Automatic Genre Classification of MIDI Recordings

A software system that automatically classifies MIDI files into hierarchically organized taxonomies of musical genres is presented. This extensible software includes an easy to use and flexible GUI. An extensive library of high-level musical features is compiled, including many original features. A novel hybrid classification system is used that makes use of hierarchical, flat and round robin classification. Both k-nearest neighbour and neural network-based classifiers are used, and feature selection and weighting are performed using genetic algorithms. A thorough review of previous research in automatic genre classification is presented, along with an overview of automatic feature selection and classification techniques. Also included is a discussion of the theoretical issues relating to musical genre, including but not limited to what mechanisms humans use to classify music by genre and how realistic genre taxonomies can be constructed.