Made an attempt to come up with a data structure that actually makes sense (though perhaps this is textbook list rather than vector stuff? I guess it depends on the frequency I expect inserts to occur versus reads) and to implement inserts. Though the Periods aren't yet honoured.

Storage/Disk/PCMPatchedTrack.cpp

@@ -11,18 +11,77 @@
 using namespace Storage::Disk;
 
 PCMPatchedTrack::PCMPatchedTrack(std::shared_ptr<Track> underlying_track) :
-	underlying_track_(underlying_track),
+	underlying_track_(underlying_track)
-	active_patch_((size_t)-1)
-{}
-
-void PCMPatchedTrack::add_segment(const Time &start_position, const PCMSegment &segment)
 {
-	patches_.emplace_back(start_position, segment);
+	Time zero(0);
+	Time one(1);
+	periods_.emplace_back(zero, one, zero, nullptr);
+	active_period_ = &periods_.back();
+}
+
+void PCMPatchedTrack::add_segment(const Time &start_time, const PCMSegment &segment)
+{
+	event_sources_.emplace_back(segment);
+
+	Time zero(0);
+	Period insertion_period(start_time, start_time + event_sources_.back().get_length(), zero, &event_sources_.back());
+
+	// the new segment may wrap around, so divide it up into track-length parts if required
+	Time one = Time(1);
+	while(insertion_period.end_time > one)
+	{
+		Time next_end_time = insertion_period.end_time - one;
+		insertion_period.end_time = one;
+		insert_period(insertion_period);
+
+		insertion_period.start_time = zero;
+		insertion_period.end_time = next_end_time;
+	}
+	insert_period(insertion_period);
+}
+
+void PCMPatchedTrack::insert_period(const Period &period)
+{
+	// find the existing period that the new period starts in
+	size_t start_index = 0;
+	while(periods_[start_index].start_time >= period.end_time) start_index++;
+
+	// find the existing period that the new period end in
+	size_t end_index = 0;
+	while(periods_[end_index].end_time < period.end_time) end_index++;
+
+	// perform a division if called for
+	if(start_index == end_index)
+	{
+		Period right_period = periods_[start_index];
+
+		Time adjustment = period.start_time - right_period.start_time;
+		right_period.end_time += adjustment;
+		right_period.segment_start_time += adjustment;
+
+		periods_[start_index].end_time = period.start_time;
+		periods_.insert(periods_.begin() + (int)start_index + 1, period);
+		periods_.insert(periods_.begin() + (int)start_index + 2, right_period);
+	}
+	else
+	{
+		// perform a left chop on the thing at the start and a right chop on the thing at the end
+		periods_[start_index].end_time = period.start_time;
+
+		Time adjustment = period.start_time - periods_[end_index].start_time;
+		periods_[end_index].end_time += adjustment;
+		periods_[end_index].segment_start_time += adjustment;
+
+		// remove anything in between
+		periods_.erase(periods_.begin() + (int)start_index + 1, periods_.begin() + (int)end_index - 1);
+
+		// insert the new period
+		periods_.insert(periods_.begin() + (int)start_index + 1, period);
+	}
 }
 
 Track::Event PCMPatchedTrack::get_next_event()
 {
-//	if(active_patch_ == (size_t)-1)
 	return underlying_track_->get_next_event();
 }
 

Storage/Disk/PCMPatchedTrack.hpp

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 #define PCMPatchedTrack_hpp
 
 #include "PCMTrack.hpp"
+#include "PCMSegment.hpp"
 
 namespace Storage {
 namespace Disk {
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ class PCMPatchedTrack: public Track {
 			Replaces whatever is currently on the track from @c start_position to @c start_position + segment length
 			with the contents of @c segment.
 		*/
-		void add_segment(const Time &start_position, const PCMSegment &segment);
+		void add_segment(const Time &start_time, const PCMSegment &segment);
 
 		// To satisfy Storage::Disk::Track
 		Event get_next_event();
@@ -37,13 +38,20 @@ class PCMPatchedTrack: public Track {
 
 	private:
 		std::shared_ptr<Track> underlying_track_;
-		struct Patch {
+		std::vector<PCMSegmentEventSource> event_sources_;
-			Time start_position;
+
-			PCMSegment segment;
+		struct Period {
-			Patch(const Time &start_position, const PCMSegment &segment) : start_position(start_position), segment(segment) {}
+			Time start_time, end_time;
+			Time segment_start_time;
+			PCMSegmentEventSource *event_source;	// nullptr => use the underlying track
+
+			Period(const Time &start_time, const Time &end_time, const Time &segment_start_time, PCMSegmentEventSource *event_source) :
+				start_time(start_time), end_time(end_time), segment_start_time(segment_start_time), event_source(event_source) {}
 		};
-		std::vector<Patch> patches_;
+		std::vector<Period> periods_;
-		size_t active_patch_;
+		Period *active_period_;
+
+		void insert_period(const Period &period);
 };
 
 }

Storage/Storage.hpp

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ namespace Storage {
 struct Time {
 	unsigned int length, clock_rate;
 	Time() : length(0), clock_rate(1) {}
+	Time(unsigned int int_value) : length(int_value), clock_rate(1) {}
 	Time(unsigned int length, unsigned int clock_rate) : length(length), clock_rate(clock_rate) {}
 
 	/*!