AAR) facilitates collaborative storytelling and human interaction in participatory performance. Spatial audio enhances the auditory environment and supports real-time control of media content and the experience. Nevertheless, AAR applied to interactive performance practices remains under-explored. This study examines how audio human-computer interaction can prompt and support actions, and how AAR can contribute to developing new kinds of interactions in participatory performance.This study investigates an AAR participatory performance based on the theater and performance practice by theater maker Augusto Boal. It draws from aspects of multi-player audio-only games and interactive storytelling. A user experience study of the performance shows that people are engaged with interactive content and interact and navigate within the spatial audio content using their whole body. Asymmetric audio cues, playing distinctive content for each participant, prompt verbal and non-verbal communication. The performative aspect was well-received and participants took on roles and responsibilities within their group during the experience.

DOI: 10.3389/frvir.2020.610320

12th February 2021

BBC R&D White Paper

A Remote Study on Enhanced Podcast Interaction

by Ulfa Octaviani, Chris Baume.

Podcasts are mostly played using screen-based devices, but despite this, podcasts do not utilize the opportunity for screen-based interaction. There have been efforts to innovate around playback interfaces through the development of “enhanced podcasts”, but there have not been any formal studies on this approach. We developed a prototype podcast player that uses interactive visual elements to enhance the audience’s experience.

In this paper, we describe a formal remote qualitative study that investigated how podcast listeners interacted with our prototype in three different environments. Participants rated chapterisation as the most important feature, followed by links, images and transcripts. The features of our prototype worked best when listening at home, but certain features were valued when used on public transport.

Link

19th October 2020

Dira! Forum 2020

Audio Research at BBC R&D

London

Slides

13th February 2020

Lead Research Engineer

BBC Research and Development

February 2020 - present

Co-leading the BBC’s audio research team to help the BBC deliver innovative and high-quality audience experiences. Using our expertise in sound, we create and evaluate prototypes, tools, and trial productions. We transfer our research by working with industry, academia, standards bodies, and the wider BBC.

10th February 2020

Content Steering Group

International Broadcasting Convention

January 2020 - present.

Developing and steering the content for the main IBC conference programme, to ensure the technology topics covered reflect the real-world priorities and concerns of technology leaders in broadcast and media.

30th January 2020

Best Scientific Poster

Award received at the 16th EuroVR International Conference for our poster on “Designing an Interactive and Collaborative Experience in Audio Augmented Reality”.

25th October 2019

16th EuroVR International Conference

Designing an Interactive and Collaborative Experience in Audio Augmented Reality

by Valentin Bauer, Anna Nagele, Chris Baume, Tim Cowlishaw, Henry Cooke, and Chris Pike.

Audio Augmented Reality (AAR) consists of adding spatial audio entities into the real environment. Existing mobile applications and technologies open questions around interactive and collaborative AAR. This paper proposes an experiment to examine how spatial audio can prompt and support actions in interactive AAR experiences; how distinct auditory information influence collaborative tasks and group dynamics; and how gamified AAR can enhance participatory storytelling. We are developing an interactive multiplayer experience in AAR using the Bose Frames Audio Sunglasses. Four participants at a time will go through a gamified story that attempts to interfere with group dynamics. We here present our AAR platform and our collaborative game in terms of experience design. Finally, we detail the testing methodology and analysis that we will conduct to answer our research questions and to suggest methodologies for participatory storytelling in AAR.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-31908-3_20

23rd October 2019

TVX Workshop on Interactive Radio Experiences

"Even More or Less": A data-rich interactive podcast player

Salford

Slides

5th June 2019

ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video (TVX)

"Even More or Less": A data-rich interactive podcast player

by Chris Baume.

Podcast players make poor use of the capabilities of the screen-based devices people use to listen. We present a podcast playback interface that displays charts, links, topics and contributors on an interactive transcript-based interface. We describe how we used paper prototyping to design the interface and what we learnt by doing so. We share preliminary results from a public online evaluation of the interface, which indicate that it was well-received. The new features were considered interesting, informative and useful, with charts and transcripts emerging as the most popular features.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.2654885

30th April 2019

BCS Distinguished Dissertations nominee

PhD thesis nominated for the British Computer Society “Distinguished Dissertations” competition.

