Simone Sammartino

Optical music recognition for scores written in white mensural notation

An Optical Music Recognition (OMR) system especially adapted for handwritten musical scores of the XVII-th and the early XVIII-th centuries written in white mensural notation is presented. The system performs a complete sequence of analysis stages: the input is the RGB image of the score to be analyzed and, after a preprocessing that returns a black and white image with corrected rotation, the staves are processed to return a score without staff lines; then, a music symbol processing stage isolates the music symbols contained in the score and, finally, the classification process starts to obtain the transcription in a suitable electronic format so that it can be stored or played. This work will help to preserve our cultural heritage keeping the musical information of the scores in a digital format that also gives the possibility to perform and distribute the original music contained in those scores.

Inharmonicity-Based Method for the Automatic Generation of Guitar Tablature

In this paper, a system for the extraction of the tablature of guitar musical pieces using only the audio waveform is presented. The analysis of the inharmonicity relations between the fundamentals and the partials of the notes played is the main process that allows to estimate both the notes played and the string/fret combination that was used to produce that sound. A procedure to analyze chords will also be described. This procedure will also make use of the inharmonicity analysis to find the simultaneous string/fret combinations used to play each chord. The proposed method is suitable for any guitar type: classical, acoustic and electric guitars. The system performance has been evaluated on a series of guitar samples from the RWC instruments database and our own recordings.

Trends of pH decrease in the Mediterranean Sea through high frequency observational data: indication of ocean acidification in the basin.

A significant fraction of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) released to the atmosphere is absorbed by the oceans, leading to a range of chemical changes and causing ocean acidification (OA). Assessing the impact of OA on marine ecosystems requires the accurate detection of the rate of seawater pH change. This work reports the results of nearly 3 years of continuous pH measurements in the Mediterranean Sea at the Strait of Gibraltar GIFT time series station. We document a remarkable decreasing annual trend of −0.0044 ± 0.00006 in the Mediterranean pH, which can be interpreted as an indicator of acidification in the basin based on high frequency records. Modeling pH data of the Mediterranean outflow allowed to discriminate between the pH values of its two main constituent water masses, the Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) and the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW). Both water masses also exhibited a decline in pH with time, particularly the WMDW, which can be related to their different biogeochemical nature and processes occurring during transit time from formation sites to the Strait of Gibraltar.

Meteorologically-driven circulation and flushing times of the Bay of Algeciras, Strait of Gibraltar

A primitive-equation model has been used to investigate the meteorologically-driven circulation of the Bay of Algeciras. It is shown that the mean circulation of Atlantic Water (AW) is characterized by an anticyclonic cell, while Mediterranean Water (MW) follows a preferred cyclonic pathway. Meteorological forcing distorts substantially the AW mean circulation pattern, and only modulates that of the MW. Winds drive a vertical circulation cell in the Atlantic layer consistent with Ekman dynamics, whereas the horizontal circulation pattern is markedly dependent on the swift Atlantic jet entering the Mediterranean and changes from clearly anticyclonic to cyclonic as the jet separates or approaches the straits northern shoreline. This occurs through atmospheric pressure-driven acceleration/deceleration of the jet, in agreement with internal hydraulics theory predictions. It is also found that the renewal of AW is largely modulated by tides, with meteorological forcing playing a secondary role. The opposite applies to the renewal of MW.

Ten years of marine current measurements in Espartel Sill, Strait of Gibraltar

More than 10 year of Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler observations collected at the westernmost sill (Espartel sill) of the Strait of Gibraltar by a monitoring station have been carefully processed to provide the most updated estimation of the Mediterranean outflow. A comprehensive quality control of the factors affecting the uncertainty of the measurements has been carried out and great care has been paid to infer the current at the bottom layer, where direct observations are lacking. The mean outflow in the southern channel of the sill section has been estimated as −0.82 Sv (1 Sv = 1 × 106 m3 s−1), with an average contribution of the eddy fluxes of −0.04 Sv. This figure is an overestimation, as the mooring measurements, assumed valid for the whole section, ignore the lateral friction. On the other hand, it only gives the flow through the southern channel and disregards the fraction flowing through shallower northern part. Both drawbacks have been addressed by investigating the cross-strait structure of the outflow from hindcasts produced by the MITgcm numerical model, run in a high-resolution domain covering the Gulf of Cadiz and Alboran Sea basins. An overall rectifying factor of 1.039 was found satisfactory to correct the first estimate, so that the final mean outflow computed from this data set is −0.85 Sv, complemented with an uncertainty of ±0.03 Sv based on the interannual variability of the series. The temporal analysis of the series shows an outflow seasonality of around the 8% of the mean value, with maximum outflow in early spring.

