Please see RWC Music Database Home Page for the guide to the RWC Music Database (including how to obtain the database).

The Musical Instrument Sound Database covers 50 musical instruments and provides, in principle, three variations for each instrument for a total of about 150 musical-instrument performances. In this database, we took the following approach with the aim of recording a wide variety of musical-instrument performances.

• Variations (3 instrument manufacturers, 3 musicians)
  Each variation featured, in principle, an instrument from a different manufacturer played by a different musician. In other words, three musical-instrument manufacturers and three musicians (each a professional with an average of 17 years experience) were allotted to each musical instrument. For some musical instruments, however, we included a variation recorded with another type of musical instrument.
• Playing style (instrument dependent)
  Many playing styles were recorded within the range possible for each instrument. Furthermore, for the percussion instruments (RWC-MDB-I-2001 No. 40 – 44), we broke down each type into specific instruments and counted them as playing styles for convenience sake (and recorded, for each of these, multiple playing styles such as normal, roll, and rim).
• Pitch (total range)
  For each playing style of an instrument, the musician generally played individual sounds at half-tone intervals over the entire range of tones that could be produced by that instrument. For stringed instruments, the total range of sounds was recorded for each string.
• Dynamics (3 dynamic levels)
  Each playing style of an instrument was also recorded at three levels of dynamics (forte, mezzo, piano) across the total range of that instrument.

When recording the above as files on DVD-ROM, one file, in principle, was taken to be a collection of individual sounds in the order of ascending pitch across the total range of the instrument; a mute interval (gap) was inserted between adjacent individual sounds (for the sake of automatic sound segmentation by mute detection). The name of a file has eight characters with the extension ``.WAV''. These eight characters consist of two digits for the musical-instrument number, one digit for the variation number, two characters for the unique symbol identifying the instrument, two characters for the unique symbol identifying the playing style, and one character for the symbol indicating dynamics.

The total number of files for storing the recording of these 50 instruments came to 3544 having a total file size of about 29.1 Gbytes and a total playback time (including mute intervals) of about 91.6 hours. In addition, about five color photographs in the JPEG format (1600 × 1200 pixels) were also taken for each individual musical instrument. These photographs were assembled into a total of 948 files (about 703.1 Mbytes).

More detailed information about this database is described in our paper in the references.