30th April 2019

Project Summmary

ORPHEUS

30th July 2018

Better Radio Experiences hack day prototype

BBC Research and Development

3rd July 2018

2nd ORPHEUS Workshop, Munich

ORPHEUS project

11th June 2018

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Final Pilot Progress Report

by Werner Bleisteiner, Niels Bogaards, Michael Meier, Niko Faerber, Chris Baume.

This document is based upon the previous D2.3 Interim Pilot Progress Report. It describes the final status of both phases of the ORPHEUS pilot. The first phase was divided into three stages, with the first being a live production of an interactive object-based radio drama experienced using a web browser, the second a selection of material encoded using MPEG-H and made available through an iPhone and AV receiver, and the third being an ‘as-live’ broadcast, live encoded using MPEG-H and made available over the Internet. In the second phase object-based audio productions from pilot phase 1 were enhanced with interactive functionalities for on-demand consumption.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1257091

30th May 2018

Journal Spotlight interview

Audio Engineering Society

18th May 2018

ORPHEUS Workshop on Object-based Audio

The Mermaid's Tears - Creating the World's First Live Interactive Object-based Radio Drama

Munich

The Mermaid’s Tears is an immersive and interactive radio drama created by the BBC as part of Orpheus. Listeners can follow one of three characters and switch between them during the programme, which gives three different perspectives on the same story. Listeners can also experience the drama in stereo, surround sound and binaural. Chris will describe how the BBC produced the drama as a live object-based broadcast, the tools they developed in order to achieve this, and the feedback they received from a large-scale public trial.

Slides

15th May 2018

Doctor of Philosophy

"Semantic Audio Tools for Radio Production", University of Surrey

September 2013 - April 2018

Radio production is a creative pursuit that uses sound to inform, educate and entertain an audience. Radio producers use audio editing tools to visually select, re-arrange and assemble sound recordings into programmes. However, current tools represent audio using waveform visualizations that display limited information about the sound. Semantic audio analysis can be used to extract useful information from audio recordings, including when people are speaking and what they are saying. This thesis investigates how such information can be applied to create semantic audio tools that improve the radio production process.

Link

30th April 2018

Journal of the Audio Engineering Society 66:4

PaperClip: A Digital Pen Interface for Semantic Speech Editing in Radio Production

by Chris Baume, Mark D. Plumbley, David Frohlich and Janko Calic.

The radio production workflow typically involves recording material, selecting which parts of that material to use, and then editing the desired material down to the final output. Some radio producers find this process easier with paper rather than editing directly on a screen, which makes a transcript the common denominator. However, after deciding which audio they want to use, producers then must use a digital audio workstation to manually execute those editorial decisions, which is a tedious and slow process. In this paper, the authors describe the design, development, and evaluation of PaperClip, a novel system for editing speech recordings directly on a printed transcript using a digital pen. A user study with eight professional radio producers compared editing with the digital pen to editing with a screen interface. The two interfaces each had advantages and disadvantages. The pen interface was better for fast and simple editing of familiar audio when accurate transcripts were available. The screen interface was better for more complex editing with less familiar audio and less accurate transcripts. There was no overall preference.

DOI: 10.17743/jaes.2018.0006

29th April 2018

Audio Engineering Society

The Future of Radio

Southamption

Object-based audio is a revolutionary approach to broadcasting that enables the production and delivery of immersive, interactive and accessible listening experiences. Chris will start by presenting an overview of the opportunities and challenges of object-based audio. He will describe how BBC R&D designed and built an experimental radio studio and an end-to-end object-based broadcast chain. Finally, he will discuss how the studio was used to deliver the world’s first live interactive object-based radio drama, as part of the Orpheus collaborative project.

Link | Slides

12th April 2018

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 115

A Contextual Study of Semantic Speech Editing in Radio Production

by Chris Baume, Mark D. Plumbley, Janko Calic and David Frohlich.