Design of an efficient music-speech discriminator

In this paper, the problem of the design of a simple and efficient music-speech discriminator for large audio data sets in which advanced music playing techniques are taught and voice and music are intrinsically interleaved is addressed. In the process, a number of features used in speech-music discrimination are defined and evaluated over the available data set. Specifically, the data set contains pieces of classical music played with different and unspecified instruments (or even lyrics) and the voice of a teacher (a top music performer) or even the overlapped voice of the translator and other persons. After an initial test of the performance of the features implemented, a selection process is started, which takes into account the type of classifier selected beforehand, to achieve good discrimination performance and computational efficiency, as shown in the experiments. The discrimination application has been defined and tested on a large data set supplied by Fundacion Albeniz, containing a large variety of classical music pieces played with different instrument, which include comments and speeches of famous performers.

Recent changes (2004–2016) of temperature and salinity in the Mediterranean outflow

Temperature and salinity series near the seafloor at Espartel sill (Strait of Gibraltar) have been used to analyze the thermohaline variability of the Mediterranean outflow. The series shows temperature drops by the end of most winters/early-springs, which are the remote response to Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) formation events in the Gulf of Lion that uplift old WMDW nearby the Strait. This process distorts the seasonal cycle of colder/warmer water flowing out in summer/winter likely linked to the seasonality of the Western Alboran Gyre. The series show positive trends in agreement with previous values, which are largely increased after 2013. It is tentatively interpreted as the Western Mediterranean Transition (WMT) signature that started with the very cold winters of 2005 and 2006. It was only after the large new WMDW production of 2012 and 2013 harsh winters that WMT waters were made available to flow out of the Mediterranean Sea.

Asymmetric Baroclinic Response to Tidal Forcing Along the Main Sill of the Strait of Gibraltar Inferred from Mooring Observations

Data collected in the north and south channels of the main sill of the Strait of Gibraltar (Camarinal sill) have been used to investigate processes connected to the internal hydraulics of the exchange through the Strait at tidal frequencies. They strongly suggest the setting up of hydraulic jumps at both the western and eastern flank of the sill, the latter associated with the reversal of the Mediterranean undercurrent during spring tides. The northern site is more sensitive to processes triggered by the formation and release of the jump formed east of the sill during intense enough ebb tide cycles, which is thus better traced at this location, whereas the southern site detects the fluctuations and footprints associated with the hydraulic jump regularly formed to the west of the sill during flood tides more neatly. A detailed inspection of the high resolution bathymetry of the area reveals the existence of two enclosed depressions at either side of Camarinal sill, almost certainly carved by the bottom flow over the millennia, whose shape and morphology are suggestive of this spatial differentiation. In addition to the expected fortnightly periodicity of the spring-neap tidal cycle, the observed hydrodynamic features show a pronounced diurnal inequality caused by the tidal currents of the diurnal constituents.

The Mediterranean Overflow in the Gulf of Cadiz: A rugged journey

Bathymetric features determine the internal structure of the Mediterranean outflow plume west of Gibraltar. The pathways and transformations of dense water overflows, which depend on small-scale interactions between flow dynamics and erosional-depositional processes, are a central piece in the ocean’s large-scale circulation. A novel, high-resolution current and hydrographic data set highlights the intricate pathway travelled by the saline Mediterranean Overflow as it enters the Atlantic. Interaction with the topography constraints its spreading. Over the initial 200 km west of the Gibraltar gateway, distinct channels separate the initial gravity current into several plunging branches depth-sorted by density. Shallow branches follow the upper slope and eventually detach as buoyant plumes. Deeper branches occupy mid slope channels and coalesce upon reaching a diapiric ridge. A still deeper branch, guided by a lower channel wall marked by transverse furrows, experiences small-scale overflows which travel downslope to settle at mid-depths. The Mediterranean salt flux into the Atlantic has implications for the buoyancy balance in the North Atlantic. Observations on how this flux enters at different depth levels are key to accurately measuring and understanding the role of Mediterranean Outflow in future climate scenarios.

A multidimensional environment for the exploration of musical content

In this article a multidimensional environment is defined to allow the exploration of musical content in a novel way by means of three-dimensional interfaces. The environment is created so that musical content can be located in a comprehensive space in which the world coordinates are related to music genres. To this end, the songs in a database are analyzed, and a description of their spectral content is obtained. These descriptions are then projected onto six vectors, previously determined, that represent six main genres defining a global space with six dimensions. These projected representations are useful to create a multidimensional world in which the relations, orientation, and motion will be readily intelligible to users.