Content-based retrieval for music collections

A content-based retrieval model for tackling the mismatch problems specific to music data is proposed and implemented. The system uses a pitch profile encoding for queries in any key and an n-note indexing method for approximate matching in sub-linear time. A distinct function that extracts key melodies for query suggestion is developed. The Web-based system provides flexible user interface for query formulation and result browsing. Users can search the system by a short sequence of notes, by uploading a file created by singing, or by clicking suggested key melodies without input. Experiments show that the pitch profile encoding and a 3-note indexing are able to overcome the key mismatch problem and the random errors caused by pitch error, note deletion and insertion. The use of extracted key melodies improves performance over direct search of the music database. For the type of burst mismatch, a query expansion approach is applied.