The present invention implements a method and an apparatus for retrieving
a sound data desired by the user on the basis of its subjective
impression over the sound data. The subjective impression on the desired
sound data is entered by the user and converted to a numerical value. A
target sound impression value which is a numerical form of the impression
on the sound data is calculated from the numerical value. The target
sound impression value is then used as a retrieving key for accessing a
sound database where the audio signal and the sound features of a
plurality of the sound data are stored. This allows the desired sound
data to be retrieved on the basis of the subjective impression of the
user on the sound data.