Automatic transcription of open string notes from violin recordings

Abstract

In this paper, a study which automatically detects four open string notes of the violin from the recorded violin sounds is presented for the purpose of using in the beginner level violin education. First, in order to be able to analyze the violin sound recordings, it is necessary for the music piece to be segmented into the notes forming the music piece itself. For this, it is necessary to correctly determine the starting times (onsets) of the notes. Because of the envelope characteristic that the violin sound has, it is more difficult to detect the note onset than other musical instrument sounds such as piano and guitar. By using the complex spectral difference method, the note onsets were determined, then by determining the fundamental frequency the note of the violin sound was found. The proposed system was applied to the open string sound tracks obtained from eight people by using the iPad-based professional recording system, and the results showed that the proposed system worked successfully.