Less Alphabetization, More Rock
Map Lets You Cruise Over Music Landscapes
Researchers have now developed a program that automatically organizes a collection of digital music files into a virtual landscape. Instead of digging deeper and deeper through categories and subcategories of songs, you fly over an archipelago of sound-specific islands.
The software analyzes certain features from the audio signal, such as how much bass or treble exists and sound patterns that have to do with rhythm and tempo. Then the program clusters similar-sounding pieces into regions of music.