In Search of Computer Music Analysis: Music Information Retrieval, Optimization, and Machine Learning from 2000-2016

Abstract

My thesis aims to critically examine three methods in the current state of Computer Music Analysis. I will concentrate on Music Information Retrieval, Optimization, and Machine Learning. My goal is to describe and critically analyze each method, then examine the intersection of all three. I will start by looking at David Temperley’s The Cognition of Basic Musical Structures (2001) which offers an outline of major accomplishments before the turn of the 21st century. This outline will provide a method of organization for a large portion of the thesis. I will conclude by explaining the most recent developments in terms of the three methods cited. Following trends in these developments, I can hypothesize the direction of the field.