Radif Corpus: A Symbolic Dataset for Non-Metric Iranian Classical Music

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive digital corpus of Iranian non-metric radif music, including MIDI files and detailed annotations, enabling computational analysis of melodic patterns, improvisation, and musicological research.

Contribution

It provides the first complete symbolic dataset of the radif repertoire, including tonality, hierarchical structure, and non-metric features, supporting computational studies in Iranian classical music.

Findings

Provides MIDI files totaling 281 minutes of radif music.

Includes detailed annotations of notes, durations, and hierarchical structures.

Offers statistical and similarity measures for the corpus.

Abstract

Non-metric music forms the core of the repertoire in Iranian classical music. Dastgahi music serves as the underlying theoretical system for both Iranian art music and certain folk traditions. At the heart of Iranian classical music lies the radif, a foundational repertoire that organizes melodic material central to performance and pedagogy. In this study, we introduce a digital corpus representing the complete non-metrical radif repertoire, covering all 13 existing components of this repertoire. We provide MIDI files (about 281 minutes in total) and data spreadsheets describing notes, note durations, intervals, and hierarchical structures for 228 pieces of music. We faithfully represent the tonality including quarter-tones, and the non-metric aspect. Furthermore, we provide supporting basic statistics, and measures of complexity and similarity over the corpus. Our corpus provides a platform for computational studies of Iranian classical music. Researchers might employ it in studying melodic patterns, investigating improvisational styles, or for other tasks in music information retrieval, music theory, and computational (ethno)musicology.