Making computer music more expressive

Scientists at the University of Rochester are working on a different kind of encoding that promises to make sound files 1,000 times smaller than MP3s.

The new method is not a recording technology. Instead, it recreates music in a computer based on what it knows about the real-world physics of an instrument and its human player.

Researchers say the real benefit is expressiveness, not file size.

This story originally aired April 10, 2008