Digital Libraries and Music

1. Digital Libraries and Music Jon Dunn SLIS L631 Music Librarianship Seminar April 7, 2003

2. Outline • Digital Libraries • Music content • Variations • Variations2 • Special topics: • Music information retrieval • Open Archives Initiative

3. What is a digital library? • DL as collection/information system • “a collection of information that is both digitized and organized” -- Mike Lesk, National Science Foundation • “networked collections of digital text, documents, images, sounds, scientific data, and software”-- President’s Information Technology Advisory Council report • DL as organization: • “an organization that provides the resources, including the specialized staff, to select, structure, offer intellectual access to, interpret, distribute, preserve the integrity of, and ensure the persistence over time of collections of digital works so that they are readily and economically available for use by a defined community or set of communities”-- Digital Library Federation

4. Applications of music DLs • Education • Electronic reserves • Online instructional tools • Research • Better access to special collections • New capabilities for analysis, searching • Commercial • Professionals • E.g. music/film/video production • Consumers • Online music catalogs, digital distribution

5. What is a music digital library? • What does it contain? • How is this content acquired? • How is this content accessed? • How can the content be used once located? • What is the purpose? • Who are the users? • How is content protected?

6. Music DL features • Content • Selection, digitization, storage, delivery • Metadata (cataloging) • Search capabilities • for content and metadata • Interfaces • User interfaces, programmatic interfaces • Access control

7. Basic Representations of Music Audio (e.g., CD, MP3): like speech Time-stamped Events (e.g., MIDI file): like unformatted text Music Notation: like text with complex formatting

8. Content Formats • Audio • MIDI • Scores • Images • Structured file format • (Video)

9. Digital audio • Sampling • Sample rate, sample size, number of channels • Compression • Perceptual audio coding • File formats • Standards

10. Digital audio file formats • Uncompressed –all basically the same • WAV - Microsoft/IBM • AIFF - SGI/Apple • AU/SND - NeXT/Sun • Compressed • MPEG-1 layers 1-3, MPEG-2 AAC • RealAudio, Windows Media, QuickTime • Each supports various compression options

11. Digital audio file sizes • Uncompressed audio • 44.1 kHz, 16 bit, stereo (CD quality) • 650 MB for one hour • 1.4 Megabits/second • Compressed • MP3: 58 MB for one hour, 128 Kilobits/second • AAC: 29 MB for one hour, 64 Kilobits/second • RealAudio, Windows Media Audio, QuickTime Qdesign Music: down to 20 Kilobits/second or less

12. Digital Audio audio sampling quantization noise Barlow, Multimedia Systems, p. 77.

13. CD Audio • Sample rate: • 44.1 kHz (44,100 samples/second) • Sample size: • 16 bits • Number of channels: • 2 (stereo) • Bitrate • 44100 samples/second * 16 bits/sample * 2 channels = 1.4112 megabits/second (plus file format/network overhead)

14. Masking Effect Barlow, Multimedia Systems, p. 73.

15. From Research and Creative Activity, September 1999

16. Digital audio delivery • Delivery options • Download • Streaming • e.g. RealAudio, Windows Media, QuickTime Streaming • Encrypted download • e.g. LiquidAudio, a2bmusic, Windows Media

17. Scores • Score image • File format: TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PDF, … • Resolution • Grayscale vs. bitonal (black and white) • Score notation • Many proprietary formats • No common standard

18. Attributes of notated musical information • Pitch • Duration • Tempo • Dynamic level • Articulation • Part (sometimes implying timbral definition) Selfridge-Field, Beyond MIDI, p. 9.

19. Difficulties in representing CMN • Grammar of CMN is open-ended • Which is more critical: graphical appearance or semantic meaning? • Much left open to interpretation • Style differences, e.g. interpretation of rhythms

20. Music Notation File Formats • www.music-notation.info lists over 50 different music notation formats, most for CMN

21. MIDI • Musical Instrument Digital Interface • Originally a hardware interface spec • Communication of real-time events between musical devices • Standard MIDI File (SMF) • Stores time-stamped MIDI event information • e.g note on/off, key pressure, aftertouch, pitch bend, control change, program change. • Each event accompanied by parameters • e.g. note on includes pitch, duration, dynamic range • Spec maintained by industry group • MIDI Manufacturers’ Assocation

22. Limitations of MIDI • MIDI does not represent many musical attributes • Graphical notation elements • Rests, stem direction, enharmonic distinctions, staff systems, page layout, etc. • Sound elements • Timbre, full stylistic expression • Extensions exist but not widely used

23. Creating Notation Content • Transcription • Music notation editor • ASCII data entry • Recognition • OMR: Optical Music Recognition

