The Optical Neume Recognition Project

Abstract

The goal of the Optical Neume Recognition Project is to apply Optical Music Recognition (OMR) software to the oldest staffless notation in Western culture. The current focus is on 'Hartker's Antiphoner', Cod. Sang. 390 / 391 which we are using as a basis for developing neume encoding systems that will be applicable to a wide range of neumed repertoires. Our work is based on an examination of the parameters that describe a neume, and representing them in the formalized xml that has been developed for musical notation, called MEI. These descriptions must include not only the shape and name of each neume, but also itemize each aspect of the neume's musical meaning. Describing neumes and their components in a systematic manner will allow the encoding to be queried, searched, and analyzed for musical and scribal patterns across large corpora; indeed, much larger than would be possible in the lifetime of a single scholar. This project is the product of collaboration between Kate Helsen, Inga Behrendt, Jennifer Bain, Andrew Hankinson, Ichiro Fujinaga, and research assistants at the Music Tech lab at McGill University, Canada, and is supported by the Social Sciences Research Council of Canada. It is now part of a larger project, also housed at McGill, entitled the Single Interface for Music Score Searching and Analysis (SIMSSA).