Research

PST: Pitch Spelling Technology

Pitch spelling is the process of assigning contextually correct letter names to numeric representations for musical pitch such as MIDI numbers. Each pitch is represented by a number in MIDI and other digital formats, and the same number, say, 58 could map to A# or Bb depending on the key context. Accurate pitch spelling is a critical component of systems for automated transcription, computer music analysis, segmentation, synchronization and retrieval, and expression synthesis. Our goal is to develop robust pitch spelling algorithms for the purpose of recognizing and visualizing tonal patterns using the Spiral Array model for tonality [6]. The algorithms are implemented in Java as part of the MuSA project initiated in 2002. MuSA stands of Music on the Spiral Array and consists of a set of software tools for music analysis based on the Spiral Array.

NSF Report (Year 8)