Automatic Interval Naming Using Relative Pitch

Relative pitch perception is the identification of the relationship between two successive pitches without identifying the pitches themselves. Absolute pitch perception is the identification of the pitch of a single note without relating it to another note. To date, most pitch algorithms have concentrated on detecting the absolute pitch of a signal. This paper presents an approach for relative pitch detection, and applies this approach to the problem of detecting the musical interval between two acoustic events. The approach is presented as it applies to the western system of music. 1 Introduction The human auditory system allows humans to perceive differences in air pressure and attach meaning to different patterns---we hear sounds. Everything that humans hear is an interpretation of the time-varying air pressure on the ear drum. Consequently, concepts like pitch and timbre are interpretations made somewhere between the eardrum and the conscious mind. Interpretations such as t...