Melody retrieval system and method

Claim 2

A melody retrieval method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the steps concerning the database and the comparison of the coarse values are carried out at a first location, and said steps concerning the processing of the input song take place at a second location, the relative pitch and span values of the input song being transmitted from said second location to said first location, and the information about the retrieved music being transmitted from said first location to said second location, preferably via the World Wide Web.

Claim 3

A melody retrieval method as claimed in any preceding claim, further including a step of: retrieving a piece of media with music by melody retrieval.

Claim 4

A melody retrieval system, comprising: a database of pieces of music; first means for obtaining sequences of relative-pitch difference and relative-span ratio from sequences of pitch and span values of each piece of music, making a histogram of the relative-pitch values of the database by using the distribution of all notes in the entire database, making a histogram of the relative-span values of the database by using the distribution of all notes in the entire database, determining thresholds for relative pitch so that each category, which will be divided by the thresholds, equally having M1 (=Sum1 / Category_Num1) values in it, and thresholds for relative-span values are similarly determined so that each category equally has M2 (=Sum2 / Category_Num2) values in it, and converting the relative-pitch difference and relative-span ratio into the approximate relative-pitch values and approximate relative-span values respectively; input means for inputting a song; processing means for subjecting the inputted song to an A/D conversion, detecting a voiced sound from a sound signal after A/D conversion, defining a fundamental frequency of each frame from the detected voiced sound, dividing off an onset time of the voiced sound as an onset time of each note, determining a time difference (number of frames) as the span of the note, defining the maximum value among the fundamental frequencies of each note contained during its span as the highest pitch value, and calculating the relative pitch and span values from the obtained pitch and span from the previous sound; second means for converting the relative pitch and span information of the user's input melody into approximate relative-pitch values and approximate relative-span values by using the thresholds previously obtained, comparing the approximate relative-pitch values and approximate relative-span values with the approximate relative-pitch values and approximate relative-span values of each melody in the music database, calculating a distance between the pitch and span of each melody in the music database and the input, and retrieving at least one piece of music based on the calculated distances; and presentation means for presenting information about the retrieved music.

Claim 5

A melody retrieval system as claimed in claim 4, wherein said first means and said processing means are in different locations, first means and said processing means being connected to allow transmission of information therebetween, preferably via the World Wide Web.

Claim 6

A melody retrieval system as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein said input means, said processing means and said presentation means are provided in an input device comprising a microphone, an A/D converter, an operating unit (operator) for treating a digital signal, an input and output unit for either transmitting or receiving the digital signal over the WWW network, a memory storing a program, a display showing the retrieved title of the database songs, a D/A converter, and an output unit for playing the retrieved song.

Claim 7

Computer software on a carrier allowing any of said first means, said processing means and said second means in claim 4 to carry out the actions specified in that claim.

Claim 8

A melody retrieval method comprising the steps of: analysing each piece of music in a database of pieces of music and categorizing each piece of music according to the pitch and span of its notes; analysing an input piece of music and categorizing it according to the pitch and span of its notes; comparing the categorized input piece of music to the categorized pieces of music in the database; and retrieving at least one piece of music from the database based on the results of the comparison.

Claim 9

A melody retrieval system comprising; a database of pieces of music; first means for analysing each piece of music in a database of pieces of music and categorizing each piece of music according to the pitch and span of its notes; second means for analysing an input piece of music and categorizing it according to the pitch and span of its notes; third means for comparing the categorized input piece of music to the categorized pieces of music in the database; and fourth means for retrieving at least one piece of music from the database based on the results of the comparison.

Claim 10

Computer software on a carrier, allowing any of the said means in claim 9 to carry out the actions specified in that claim.