Radio production involves editing speech-based audio using tools that represent sound using simple waveforms. Semantic speech editing systems allow users to edit audio using an automatically generated transcript, which has the potential to improve the production workflow. To investigate this, we developed a semantic audio editor based on a pilot study. Through a contextual qualitative study of five professional radio producers at the BBC, we examined the existing radio production process and evaluated our semantic editor by using it to create programmes that were later broadcast. We observed that the participants in our study wrote detailed notes about their recordings and used annotation to mark which parts they wanted to use. They collaborated closely with the presenter of their programme to structure the contents and write narrative elements. Participants reported that they often work away from the office to avoid distractions, and print transcripts so they can work away from screens. They also emphasised that listening is an important part of production, to ensure high sound quality. We found that semantic speech editing with automated speech recognition can be used to improve the radio production workflow, but that annotation, collaboration, portability and listening were not well supported by current semantic speech editing systems. In this paper, we make recommendations on how future semantic speech editing systems can better support the requirements of radio production.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhcs.2018.03.006

22nd March 2018

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Implementation and documentation of final object-based renderers

by Andrew Mason, Chris Baume, Michael Meier, Niels Bogaards and Benjamin Duval.

This document aims to present an overview of work that has been carried by the various partners in the ORPHEUS consortium related to the renderers for object-based broadcasting clients. Description of the demos and documentation is provided to illustrate the development related to the rendering in the web browser, in IP studio, in the pre-processor, in the AV receiver and in the iOS mobile app.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1194788

8th March 2018

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Final Reference Architecture Specification and Integration Report

by Michael Weitnauer, Chris Baume, Andreas Silzle, Nikolaus Färber, Olivier Warusfel, Nicolas Epain, Tilman Herberger, Benjamin Duval, Niels Bogaards, Andrew Mason and Marius Vopel.

This document describes the final reference architecture of ORPHEUS, a completely object-based, end-to-end broadcast and production workflow. It has been the subject of intensive discussions and several iterations over the duration of the project and has been shaped by considering typical channel-based broadcast workflows as well as the knowledge gained and lessons learned from the pilot phases. The architecture is format and interface agnostic and, as far as is possible, it should be applicable to a range of different infrastructures and ecosystems. Additionally, the pilot implementation and integration is also summarised.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1204867

7th March 2018

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Implementation and documentation of user interfaces associated with last personalisation and interaction mock-up scenarios

by Chris Baume, Niels Bogaards and Andrew Mason.

Two different user interfaces have been created to explore personalisation of, and interaction with, object-based broadcasts. An app on an iPhone demonstrates personalisation by enabling the listener to change the balance between different elements of a programme, or to have the sound adapted automatically to one of several pre-defined listening environments. The app also allows the user to choose a shorter or longer version of a programme, to jump to points of interest, and to see transcripts. The web browser interface developed for The Mermaid’s Tears drama allows the listener to choose between parallel narrative threads, supporting the story-telling with images. The choice of stereo, binaural, or surround sound reproduction is also offered.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1147669

12th January 2018

Radio World

Object-based Media Transforms Audio Content Creation

Link

10th November 2017

The Mermaid's Tears

BBC Research and Development

11th September 2017

International Broadcasting Convention

Orpheus Audio Project: Piloting an end-to-end object-based audio broadcast chain

by Andreas Silzle, Michael Weitnauer, Olivier Warusfel, Werner Bleisteiner, Tillman Herberger, Nicolas Epain, Benjamin Duval, Niels Bogaards, Chris Baume and Uwe Herzog.

Object-based media is a revolutionary approach for creating and deploying interactive, personalised, scalable and immersive content. It allows media objects to be assembled in novel ways to create new and enhanced user experiences. Object-based media is flexible and responsive to user needs as well as environmental and platform-specific factors. ORPHEUS is a H2020-funded EU project involving ten European major players – broadcasters, manufacturers and research institutions. During a 30-month project, we develop, implement and validate an object-based end-to-end media chain for audio content. We are running two pilots to demonstrate both linear and non-linear audio experiences using a custom-built broadcast chain. The first pilot was a live radio broadcast with enhanced functionalities, including immersive sound, foreground/ background control, language selection, and in-depth programme metadata. This paper presents initial results of the first pilot, explains the challenges in developing this system and outlines the innovative tools that were created for recording, mixing, monitoring, storing, distributing, playing-out and rendering of object-based audio. To encourage the support of the broadcast industry in adopting this new technology, ORPHEUS is working towards the publication of a reference architecture and general guidelines for successful implementation of object-based audio in a real-life broadcast environment.

