Wieczorkowska A., Wróblewski J., 2004. Octave-Error Proof Timbre-Independent Estimation of Fundamental Frequency of Musical Sounds. 116th AES Convention Paper 6030, Berlin 2004.

ABSTRACT

Estimation of fundamental frequency (so called pitch tracking) can be performed using various methods. However, all these algorithms are susceptible to errors, especially octave ones. In order to avoid these errors, pitch-trackers are usually adjusted to particular musical instruments. Therefore problem arises when one wants to extract fundamental frequency independent on the timbre. Our goal was to elaborate method of fundamental frequency extraction, which works correctly for any timbre. We propose multi-algorithm approach, where fundamental frequency estimation is based on results coming both from a range of frequency tracking methods, and additional parameters of sound. Also, we propose frequency tracking based on direct analysis of signal and its spectrum. We explain the structure of our estimator and the obtained results for various musical instruments and sound articulation techniques.