RWC Music Database

Description

The RWC (Real World Computing) Music Database is a copyright-cleared music database (DB) that is available to researchers as a common foundation for research. It was built by the RWC Music Database Sub-Working Group of the Real World Computing Partnership (RWCP) of Japan. All the necessary copyrights and associated legal interests related to this database belong to Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), who have provided for an unprecedented level of sharing of this musical data within the research community. The database will be distributed to researchers at a nominal cost to cover only duplication, shipping, and handling charges (i.e., it is practically free).

The RWC Music Database is the world's first large-scale music database compiled specifically for research purposes. Shared databases are common in other fields of academic research and have frequently made significant contributions to progress in those areas. The field of music information processing, however, has lacked a common database of musical pieces or a large-scale corpus of musical instrument sounds. We therefore built the RWC Music Database which contains six original collections: the Popular Music Database (100 songs), Royalty-Free Music Database (15 songs), Classical Music Database (50 pieces), Jazz Music Database (50 pieces), Music Genre Database (100 pieces), and Musical Instrument Sound Database (50 instruments). For all 315 musical pieces performed and recorded for the database, we prepared original audio signals, corresponding standard MIDI files, and text files of lyrics (for songs). For the 50 instruments, we captured individual sounds at half-tone intervals with several variations of playing styles, dynamics, instrument manufacturers, and musicians. These collections will provide a benchmark that enables researchers to compare and evaluate their various systems and methods against a common standard. The database can also be used to stimulate research in corpus-oriented approaches that use statistical methods and learning techniques. In all cases, researchers can use the database for research publications and presentations without copyright restrictions. It is our hope that the RWC Music Database will make a significant contribution to future advances in the field of music information processing.

Source

RWC Music Database Sub-Working Group of the Real World Computing Partnership (RWCP) of Japan

Ground Truth Annotation

For all 315 musical pieces performed and recorded for the database, corresponding standard MIDI files and text files of lyrics (for songs) are availbale. For the 50 instruments, individual sounds at half-tone intervals with several variations of playing styles, dynamics, instrument manufacturers, and musicians were captured.

Copyright Remarks

Please note that the database may not be used for any purpose other than research.

The RWC Music Database can be used after an "Application for Use" has been submitted through both e-mail and FAX (including a signed Pledge and credit card payment form).

The database is being distributed at-cost: The only expenses are for the distribution media - in essence, the database is being distributed for free.

For detailed instruction please refer to http://staff.aist.go.jp/m.goto/RWC-MDB/#how_to_use

Citation

Masataka Goto, Hiroki Hashiguchi, Takuichi Nishimura, and Ryuichi Oka:
RWC Music Database: Popular, Classical, and Jazz Music Databases, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR 2002), pp.287-288, October 2002.

Masataka Goto:
Development of the RWC Music Database, Proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2004), pp.I-553-556, April 2004.

Masataka Goto, Hiroki Hashiguchi, Takuichi Nishimura, and Ryuichi Oka:
RWC Music Database: Popular, Classical, and Jazz Music Databases, Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR 2002), pp.287-288, October 2002.

Masataka Goto:
Development of the RWC Music Database, Proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2004), pp.I-553-556, April 2004. 

Masataka Goto, Hiroki Hashiguchi, Takuichi Nishimura, and Ryuichi Oka:
RWC Music Database: Music Genre Database and Musical Instrument Sound Database, Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Music Information Retrieval (ISMIR 2003), pp.229-230, October 2003.

Masataka Goto:
Development of the RWC Music Database, Proceedings of the 18th International Congress on Acoustics (ICA 2004), pp.I-553-556, April 2004.

External Links

http://staff.aist.go.jp/m.goto/RWC-MDB/