24. Music notation editor example:Finale

25. OMR: Optical Music Recognition • Commercial packages • Musitek MidiScan/SmartScore • Version included with Finale • Neuratron PhotoScore • Version included with Sibelius

26. Here's the original: Scanned into Finale: Only 5 easy edits needed. Taken from http://www.codamusic.com/finale/scanning.asp OMR: A long way from OCR

27. OMR: Optical Music Recognition • Research projects • CANTOR • University of Waikato, New Zealand • Adaptive OMR • Johns Hopkins University, USA • Example:http://mambo.peabody.jhu.edu/omr/demo/ • others: • http://www.cs.waikato.ac.nz/~davidb/omr/

28. Score Images • Scanned images still useful • Historical editions, manuscripts • Preservation, improving access • Impracticality of large-scale OMR • Music presents challenges for scanning

29. Variations • Digital library of music sound recordings and scores • Online since 1996 • Accessible in Music Library and other select locations - copyright • Used daily by large student population

30. Original Concept • Burroughs and Fenske, 1990 • VARIATIONS name • Theme and Variations • Variety of information formats for music • Networked access for the music student or scholar to sound recordings, scores, textual materials, video recordings

31. Focus on Audio • High demand portion of collection • Fragile formats • Lack of previous work; uniqueness

32. Focus on Audio Reserves • Half of sound recording use from reserves • Problems with existing practices • Cassette tape dubs, analog distribution systems • Concentrated use of a few items at any given time

33. Variations System • Digitization • Storage • Access

34. Design and Development • Developed by Music Library with assistance from UITS and Library Information Technology • Integrate rather than develop from scratch • Partnership with IBM • Funding: School of Music, Libraries, UITS, IBM • Online in April 1996

35. Digitization • Formats • Analog: LP, cassette tape, reel-to-reel tape • Digital: CD, DAT • Capture at CD quality • 44.1 kHz, 16 bit, stereo, 700MB for one hour • Compress to MPEG-1 layer 2 (“MP2”) • 200 MB for one hour • Create “track file”

36. Digitization Hardware and Software • Windows PCs • Sound capture card • Microtest Disc-to-Disk CD capture software • Sonic Foundry Sound Forge XP audio editor

37. Music Library Digitizing Lab

38. Storage • Tivoli Storage Manager software • IBM RS/6000 AIX server • IBM Tape Library Dataserver • Contains three tape drives • 10 terabyte (10,000 gigabyte) capacity

39. IBM 3494 Tape Library

40. IBM 3590E tapes: 20GB each

41. Access • Discovery • How does the user find the desired recording? • Playback • How is audio delivered to the user? • How does the user navigate within a given recording?

42. Collection • Currently: 6900 titles, 8000 hours of audio • 5.6 TB uncompressed • 1.6 TB compressed • Opera, songs, instrumental music, jazz, rock, world music

43. Discovery • Varies based on purpose of access • Reserves • Course reserve lists • Faculty-created course home pages (incl. Oncourse) • General use • Links from IUCAT library catalog(856 fields in MARC bib records)

44. Playback • Streaming server • IBM RS/6000, 150 GB disk • IBM VideoCharger server software • Software to connect VideoCharger with TSM (locally written) • Client • IBM VideoCharger client software • Variations Player (locally written) • Navigation via track files

45. Network • Originally ATM • 25/100/155 megabits per second • Now switched Ethernet • 10/100/1000 megabits per second • Variations audio stream requires 384 kilobits/second • Up to 150 streams

46. Variations Demonstration

47. Variations2 • Four-year project • Started October 1, 2000 • Funding from NSF and NEH through Digital Libraries Phase 2 (DLI2) program • Large interdisciplinary team of investigators • Faculty: Music, Information Science, Law, Computer Science • Librarians and technologists: Libraries, University Information Technology Services • Bloomington and Indianapolis campuses

48. Project goals • Establish a digital music library testbed system supporting multiple formats: audio, video, score images, score notation • Develop multiple interfaces for specific user applications in the music library and the classroom • Conduct research in metadata, usability, copyright, and networking

49. Partners: “Satellite Sites” • United States • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign • University of Massachusetts at Amherst • Northwestern University • United Kingdom • Kings College - London • Loughborough University • University of Oxford • Japan • Waseda University • Evaluation…potential for co-development

50. The Variations2 System • Integrated access to music in all formats • Digital audio recordings • Score images • Score notation • Video • Delivery to wide range of users • Faculty: teaching, course design, research • Students: coursework, independent study • Music librarians, other library users • Extensible • Multiple user interfaces • Staged development