MPEG-4 Structured Audio is an ISO/IEC standard for describing sound. It was published as subpart 5 of MPEG-4 Part 3 (ISO/IEC 14496-3:1999) in 1999.[1][2][3][4]
It allows the transmission of synthetic music and sound effects at very low bit rates (from 0.01 to 10 kbit/s), and the description of parametric soundpost-production for mixing multiple streams and adding effects to audio scenes. It does not standardize a particular set of synthesis methods, but a method for describing synthesis methods.
The sound descriptions generate audio when compiled (or interpreted) by a compliant decoder. MPEG-4 Structured Audio consists of the following major elements:
^D. Thom, H. Purnhagen, and the MPEG Audio Subgroup (October 1998). "MPEG Audio FAQ Version 9 - MPEG-4". chiariglione.org. Archived from the original on 2009-09-26. Retrieved 2009-10-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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Scheirer, Eric D.; Ray, Lee (1998). "Algorithmic and Wavetable Synthesis in the MPEG-4 Multimedia Standard". Audio Engineering Society Convention 105, 1998. CiteSeerX10.1.1.35.2773. 2.2 Wavetable synthesis with SASBF: The SASBF wavetable-bank format had a somewhat complex history of development. The original specification was contributed by E-Mu Systems and was based on their "SoundFont" format [15]. After integration of this component in the MPEG-4 reference software was complete, the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) approached MPEG requesting that MPEG-4 SASBF be compatible with their "Downloaded Sounds" format [13]. E-Mu agreed that this compatibility was desirable, and so a new format was negotiated and designed collaboratively by all parties.