DOI: 10.1049/oap-ibc.2017.0022

1st September 2017

SMPTE Motion Imaging Journal 126:6

Creating Object-Based Experiences in the Real World

by Michael Evans, Tristan Ferne, Zillah Watson, Frank Melchior, Matthew Brooks, Phil Stenton, Ian Forrester, Chris Baume.

The move toward IP end-to-end between media producers and audiences will make the new broadcasting system vastly more agnostic to data formats and a diverse set of consumption and production devices. In this world, object-based media becomes increasingly important, i.e., delivering efficiencies in the production chain, enabling the creation of new experiences that will continue to engage the audience, and giving us the ability to adapt our media to new platforms, services, and devices. This paper describes a series of practical case studies of our work in object-based user experiences since 2014. These projects encompass speech audio, online news, and enhanced drama. In each case, we are working with production teams to develop systems, tools, and algorithms for an object-based world—these technologies and techniques enable its creation (often using traditional linear media assets) and post-production—and transforming user experience for audiences and production.

DOI: 10.5594/JMI.2017.2709859

1st August 2017

TextAV workshop

BBC Dialogger - Text-based audio editing in radio production

New York

Slides

19th July 2017

ORPHEUS Workshop

Chairing round table discussion on object-based audio

London

13th June 2017

1st ORPHEUS Workshop, London

ORPHEUS project

13th June 2017

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Interim Pilot Progress Report

by Chris Baume, Werner Bleisteiner, Niels Bogaards and Benjamin Duval.

This document describes the current status of Orpheus pilot phase 1, which has been divided into three stages. The first stage is a live production of an interactive object-based radio drama that can be experienced using a web browser. The second is a selection of material encoded using MPEG-H and made available through an iPhone and AV receiver. The third is an ‘as-live’ broadcast, live encoded using MPEG-H and made available over the Internet.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.844003

1st June 2017

Journal of the Audio Engineering Society 65:6

Music Thumbnailing for Radio Podcasts: A Listener Evaluation

by Adib Mehrabi, Christopher Harte, Chris Baume, Simon Dixon.

When radio podcasts are produced from previously broadcast material, thumbnails of songs that were featured in the original program are often included. Such thumbnails provide a summary of the music content. Because creating thumbnails is a labor-intensive process, this is an ideal application for automatic music editing, but it raises the question of how a piece of music can be best summarized. Researchers asked 120 listeners to rate the quality of thumbnails generated by eight methods (five automatic and three manual). The listeners were asked to rate the editing methods based on the song part selection and transition quality in the edited clips, as well as the perceived overall quality. The listener ratings showed a preference for editing methods where the edit points were quantized to bar positions, but there was no preference for whether the chorus was included or not. Ratings for two automatic editing methods were not significantly different from their manual counterparts. This suggests that automatic editing methods can be used to create production-quality thumbnails.

DOI: 10.17743/jaes.2017.0011

1st June 2017

EBU Object-based Audio Seminar

IP Studio and Radio Production

Geneva

Link | Slides

17th May 2017

Broadcast Video Exhibition

Panel: Next-Generation Audio - How Ready Are You?

London

2nd May 2017

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Interim report on the work on representation archiving and provision of object-based audio

by Andreas Silzle, Nikolaus Färber, Michael Meier, Tilman Herberger, Andrew Mason, Chris Baume, Matt Firth and Matt Paradis.

