2006:QBSH Discussion Page

Introduction

This page is for discussion concerning the details of the QBSH: Query-by-Singing/Humming task. The final outcomes of our discussions will be posted to the QBSH:_Query-by-Singing/Humming page.

Interested Participants

• Roger Jang
• Christian Sailer
• Rainer Typke
• Alexandra Uitdenbogerd (RMIT)
• (please add your name and some affliation info to this list)

Data Processing Proposal by J. Stephen Downie:

Given that some folks have fancy wav/pitch vector processors and some are just MIDI folks, I propose that we take advantage of file extensions for the various programmes to decide which type of data to process. Thus, we will build INDEX_THIS directories for each task (i.e., INDEX_THIS1 (for TASK1) and INDEX_THIS2 (for TASK2). In these directories will be ALL the required files necessary for indexing. For example:

INDEX_THIS1/ (this is the simplest case..all MIDI)
T0000001.mid
T0000002.mid
T000000X.mid
etc.

INDEX_THIS2/ (note the mixed versions for T0000003)
T0000001.mid
T0000002.mid
T0000003.mid
T0000003.wav
T0000003.pv
etc.

The same idea will hold for the QUERY_THIS1 (for TASK1)and QUERY_THIS2 (for TASK2) directories. For example:

QUERY_THIS2/
Q0000001.mid
Q0000001.wav
Q0000001.pv
Q0000002.mid [2]
Q0000003.mid
Q0000003.wav
Q0000003.pv
etc.

[2] This one of the orignal ground truth MIDI files, hence only 1 format--should we make other versions for consistency's sake?

Under this model, the individual programmes are responsible for filtering/selecting which files they need to build indexes/run queries.

OK, that should do it for now. PLEASE, PLEASE comment about FATAL flaws. We can quibble a bit LATER about evaluation subtleties (even after we have begun the indexing and runs). My next message will be about INPUT/OUTPUT issues that I just thought about.

Calling Formats

In an earlier email I proposed the follow basic running format:

executable <index_db_list_file> <query_list_file> <answer_list_file>

I believe this should be modified to the following to better reflect the reality of a) indexing then b) running. I also forgot about giving folks space to put indexes, scratch files, etc. Thus, what about this:

indexing_exe <var1> <var2>

where:

<var1>==<path_to_index_this_directory>
<var2>==<path_to_index_and_workspace_root>

Then, B):

running_exe <var3> <var4> <var5>

where:

<var3>==<path_to_built_index>
<var4>==<path_to_query_this_directory>
<var5>==<path_to_answer_file.txt>

NOTE HERE: The big difference here is the passing of DIRECTORIES rather than FILE_LISTS for slurpping in the test databases (indexing) and the queries (running). This will allow folks to select/filter file formats as they see fit.

There can be some slight variations on this format IFF folks are clear about how to set up and run their systems (using notation like the above would be good, I think). I want to stress here that WE NEED to set these key paths at run time as we do not know the locations yet of the various necessary directories.

I do not think we need to change the ANSWER_FILE formats. *WE* will NAME the answer_file for you to keep things standardized and findable  :)

DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?

Output Answer Lists

The <answer list file> for each run would look like:

Q000001: T000003,T004567,T999999,<insert X more responses>,TXXXXXX
Q000002: T000103,T304567,T900998,<insert X more responses>,TXXXXXX
Q00000X: T000002,T006567,T975999,<insert X more responses>,TXXXXXX 

Where the <answer_list_file> is a single ASCII file listing, one per line, of each of the responses to each of the queries in a given task run.

Comment by Christian Sailer

Hi Stephen, all

in my opinion, a qbh/qbs system is a system that somehow indexes a melody data base, and then takes singing/humming, i.e. monophonic wav input to search in this database.

A closely related problem is the query by playing, where, if the input is performed on a midi capable instrument, the input to the query system is a midi file.

So now we have two (or if we also allow pv, which we should as we have them, don't we, as input, three) sensible tasks that may be compared. They are namely:

1. Searching a melody by wav input
2. Searching a melody by midi input
3. Searching a melody by pv input.

Now the question of the database/indexing. We have never used anything else than monophonic midis, so I just now realised other folks would maybe like to index from other sources...

For my part, I'm mostly interested in 1.), but would also take part in 2.)

Maybe we should just compile quickly what everybody is expecting of this contest, so may be just fill that form:

--------------------------------------------------------------
|      I will take part in query by  | midi for indexing is  |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| name            | wav | midi | pv  |   ok  |  not ok       |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| CS              | X   |   X  |     |    X  |               |
--------------------------------------------------------------
| ALU             |     |   X  |     |    X  |               |
--------------------------------------------------------------
|                 |     |      |     |       |               |
--------------------------------------------------------------

So, I hope this was not plain stupid and may help clarify issues...

Cheers, Christian