A review on techniques for the extraction of transients in musical signals

Abstract

This paper presents some techniques for the extraction of transient components from a musical signal. The absence of a unique definition of what a "transient" means for signals that are by essence non-stationary implies that a lot of methods can be used and sometimes lead to significantly different results. We have classified some amongst the most common methods according to the nature of their outputs. Preliminary comparative results suggest that, for sharp percussive transients, the results are roughly independent of the chosen method, but that for slower rising attacks - e.g. for bowed string or wind instruments - the choice of method is critical. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.