Bayesian statistical methods for audio and music processing

Abstract

This article focuses on the use of Bayesian statistical methods in audio and music processing in the context of an application to multipitch audio and determining a musical ‘score’ representation that includes pitch and time duration summary for a musical extract (the so-called ‘piano-roll’ representation of music). It first provides an overview of mainstream applications of audio signal processing, the properties of musical audio, superposition and how to address it using the Bayesian approach, and the principal challenges facing audio processing. It then considers the fundamental audio processing tasks before discussing a range of Bayesian hierarchical models involving both time and frequency domain dynamic models. It shows that Bayesian analysis is applicable in audio signal processing in real environments where acoustical conditions and sound sources are highly variable, yet audio signals possess strong statistical structure.