A content-based music retrieval engine: JMIR-Mozart

Abstract

The rapid increase of storage capacity has brought along large-scale multimedia databases. To access such databases, content-based retrieval methods are needed in order to avoid the burden of handcraft involved in building a query system working on metadata. The burgeoning demand for such methods can be seen, for instance, in the number of researchers working on developing tools and algorithms to this end. In this paper, we present a prototypic, client-server query engine for content-based music retrieval (CBAAR). Our main aim is to help researchers working in the field so that they could have a retrieval platform where to embed and test their novel tools and algorithms without the burden of building a whole system from scratch. We give an overview to the platform: the architectural solutions, the communication protocols and user interface design. As for an example, we have embedded in this platform some music similarity and transcription algorithms developed in the C-BRAHMS research group, and thus achieved a complete retrieval system that can be queried on our website. We describe these algorithms in brief and discuss the performance of the retrieval system. The platform is released to public under the GNU General Public License, allowing anyone interested to freely use and modify the software.