Finding repeated patterns in music

state of knowledge, challenges, perspectives

Berit Janssen

W. B. de Haas

Anja Volk

Peter van Kranenburg

pp. 277-297

in: Mitsuko Aramaki, Olivier Derrien, Richard Kronland-Martinet, Sølvi Ystad (eds), Sound, music, and motion, Berlin, Springer, 2014

Abstract

This paper discusses the current state of knowledge on musical pattern finding. Various studies propose computational methods to find repeated musical patterns. Our detailed review of these studies reveals important challenges in musical pattern finding research: different methods have not yet been directly compared, and the influence of music representation and filtering on the results has not been assessed. Moreover, we need a thorough understanding of musical patterns as perceived by human listeners. A sound evaluation methodology is still lacking. Consequently, we suggest perspectives for musical pattern finding: future research can provide a comparison of different methods, and an assessment of different music representations and filtering criteria. A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods can overcome the lacking evaluation methodology. Musical patterns identified by human listeners form a reference, but also an object of study, as computational methods can help us understand the criteria underlying human notions of musical repetition.