This deliverable describes the progress on representation, archiving and provision of object-based audio. It builds on D4.1 “Requirements for representation, archiving and provision of object-based audio”. It lists the formats which are selected for ORPHEUS and describes the interim status of the implementation of these formats. On the production side, formats like BW64, ADM, NMOS, UMCP are used and explained. BW64 is also used for archiving. For provision or distribution MPEG-H and AAC + ADM metadata are selected. Both solutions use MPEG-DASH for streaming. This Deliverables also serves as documentation for milestone MS12 “Initial implementation and documentation of a format for provision of objected-based audio” which has been achieved on 31/03/17.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.845336

1st May 2017

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Interim Reference Architecture Specification and Integration Report

by Michael Weitnauer, Chris Baume, Andreas Silzle, Nikolaus Färber, Olivier Warusfel, Nicolas Epain, Tilman Herberger, Benjamin Duval and Niels Bogaards.

Deliverable D2.2 provides an overview about the current state of the pilot implementation architecture and its influence on the final reference architecture. Moreover, the integration activities so far are summarised. The reference architecture will be developed during the project time, based on experiences from the project pilots. A detailed explanation regarding the distinction between reference architecture and pilots is included. The planned workflow of the pilots is described as well as the current state of macroblocks and their components. This version of D2.2 includes updates, which were requested by the EC reviewer after the first submission. Hence, interfaces were identified and where necessary, described in more detail. This document will be updated once more during the project.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.843981

1st May 2017

Pro Sound News Europe

The Rise of 3D Audio

Link

19th April 2017

Next Generation Audio Production

BBC Research and Development

8th December 2016

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Implementation and documentation of a live object-based production environment

by Chris Baume, Andrew Mason, Peter Brightwell, Max Leonard, Matt Firth and Marius Vopel.

This report of a demonstrator gives a brief overview on the live object-based production system being developed as part of the Orpheus project. The design of the fundamental technology that drives the system is discussed, and the details of the current implementation are described.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.845346

1st December 2016

International Moving Image Society

Annual Bernard Happé lecture

London

Slides

22nd November 2016

Keynote: Radio Innovations Conference

Creating New Audio Experiences with Object-Based Broadcasting

Cologne

Object-based audio is a revolutionary new way of broadcasting that unlocks a range of new audience experiences. In his talk, Chris will explain how it works, discuss why it matters and present a number of public-facing experiments the BBC have run. He will also take you behind-the-scenes on a next-generation radio studio the BBC are building to be able to deliver these new experiences.

Slides

6th October 2016

Radio Innovations, Cologne

University of Cologne

6th October 2016

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Document on user requirements

by Olivier Warusfel, Mike Armstrong, Chris Baume, Werner Bleisteiner, Niels Bogaards, Nicolas Epain, Benjamin Duval, Andrew Mason, Martin Ragot, Andreas Silzle and Michael Weitnauer.

This document aims to identify the main technical and end-user requirements for the reception, presentation and personalised consumption of broadcast object-based content. Its purpose is to serve as guidelines for the design, implementation and assessment of technical solutions that will be developed during the project. Usability specifications are exemplified through various mock-ups and user scenarios. Several hardware and software solutions are considered for the end-user device in order to cover different audio content consumption situations (e.g. domestic use vs mobility). Personalisation and interactivity features are also listed and will require the design and development of user interfaces handling various input devices (e.g. touch screen, GPS sensors, microphone).

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.846242

1st October 2016

Tech Tent

BBC World Service

30th September 2016

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Initial Reference Architecture Specification Report

by Michael Weitnauer, Volker Mühle, Andreas Silzle, Chris Baume, Jean-Yves Aubie, Olivier Warusfel and Niels Bogaards.

The deliverable D2.1 provides an overview about the current state of the pilot implementation architecture and its influence on the final reference architecture. The reference architecture will be developed during the project time, based on experiences from the project pilots. A detailed explanation regarding the distinction between reference architecture and pilots is included. The planned workflow of the pilots is described as well as the current state of macroblocks and their components. This document will be updated twice during the project.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.838948

1st July 2016

Senior Research Engineer

BBC Research and Development

July 2016 - February 2020

Leading the BBC’s research into audio production tools. Managed the production workstream of the €4M ORPHEUS European research project on object-based broadcasting. Led the production of the world’s first object-based radio drama. As part of my PhD, I also developed a novel system for digitally editing media using paper and pen.

