Beat Estimation on the Beat

This paper presents a novel method for the estimation of beat interval, and the exact location of the beats from audio files. As a first step, a feature extracted from the waveform is used to identify note onsets. The estimated note onsets are used as input to a beat induction algorithm, where the most probable beat intervals are found. The note onsets corresponding to the beat locations are then identified. Several enhancements are proposed in this work, including methods for identifying the optimum audio feature, a novel weighting system in the beat induction algorithm and a simple robust method for identifying the beat locations. The resulting system runs in real-time, and is shown to work well for a wide variety of contemporary and popular rhythmic music.