| # British Folk Database (BFDB) | |
| The British Folk Database (BFDB) is a collection of **13,835 dated folk tunes** (monophonic melodies) in **'ABC' format**, a text-based music notation system widely used for folk music. | |
| ## File Structure | |
| ### 1. `tune_abc_files/` | |
| - This folder contains all the folk tunes in **ABC format**. | |
| - Each file is named using the pattern: | |
| **`yearOfCollection_Title.abc`** | |
| Example: `1740_Welch March.abc`. | |
| ### 2. `dataset.csv` | |
| - This file provides metadata for each tune: | |
| - **filename**: Filename of each tune | |
| - **year**: Year that the tune was originally collected | |
| - **title**: Title of each tune | |
| - **source**: URL to where the tune was found online and where applicable, the name of the tune book that it comes from | |
| - **composer/performer**: Composer/Perfomer/Collector of the tune | |
| - **metre**: Metre of the tune | |
| - **key**: Musical key of the tune | |
| - **tempo**: Suggested performance speed | |
| - **style**: Genre or style of the tune (e.g., jig, reel, march) | |
| - **digital_transcriber**: Name of the person who transcribed the tune in ABC format | |
| - If any of these details are unavailable, the value is marked as `N/A`. | |
| ### 3. `tune_pitch_rhythm_vectors.tsv` | |
| - This file contains **pitch and rhythm vectors** extracted from each tune. | |
| - **Pitch Vectors**: Represent the **relative intervals** between successive notes. | |
| - **Rhythm Vectors**: Represent the **relative note values**, e.g. in 4/4 time: | |
| - A quarter note = `1.0` | |
| - A semi-quaver = `0.5` | |
| ## Notes | |
| - The dataset is intended for musicological research, computational music analysis, and machine learning tasks. | |
| - Please cite this dataset appropriately if used in academic or commercial work. | |