1st July 2016

ORPHEUS project deliverable

Requirements, designs and workflows of an object-based production environment

by Chris Baume, Werner Bleisteiner.

This document presents high-level descriptions of live radio production, including workflow diagrams, roles activities and timelines. Proposed workflows for object-based productions are also described.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.844008

1st April 2016

Royal Television Society

Audio Research at the BBC

London

Slides

24th February 2016

Samuel Ryder Academy

STEM talk: Careers in Engineering

St Albans

Slides

1st February 2016

EBU Production Technology Seminar

Object-based Audio Production

Geneva

Link | Slides

27th January 2016

BBC Recognition Award

Received for organising the “Sound: Now and Next” conference.

1st July 2015

Sound: Now and Next

BBC Research and Development

17th June 2015

Audio Engineering Society Convention

Object-based Audio: The Future of Broadcast?

Warsaw

Slides

9th May 2015

138th Audio Engineering Society Convention

Use of audio editors in radio production

by Chris Baume, Mark D. Plumbley and Janko Calic.

Audio editing is performed at scale in the production of radio, but often the tools used are poorly targeted toward the task at hand. There are a number of audio analysis techniques that have the potential to aid radio producers, but without a detailed understanding of their process and requirements, it can be difficult to apply these methods. To aid this understanding, a study of radio production practice was conducted on three varied case studies—a news bulletin, drama, and documentary. It examined the audio/metadata workflow, the roles and motivations of the producers, and environmental factors. The study found that producers prefer to interact with higher-level representations of audio content like transcripts and enjoy working on paper. The study also identified opportunities to improve the work flow with tools that link audio to text, highlight repetitions, compare takes, and segment speakers.

Link

1st May 2015

Institute of Sound Recording Seminar, University of Surrey

Text-based Audio Editing

Guildford

29th April 2015

University of Surrey Postgraduate Conference

Use of Audio Editors in Radio Production

Guildford

Slides

23rd April 2015

Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, University of Surrey

Semantic Audio Production Tools for Radio

Guildford

Slides

2nd March 2015

Digital Music Research Network, Queen Mary University of London

Task-based evaluation of audio waveforms

London

16th December 2014

Electronic Engineering and Computer Science Research Showcase, Queen Mary University of London

Selection of audio features for music emotion recognition using production music

London

Slides

3rd April 2014

Project Research Engineer

BBC Research and Development

April 2014 - June 2016

Developed and evaluated a ground-breaking production tool that uses speech-to-text to allow professional producers to edit media directly using a transcript. Led the organisation of ‘Sound: Now and Next’ - a two-day event on audio technology with over 180 attendees. Worked with BBC Music to add intelligence to their 30-second music track preview generator.

1st April 2014

STEM Ambassador

STEMNET

March 2014 - February 2017.

Promoted science, technology, engineering and maths subjects by exhibiting at science fairs and giving talks at schools to crowds of up to 600.

1st March 2014

53rd International Audio Engineering Society Conference on Semantic Audio

Selection of audio features for music emotion recognition using production music

London

Slides

27th January 2014

53rd International Audio Enginering Society Conference on Semantic Audio

Selection of audio features for music emotion recognition using production music

by Chris Baume, György Fazekas, Mathieu Barthet, David Marston and Mark Sandler.

Music emotion recognition typically attempts to map audio features from music to a mood representation using machine learning techniques. In addition to having a good dataset, the key to a successful system is choosing the right inputs and outputs. Often, the inputs are based on a set of audio features extracted from a single software library, which may not be the most suitable combination. This paper describes how 47 different types of audio features were evaluated using a five-dimensional support vector regressor, trained and tested on production music, in order to find the combination which produces the best performance. The results show the minimum number of features that yield optimum performance, and which combinations are strongest for mood prediction.

Link

1st January 2014

International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference

Design and Evaluation of Semantic Mood Models for Music Recommendation

by Mathieu Barthet, David Marston, Chris Baume, György Fazekas and Mark Sandler.

