Analyzing Afro-Cuban Rhythms using Rotation-Aware Clave Template Matching with Dynamic Programming

The majority of existing research in Music Information Retrieval (MIR) has focused on either popular or classical music and frequently makes assumptions that do not generalize to other music cultures. We use the term Computational Ethnomusicology (CE) to describe the use of computer tools to assist the analysis and understanding of musics from around the world. Although existing MIR techniques can serve as a good starting point for CE, the design of effective tools can benefit from incorporating domain-specific knowledge about the musical style and culture of interest. In this paper we describe our realization of this approach in the context of studying Afro-Cuban rhythm. More specifically we show how computer analysis can help us characterize and appreciate the complexities of tracking tempo and analyzing micro-timing in these particular music styles. A novel template-based method for tempo tracking in rhythmically complex Afro-Cuban music is proposed. Although our approach is domain-specific, we believe that the concepts and ideas used could also be used for studying other music cultures after some adaptation.