Whistling for tunes on the Internet

By Arne Asphjell

FAST is best known for its high listing on the stock exchange, as well as for providing rapid search facilities on the Internet. In the future this firm will also be famous for an advanced search tool which will find a tune you whistle anywhere on the Internet.

Digitalization of music, along with the rapidly increasing number of MP3-files on offer on the Internet, have created a need for a way to search for sound files. Chief researcher Bjørn Olstad at FAST's department in Porsgrunn, who is an adjunct professor at NTNU, has come a long way in the development of an advanced search tool for music on the Internet.

The search procedure is that you whistle a few notes into a micro- phone connected to the computer. A missed beat or the wrong key in your whistling sequence will not affect the search. The whistled notes are converted into piano notes, which are then used as the starting point for the search.The search itself is carried out by means of what is known as dynamic programming, combined with the use of advanced mathematics.

Bjørn Olstad previously worked with the Vingmed Sound company, where he made use of a similar technique to develop software for analysing ultrasound examinations of heartbeats. The purpose of that work was to determine a possible predisposition for a heart attack.

It is not difficult to imagine exciting ways of using this type of music search. TONO (a copyright registration organization) could for instance make good use of an advanced "listening device" which could keep up with what is played and register when fees are due. In the future we can imagine music systems which can be taught to adapt to our musical preferences, and which will automatically put together a suggested listening programme for an individual. It might even be that the music system will keep up with the music that is on the market at any given time, and politely inform you when there is something available which you will probably like.