Digital Music Score Recognition Through Stave and Stem Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing musical scores in hard copy or low-quality scanned formats are inconvenient to navigate, annotate, and search through, and current optical character recognition techniques struggle to accurately convert sheet music into digitized formats due to the superimposition of musical characters on staves.
Innovation Solution
A method involving image processing techniques to convert digital images of musical scores into matrices, identify staves and musical characters, remove debris, adjust orientation, and re-engrave the scores to enhance their digital representation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional optical character recognition is used to convert sheet music into digital formats, then text conversion capability is provided, but accuracy deteriorates due to superimposition of musical characters on staves
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the image processing into distinct stages: stave detection and removal, musical character identification, and separate processing of each element. This segmentation allows the system to handle the superimposition problem by treating staves and musical characters as separate entities that can be processed independently, thereby improving recognition accuracy without requiring overly complex integrated processing
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary representation system using matrix data structures that separate stave information from musical character information. By creating intermediate processing stages where staves are identified and removed before character recognition, the system mediates the conflict between maintaining structural integrity and achieving accurate character identification
2Ease of operation
If hard copy musical scores are used, then visual quality is maintained, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in navigation, annotation and search
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates digital copies of musical scores that preserve the visual appearance of the original hard copy scores while enabling enhanced digital operations. The re-engraved scores maintain the look and feel of traditional scores but provide searchable, annotatable, and navigable digital formats, effectively copying the visual qualities while adding digital functionality
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary processing of the score data during the digitization stage, extracting and storing metadata, structural information, and musical elements in organized formats. This preliminary action enables efficient navigation, search, and annotation capabilities in the final digital product without requiring complex processing during user interaction
3Ease of manufacture
If low quality scanned copies are used, then digital format is achieved, but visual appearance deteriorates and manufacturing precision is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces simple scanning mechanics with advanced image processing and computational methods. Instead of relying solely on physical scanning quality, the system uses digital algorithms to detect staves, remove artifacts, identify musical characters, and re-engrave scores, substituting mechanical precision requirements with computational processing capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the quality parameters of digital scores by adjusting processing parameters during conversion. By controlling threshold values, matrix resolution, and re-engraving parameters, the system can produce high-quality digital scores from various input qualities, effectively changing the quality parameters of the output regardless of input quality
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed herein is a method of identifying a line of a stave or a stem of a note in a digital image of a musical score comprising: converting the digital image into a matrix in which at least one cell of the matrix corresponds to a pixel of the digital image; setting the at least one cell of the matrix to a first value if the corresponding pixel of the digital image has a pixel intensity above a threshold intensity; identifying adjacent cells having the first value as linked cells, the adjacent cells corresponding to pixels being adjacent in one of a horizontal direction or a vertical direction of the digital image; identifying linked cells having a number of cells exceeding a threshold as a chain of cells; grouping adjacent chains of cells into a group of chains; determining a dimension of the group of chains; and comparing the dimension with a dimension threshold; wherein, if the dimension is above the dimension threshold, determining that pixels corresponding to linked cells of the group of chains correspond to a line of a stave if the adjacent cells corresponding to pixels being adjacent in a horizontal direction of the digital image or a stem of a note if the adjacent cells correspond to pixels being adjacent in a vertical direction of the digital image.