A SMARTER WAY TO FIND PITCH
Philip McLeod, Geoff Wyvill · 2005
The ’Tartini ’ project at the University of Otago aims to use the computer as a practical tool for singers and instrumentalists. Sound played into the system is analysed fast enough to create useful feedback for teaching or, at a higher level, for practising musicians to refine their technique. Central to this analysis is the accurate determination of musical pitch. We describe a fast, accurate and robust method for finding the continuous pitch in monophonic musical sounds. We employ a special normalised version of the Squared Difference Function (SDF) coupled with a peak picking algorithm. We show how to implement the algorithm efficiently. Inherent in our method is a ’clarity ’ estimate that measures to what extent the sound has a tone. This has already found application in showing defects in a violinist’s bowing technique. 1.