RWC-MDB-I-2001 No. 01 – 50

Inst. No.	Variation No.	Instrument symbol	Instrument name	# of playing styles	# of files
No. 01	1	PF	Pianoforte	4	12
	2	PF	Pianoforte	4	12
	3	PF	Pianoforte	4	12
No. 02	1	EP	Electric Piano (Hard Tone)	4	12
	2	EP	Electric Piano (Soft Tone)	4	12
	3	CV	Clavinet	2	6
No. 03	1	HC	Harpsichord (Cembalo)	4	4
	2	HC	Harpsichord (Cembalo)	4	4
	3	HC	Harpsichord (Cembalo)	2	2
No. 04	1	VI	Vibraphone	6	18
	2	VI	Vibraphone	6	18
	3	GL	Glockenspiel	2	6
No. 05	1	MB	Marimba	3	9
	2	MB	Marimba	3	9
	3	XY	Xylophone	2	6
No. 06	1	OR	Pipe Organ	8	8
	2	HO	Hammond Organ (Without Leslie)	6	6
	3	HO	Hammond Organ (With Leslie)	6	6
No. 07	1	AC	Accordion (Keyboard)	5	15
	2	AC	Accordion (Keyboard)	5	15
	3	AC	Accordion (Button)	5	15
No. 08	1	HM	Harmonica (Blues Harp)	3	7
	2	HM	Harmonica (Chromatic)	3	8
	3	HM	Harmonica (BassHarmonica)	3	7
No. 09	1	CG	Classic Guitar (Nylon String)	4	12
	2	CG	Classic Guitar (Nylon String)	4	12
	3	CG	Classic Guitar (Nylon String)	4	12
No. 10	1	UK	Ukulele	3	9
	2	UK	Ukulele	3	9
	3	UK	Ukulele	3	9
No. 11	1	AG	Acoustic Guitar (Steel String)	4	12
	2	AG	Acoustic Guitar (Steel String)	4	12
	3	AG	Acoustic Guitar (Steel String)	4	12
No. 12	1	MD	Mandolin	3	9
	2	MD	Mandolin	3	9
	3	MD	Mandolin	3	9
No. 13	1	EG	Electric Guitar	6	14
	2	EG	Electric Guitar	6	14
	3	EG	Electric Guitar	6	14
	4	EG	Electric Guitar	1	1
No. 14	1	EB	Electric Bass	7	21
	2	EB	Electric Bass	7	21
	3	EB	Electric Bass (Fretless)	7	21
No. 15	1	VN	Violin	11	19
	2	VN	Violin	11	19
	3	VN	Violin	11	19
No. 16	1	VL	Viola	11	19
	2	VL	Viola	11	19
	3	VL	Viola	11	19
No. 17	1	VC	Cello	11	19
	2	VC	Cello	11	19
	3	VC	Cello	11	19
No. 18	1	CB	Contrabass (Wood Bass)	12	20
	2	CB	Contrabass (Wood Bass)	14	22
	3	CB	Contrabass (Wood Bass)	9	23
No. 19	1	HP	Harp	8	22
	2	HP	Harp	8	22
	3	HP	Harp	8	22
No. 20	1	T1/T2/T3/T4	Timpani (23/26/29/32 Inches)	84	84
	2	T1/T2/T3/T4	Timpani (23/26/29/32 Inches)	84	84
	3	T1/T2/T3/T4	Timpani (23/26/29/32 Inches)	84	84
No. 21	1	TR	Trumpet	9	27
	2	TR	Trumpet	12	36
	3	CR	Cornet	9	27
No. 22	1	TB	Trombone	11	33
	2	TB	Trombone	11	33
	3	TB	Trombone	13	39
No. 23	1	TU	Tuba	2	6
	2	TU	Tuba	2	6
	3	TU	Tuba	2	6
No. 24	1	HR	Horn	6	18
	2	HR	Horn	6	18
	3	HR	Horn	6	18
