Riddim: A Rhythm Analysis and Decomposition Tool Based On Independent Subspace Analysis
This is an incremental step toward developing better rhythm models for real-time computer-based performance and composition.
The paper tackled the problem of extracting rhythm and timing from audio by implementing Riddim, a tool that uses Independent Subspace Analysis and onset detection to separate rhythmic information from different sources, representing it for use in algorithms to infer musical structure.
The goal of this thesis was to implement a tool that, given a digital audio input, can extract and represent rhythm and musical time. The purpose of the tool is to help develop better models of rhythm for real-time computer based performance and composition. This analysis tool, Riddim, uses Independent Subspace Analysis (ISA) and a robust onset detection scheme to separate and detect salient rhythmic and timing information from different sonic sources within the input. This information is then represented in a format that can be used by a variety of algorithms that interpret timing information to infer rhythmic and musical structure. A secondary objective of this work is a "proof of concept" as a non-real-time rhythm analysis system based on ISA. This is a necessary step since ultimately it is desirable to incorporate this functionality in a real-time plug-in for live performance and improvisation.