Note identification in Carnatic Music from Frequency Spectrum

Abstract

Raga refers to melodic modes used in Indian Classical Music. It's a series of five or more musical notes upon which a melody is made. Note identification forms the basis for Raga Identification in Music. Characterisation of a note in Carnatic Music is challenging due to the extensive use of Gamakas. In this paper, we propose a System that takes a wav file as input, analyses the frequency characteristics and performs note mapping. The prominent notes in the Raga are selected by a Statistical T Test based on the duration of occurrence of a note. A Test data of around 15 raga alapanas was used. The renditions ranged from 3 – 8 minute clips of various artistes, both male and female. The System performs with an accuracy of 90%.