No. 25	1	SS	Soprano Sax	5	13
	2	SS	Soprano Sax	5	13
	3	SS	Soprano Sax	5	11
No. 26	1	AS	Alto Sax	5	13
	2	AS	Alto Sax	5	11
	3	AS	Alto Sax	5	14
No. 27	1	TS	Tenor Sax	5	13
	2	TS	Tenor Sax	5	11
	3	TS	Tenor Sax	5	13
No. 28	1	BA	Baritone Sax	5	12
	2	BA	Baritone Sax	5	13
	3	BA	Baritone Sax	5	11
No. 29	1	OB	Oboe	4	12
	2	OB	Oboe	4	12
	3	EH	English Horn	4	12
No. 30	1	FG	Bassoon (Fagotto)	4	12
	2	FG	Bassoon (Fagotto)	4	12
	3	FG	Bassoon (Fagotto)	4	12
No. 31	1	CL	Clarinet	4	12
	2	CL	Clarinet	4	12
	3	CL	Clarinet	4	12
No. 32	1	PC	Piccolo	5	13
	2	PC	Piccolo	5	13
	3	PC	Piccolo	4	12
No. 33	1	FL	Flute	5	13
	2	FL	Flute	4	12
	3	PN	Pan Flute	5	14
No. 34	1	RC	Recorder (Soprano)	4	12
	2	RC	Recorder (Alto)	4	12
	3	RC	Recorder (Tenor)	4	12
No. 35	1	SH	Shakuhachi (Length: 1-Shaku 6-Sun)	8	13
	2	SH	Shakuhachi (Length: 1-Shaku 8-Sun)	8	13
	3	SH	Shakuhachi (Length: 2-Shaku 4-Sun)	8	13
No. 36	1	BJ	Banjo	2	6
	2	BJ	Banjo	2	6
	3	BJ	Banjo	2	6
No. 37	1	SA	Shamisen (Min'You)	5	13
	2	SA	Shamisen (Nagauta)	5	13
	3	SA	Shamisen (Jiuta)	5	13
No. 38	1	KT	Koto (Sou)	8	21
	2	KT	Koto (20 Strings)	8	21
	3	KT	Koto (17 Strings)	8	21
No. 39	1	SO	Sho	4	4
	2	SO	Sho	4	4
	3	SO	Sho	4	4
No. 40	1	ND etc.	Japanese Percussion	37	37
No. 41	1	BD etc.	Concert Drums 1	28	28
	2	BD etc.	Concert Drums 2	26	26
	3	BD etc.	Concert Drums 3	22	22
No. 42	1	BD etc.	Rock Drums 1	68	68
	2	BD etc.	Rock Drums 2	60	60
	3	BD etc.	Rock Drums 3	60	60
No. 43	1	BD etc.	Jazz Drums 1	82	82
	2	BD etc.	Jazz Drums 2	102	102
	3	BD etc.	Jazz Drums 3	78	78
No. 44	1	TM etc.	Percussion	21	21
	2	BG etc.	Percussion	53	53
	3	CO etc.	Percussion	11	11
	4	CW etc.	Percussion	48	48
	5	TM etc.	Percussion	47	51
No. 45	1	SP	Soprano (Female)	18	54
	2	SP	Soprano (Female)	18	54
	3	SP	Soprano (Female)	18	54
No. 46	1	AL	Alto (Female)	18	54
	2	AL	Alto (Female)	18	54
	3	AL	Alto (Female)	18	54
No. 47	1	TN	Tenor (Male)	18	54
	2	TN	Tenor (Male)	18	54
	3	TN	Tenor (Male)	18	54
No. 48	1	BT	Baritone (Male)	18	54
	2	BT	Baritone (Male)	18	54
	3	BT	Baritone (Male)	18	54
No. 49	1	BS	Bass (Male)	18	54
	2	BS	Bass (Male)	18	54
	3	BS	Bass (Male)	18	54
No. 50	1	VM	R&B Vocal (Male)	19	55
	2	VF	R&B Vocal (Female)	19	55
	3	VF	R&B Vocal (Female)	19	55