In this paper we present and evaluate two semantic music mood models relying on metadata extracted from over 180,000 production music tracks sourced from I Like Music (ILM)’s collection. We performed non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of mood stem dissimilarity matrices (1 to 13 dimensions) and devised five different mood tag summarisation methods to map tracks in the dimensional mood spaces. We then conducted a listening test to assess the ability of the proposed models to match tracks by mood in a recommendation task. The models were compared against a classic audio contentbased similarity model relying on Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs). The best performance (60% of correct match, on average) was yielded by coupling the fivedimensional MDS model with the term-frequency weighted tag centroid method to map tracks in the mood space.

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.1418005

1st November 2013

BBC Celebrating Success Award

Received for organising the BBC Audio Research Showcase event.

1st June 2013

Audio Engineering Society Convention

Evaluation of Acoustic Features for Music Emotion Recognition

Rome

4th May 2013

134th AES Convention

Evaluation of acoustic features for music emotion recognition

by Chris Baume.

Classification of music by mood is a growing area of research with interesting applications, including navigation of large music collections. Mood classifiers are usually based on acoustic features extracted from the music, but often they are used without knowing which ones are most effective. This paper describes how 63 acoustic features were evaluated using 2,389 music tracks to determine their individual usefulness in mood classification, before using feature selection algorithms to find the optimum combination.

Link

1st May 2013

N8 High Performance Computing Industry Showcase

Large scale music analysis

Manchester

7th March 2013

Semantic Media Network workshop

Enhancing music discovery using automated analysis

London

6th February 2013

Executive Committee Member, British Section

Audio Engineering Society

January 2013 - January 2015.

Organised monthly evening lectures on audio engineering at venues around London. Began video recording lectures and created the AES UK YouTube channel.

1st January 2013

Digital Music Research Network, Queen Mary University of London

Training a music mood classifier with production music

London

Slides

18th December 2012

International Journal of Digital Content Technology and its Applications 6:23

Spatial Audio System for Surround Video

by Martin Morrell, Chris Baume, Joshua Reiss.

In this paper we present the design processes of a spatial audio system for Surround Video. Surround Video is a method of reproducing two simultaneous video streams captured by two cameras onto a main television screen and onto the walls of a room via a projector. Through the use of distortion software to correctly map the surround image to the geometry of the viewing room, the user experiences 180 degrees of video reproduction, immersing them in the content. The design of a spatial audio system was necessary to give 360 degree coverage of audio so that, like for the video, the viewer is immersed into the programme world. We discuss the design process and decisions made that concluded in using a mixed reproduction system of Vector Base Amplitude Panning with Ambisonics to match the audio localisation precision with the video precision; high localisation around the main monitor image whilst the surrounding audio is immersive, but with less localisation. Attributes associated with objects in the real world are discussed and methods for recreating the effect of distance, in-head panning, sound scene rotations, reverberation and movement that alter the reverberation placement are presented. The end result is an immersive video and audio system that can be used by the BBC Research & Development department to demonstrate the potential of such technologies where the audio system uses 14 loudspeakers, a subwoofer signal and a discrete ‘4D’ type effects channel.

Link

1st December 2012

Audio Engineering Society 25th UK Conference: Spatial Audio in Today's 3D World

'Vambu Sound': A mixed-technique 4D reproduction system with a heightened frontal localisation area

by Martin Morrell, Chris Baume, Joshua Reiss.

A system, Vambu Sound, was developed for BBC R&D to create a spatial audio production environment. The specification of the system is to provide good localisation around a main television screen and diffuse sound from around the listener. The developed system uses Vector Base Amplitude Panning for six loudspeakers in front of the listener and Ambisonics for eight loudspeakers in the corners of a cube configuration. The system is made four-dimensional by the incorporation of a dedicated haptic feedback channel within the audio format. The system design and implementation are presented and responses from a demonstration are evaluated.

