REPRESENTATION OF MELODY PATTERNS USING TOPOGRAPHIC SPECTRAL DISTRIBUTION FUNCTIONS.

Various techniques of music visualization, music transcription, melody storage, and melody matching have been proposed. However, none of these methods have had as their primary focus the mathematical characterization of melody patterns using an interactive graphics system with a wide variety of controlling parameters. It is difficult to rigorously compare and characterize melodic patterns by ear alone since the listening process is subject to the limitations and artifacts of both memory and perception, as well as individual variations in listener's ability to localize and describe melodic features. This problem is the primary motivation for the system described.