Total number of files: 3544
Total file size: about 29.1 Gbytes (29,093,623,522 bytes)
Total time: 91 hours, 37 minutes, 38 seconds

RWC-MDB-I-2001 No. 40 – 44

Inst. No.	Variation No.	Instrument name	Instrument symbol	Instrument name	# of playing styles	# of files
No. 40	1	Japanese Percussion	ND	Nagadoh-Daiko	5	5
			HD	Hiradoh-Daiko	4	4
			OD	Okedoh-Daiko	1	1
			TD	Tsukeshime-Daiko	2	2
			SI	Shime-Daiko	6	6
			DA	Daibyoshi	2	2
			KZ	Kotsuzumi	5	5
			AT	Atarigane	4	4
			CH	Chappa	2	2
			DO	Dora	2	2
			SZ	Suzu	2	2
			KM	Ko-Mokugyo	2	2
No. 41	1	Concert Drums 1	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	10	10
			TT	Tom Tom	5	5
			Y3	Crash Cymbals	1	1
			YS	Suspended Cymbal	3	3
			CN	Castanets	1	1
			TA	Triangle	3	3
			WB	Wood Block	1	1
			TM	Tambourine	2	2
	2	Concert Drums 2	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	10	10
			TT	Tom Tom	5	5
			Y3	Crash Cymbals	1	1
			YF	Finger Cymbal	1	1
			CN	Castanets	1	1
			TA	Triangle	3	3
			WB	Wood Block	1	1
			TM	Tambourine	2	2
	3	Concert Drums 3	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	10	10
			Y3	Crash Cymbals	1	1
			BY	Bass Drum with Cymbal	2	2
			CN	Castanets	1	1
			TA	Triangle	3	3
			WB	Wood Block	1	1
			TM	Tambourine	2	2
No. 42	1	Rock Drums 1	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	30	30
			FT	Floor Tom	3	3
			LT	Low Tom	3	3
			MT	Mid Tom	3	3
			HT	High Tom	3	3
			HH	Hi-hat	13	13
			YR	Ride Cymbal	3	3
			Y1	Crash Cymbal 1	3	3
			Y2	Crash Cymbal 2	3	3
			YH	Chinese Cymbal	1	1
			YA	Attack Cymbal	1	1
	2	Rock Drums 2	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	30	30
			FT	Floor Tom	3	3
			LT	Low Tom	3	3
			HT	High Tom	3	3
			HH	Hi-hat	13	13
			YR	Ride Cymbal	3	3
			Y1	Crash Cymbal 1	3	3
	3	Rock Drums 3	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	30	30
			FT	Floor Tom	3	3
			LT	Low Tom	3	3
			HT	High Tom	3	3
			HH	Hi-hat	13	13
			YR	Ride Cymbal	3	3
			Y1	Crash Cymbal 1	3	3
No. 43	1	Jazz Drums 1	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	48	48
			FT	Floor Tom	7	7
			HT	High Tom	7	7
			HH	Hi-hat	9	9
			YR	Ride Cymbal	3	3
			Y1	Crash Cymbal 1	3	3
			Y2	Crash Cymbal 2	3	3
	2	Jazz Drums 2	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	54	54
			FT	Floor Tom	8	8
			LT	Low Tom	8	8
			HT	High Tom	8	8
			HH	Hi-hat	13	13
			YR	Ride Cymbal	3	3
			Y1	Crash Cymbal 1	3	3
			Y2	Crash Cymbal 2	3	3
	3	Jazz Drums 3	BD	Bass Drum	2	2
			SD	Snare Drum	42	42
			FT	Floor Tom	6	6
			LT	Low Tom	6	6
			HH	Hi-hat	13	13
			YR	Ride Cymbal	3	3
			Y1	Crash Cymbal 1	3	3
			Y2	Crash Cymbal 2	3	3
No. 44	1	Percussion 1	TM	Tambourine	2	2
			CW	Cowbell	4	4
			CA	Cabasa	1	1
			MC	Maracas	1	1
			WH	Whistle	2	2
			SW	Samba Whistle	6	6
			TA	Triangle	2	2
			SK	Shaker	1	1
			ST	Stick	1	1
			GO	Gong	1	1
	2	Percussion 2	BG	Bongo	7	7
			TI	Timbales	7	7
			AB	Agogo Bell	3	3
			G1	Guiro (Gourd)	4	4
			G2	Guiro (Iron)	4	4
			G3	Guiro (Bamboo)	4	4
			CS	Claves	2	2
			WB	Wood Block	1	1
			CN	Castanets	4	4
			SR	Surdo	5	5
			VS	Vibra Slap	1	1
			CU	Cuica	4	4
			YF	Finger Cymbal	1	1
			YC	Crash Cymbal	1	1
			WC	Wind Chime	4	4
			BE	Bell Tree	1	1
	3	Percussion 3	CO	Conga	6	6
			JB	Jembe	2	2
			TK	Talking Drum	3	3
	4	Percussion 4	CW	Cowbell	4	4
			BG	Bongo	7	7
			CO	Conga	6	6
			AB	Agogo Bell	4	4
			CA	Cabasa	1	1
			MC	Maracas	1	1
			CS	Claves	2	2
			SR	Surdo	5	5
			SK	Shaker	1	1
			WC	Wind Chime	4	4
			TL	Tabla	13	13
	5	Percussion 5	TM	Tambourine	2	2
			CW	Cowbell	4	4
			BG	Bongo	7	7
			CO	Conga	6	6
			AB	Agogo Bell	4	4
			CA	Cabasa	1	1
			MC	Maracas	1	1
			CS	Claves	2	2
			TA	Triangle	2	2
			SR	Surdo	5	5
			QJ	Quijada	1	1
			SK	Shaker	1	1
			WC	Wind Chime	4	4
			ST	Stick	1	1
			BL	Tubular Bell	2	6
			ME	Metronome	2	2
			HA	Handclap	1	1
			AP	Applause	1	1

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