Abstract: A technique for reducing delay in generating an output stream with real-time characteristics from a serially-received representation of the output stream that is not monotonic with regard to time. One application of the technique is generating a MIDI stream from a multi-track MIDI file. The MIDI stream is generated from the first track while the remainder of the MIDI file is being received. As a point in each further track to be received is reached that corresponds to the point in the first track at which the MIDI stream is currently being generated, the MIDI stream is generated from that track as well. The listener thus at first hears only the first track to be received; as the others come in, he hears them as well.