Computational ethnomusicology: a study of flamenco and Arab-Andalusian vocal music

In this chapter we approach flamenco and Arab-Andalusian vocalmusic through the analysis of two representative pieces. We apply a hybrid methodology consisting of audio-signal processing to describe and contrast their melodic characteristics followed by musicological analysis. The use of such computational analysis tools complements a musicological-historical study with the aim of supporting the discovery and understanding of the specific characteristics of these musical traditions, their similarities and differences, while offering solutions to more general music information retrieval (MIR) research challenges.