Comparison of tuning frequency estimation methods

Abstract

In this paper, a comparison of different algorithms for concert pitch (i.e., tuning frequency or reference frequency) estimation is presented and discussed. The unavailability of ground-truth datasets makes this evaluation on real music recordings less trivial than it may initially appear. Hence, in this paper we use two datasets, one of real music (covers80 provided by LabROSA) and one of synthesized music (MS2012, constructed by the authors). The algorithms have been compared in terms of speed of convergence and stability of the estimated value over an increasing length of the analysed signal. A local tuning frequency estimation was also performed in order to compare the ability of the algorithms to follow the local variations of the reference frequency in a real-time environment. Moreover, an analysis of the execution time have been provided. While the various algorithms perform comparably in terms of asymptotic precision, they show a quite different behaviour in terms of speed of convergence and local tuning frequency estimation accuracy.