Link

1st March 2012

BBC Audio and Music Festival

Audio in BBC R&D

London

1st July 2011

Invited careers talk, University of York

R&D at the BBC

York

10th March 2011

NEM Summit Art prize

Shared prize for an interactive audio-visual piece called “The Cut-up”, in collaboration with Charlesworth, Lewandowski & Mann.

1st October 2010

Research Engineer

BBC Research and Development

September 2010 - March 2014

Used machine learning to develop a model that maps music to a mood, trained using 128k tracks on a supercomputing cluster. Worked with Olafur Eliasson to create an interactive art piece exhibited in Tate Modern. Led the development of a prototype singing analyser for a proposed new TV show.

1st September 2010

Organiser, Kenya Field of Dreams

Moving the Goalposts

June 2010 - July 2010.

Helped organise and run an independent charitable project in Kilifi, Kenya, sponsored by Google with support from local charity Moving the Goalposts. The project was featured in The Guardian.

Link

1st June 2010

BBC Celebrating Success Award

Received for my research on spatial audio.

1st June 2010

2nd International Symposium on Ambisonics and Spherical Acoustics

Scaling new heights in broadcasting using Ambisonics

Paris

Slides

7th May 2010

2nd International Symposium on Ambisonics and Spherical Acoustics

Scaling new heights in broadcasting using Ambisonics

by Chris Baume, Anthony Churnside.

As the world’s biggest broadcaster, the BBC transmits over 400 hours of audio content every day – the vast majority of which is in stereo. This paper will look at why the BBC is interested in Ambisonics, and describe recent experiences in trying out the technology in its first-order format. Two subjective listening tests are described, which attempt to discover how Ambisonics compares to current technology, and how much the height dimension contributes towards the listening experience. Finally, some suggestions are made on how to make Ambisonics more accessible, in the hope that more Ambisonic content would be created as a result.

Link

1st May 2010

128th Audio Engineering Society Convention

'Upping the Auntie' – A Broadcaster's Take on Ambisonics

by Chris Baume, Anthony Churnside.

This paper considers Ambisonics from a broadcaster’s point of view: to identify barriers preventing its adoption within the broadcast industry and explore the potential advantages were it to be adopted. This paper considers Ambisonics as a potential production and broadcast technology and attempts to assess the impact that the adoption of Ambisonics might have on both production workflows and the audience experience. This is done using two case studies: a large-scale music production of “The Last Night of the Proms” and a smaller scale radio drama production of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. These examples are then used for two subjective listening tests: the first to assess the benefit of representing height allowed by Ambisonics and the second to compare the audience’s enjoyment of first order Ambisonics to stereo and 5.0 mixes.

Link

1st May 2010

BBC Future Media and Technology

All-staff meeting

London

19th April 2010

BBC Audio and Music Festival

Audio Music Fest2010

London

2nd March 2010

Material World

BBC Radio 4

11th February 2010

Trainee Technologist

BBC Research and Development

September 2008 - August 2010

As part of a two-year graduate scheme, I did four placements around the BBC. I worked with IBM to investigate software-oriented architecture within back-end radio systems, used CUDA to create a real-time objective video quality assessment system for HD video, experimented with Ambisonics as a method for recording and broadcasting spatial audio, and wrote a strategic report for BBC Radio on audio codecs for contribution feeds.

1st September 2008

Master of Engineering

Electronic Engineering with Music Technology Systems, University of York

October 2004 - June 2008

1st June 2008

Chairman, York Student Section

Audio Engineering Society

October 2007 - July 2008.

1st October 2007

Student Placement

Meridian Audio Ltd.

July 2007 - September 2007

Summer student placement developing test software for Meridian’s room correction system and refurbishing the listening room.

1st July 2007

Manager

EntsTech, York University Student's Union

July 2007 - June 2008

Managed a team of twelve to run PA and lighting systems for medium-sized venues, including recruitment, training, maintenance and scheduling.

1st July 2007

Technical Operator

EntsTech, York University Student's Union

September 2005 - June 2007

Setting up and operating PA and lighting systems for medium-to-large venues in and around York. Highly team-focused and late hours.

1st September 2005

Leaving certificate

St. Andrew's College, Dublin

September 1993 - June 2004

1st June 2004