An improved note segmentation and normalization for Query-by-Humming

Nattha  Phiwma; Parinya Sanguansat

Authors

Nattha Phiwma Faculty of Information Technology, Rangsit University, Patumthani 12000, Thailand
Parinya Sanguansat Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Panyapiwat Institute of Management, Nonthaburi 11120, Thailand

Keywords:

Query-by-Humming, melody contour, Dynamic Time Warping, pitch, Subharmonic-to-Harmonic Ratio, note segmentation

Abstract

To improve Query-by-Humming, in this paper, we propose a note segmentation by humming sound method, melody contour extraction technique, and new normalization methods. The noise interference from both the environment and acquisition instrument is the critical issues in humming sound. The query problems about variation of pitch and timing are because most users are not professional singers. The advantage of the note segmentation by humming method is it can separate the sound and silent parts from each other through the process. The melody contour extraction can reduce noise resulting in pitch smoothing. Our approach starts from pre-processing by using features for note segmentation by a humming sound. The process consists of three steps as follows: Firstly, the pitch is extracted from the humming sound by Subharmonic-to-Harmonic Ratio (SHR). Afterwards, we used various new normalization methods, including melody contour extraction, for scaling and noise robust. Finally, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) is applied to the melody contour, for similarity of measurement between the humming sound and the melody sequence. Comparing our proposed technique and the traditional method, the results show that our proposed techniques can perform more effectively.

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