Mridangam Tani-avarthanam dataset
Introduction
Download
This dataset can be downloaded here.
The Dataset
Percussion in Carnatic music is organized and transmitted orally with the use of onomatopoeic syllables representative of the different strokes of the Mridangam. The syllabic representation of the tani and the patterns provides a musically meaningful representation for analysis. The dataset uses such a representation. The dataset consists of two tani avarthanams played on a Mridangam tuned to tonic C#, one played in vilambita Adi taala (a cycle of 16 beats) and the other played in Rupaka tala (a cycle of 3 beats). Each tani is about 12 minutes long. The tani has been segmented into short phrases and each phrase has been transcribed into its constituent strokes, represented as syllables. The trancriptions also include pauses (denoted by , ) and change in speed (denoted by { and } ). The combined duration of both the tanis is approx. 24 minutes and consist of 8863 strokes.
Audio
Both tanis were recorded in studio-like conditions using a Zoom H4n recorder with an SM 57 for the treble head (right) and SM 58 for the base head (left) of the Mridangam. The audio files are mono, sampled at 44.1KHz, and stored in 16 bit .wav format.
Annotations
The audio file has been segmented into short musically relevant phrases by professional musicians. The syllabic transcription of each phrase was done by professional Carnatic percussionists. The transcription is not time aligned, but only a sequence of the strokes played in the phrase. The entire set of strokes, and their notation used in the transcription files can be seen here: Strokes List
The list also specifies the number of occurences of each stroke in the tanis.
A few example phrases with their transcription can be seen below.
Example phrases
Dataset Organization
The dataset consists of pairs of files: audio .wav file and its corresponding transcription as a .txt file. The two tanis are separately stored, the full tani is also provided as a single file, without any annotations.
Possible uses of the dataset
The dataset can be used for several MIR tasks such as onset detection, percussion transcription, rhythm and percussion pattern analysis, and Mridangam stroke modeling.
Availability
The dataset (audio+annotations) is available for research purposes.
Contact
Manoj Kumar
Prof. Hema Murthy
DON Lab, Dept. of CSE,
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai, India.