Waveform editing and spectrographic software.

ContributedPapers (Posters)

All posterswill be on displayand all authorswill be at their postersfrom 9:50 to 11:50a.m.

8SP3. Development of synthesis-analysistools for a computer-based course in acoustic phonetics. Robert Berkovitz, J. M. Pickett, and

David Williams (SensimetricsCorp., 64 SidneySt., Cambridge,MA 02139)

Decreasing prices of personal computers and signal-processing boards permit the widespreaduse of computer-basedinstruction in acoustic phonetics.Software already developedfor the Sensimetrics SpeechStation providessimplifiedspeechsynthesis and convenientspectral analysisdisplays.Synthesisexercisesin which the studentcontrols a vocal tract diagram are being developedto teach the principlesof relations between articulatory configurationsand speech sounds. SpeechStation analysisfacilitieswill providecorrelateddisplaysof spectra of syntheticor natural utterances.Initial plans are to developa complete introductory course of 16 lessons.Course material for advanced students would

serve to train in research methods and teach

advancedtopics.A trial lessonwill be demonstrated.[Work supported by NIDOCD.] 8SP4. Survey for computer-basedcourse in acoustic phonetics. J.M. Pickett (Windy Hill Lab., Surry, ME 04684) and Robert Berkovitz (SensimetricsCorp., 64 SidneySt., Cambridge,MA 02139)

Instructors of coursesin speechcommunicationlisted in the 1990 JASA summaryof acousticscoursesweresurveyedto developinformation about numbersand types of students,coursenames,current text use, available computers,and rating-scaleopinionson the potential valueof computer-based coursesin acousticphonetics.Responses were overwhelminglypositive.Surprisinglylargenumbersof coursesand students were reported. Equipment was indicated as available for computer-basedinstruction. Detailed resultswill be presentedon the distributionof coursesover academicdisciplinesand levelsof texts in use,to characterizethe needsfor coursedevelopment.[Work supported by NIDOCD.] 8SP$. Project Oracle: Software for training in speech science. J. Anthony Seikeland David G. Drumright (Univ. Prog. in Commun. Disord., Washington State Univ. at Spokane, W. 601 First Ave., Spokane,WA 99204-0399)

ProjectOraclewasinstitutedto developpublicdomainsoftwareand laboratoryactivitiesthat would givestudentsin the speechand hearing sciences the opportunityto explorespeechand nonspeech acousticsin a nonthreatening environment.Waveformeditingsoftwareand lab activities were developedfor speechscienceand phoneticscoursesand in-

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troducedinto the curriculum.The presentation will provideexamplesof lab activities,hands-ondemonstrationof the waveformediting, FFT, and phoneticstranscriptiontraining software,as well as resultsof softwareimplementation.[Work supportedby Dept. of Education,FIPSE.]

8SP6. Waveform editing and spectrographic software. StephenT. Neely (Boys Town Natl. Res. Hospital, 555 N. 30th St., Omaha, NE . 68131),

Susan Nittrouer

(Univ.

of Nebraska at Omaha), and.

Edward J. Carney (Boys Town Natl. Res. Hospital) Programsfor interactiveediting and spectrographic displayof dig- . itized speechwaveformfiles have been developedfor use on IBM-PC ! compatiblecomputers.The waveformeditingprogram(WavEd) reads . and writeswaveformfilesof severaltypes,includingILS sampleddata. WavEd allowsthe userto performthe followingoperations:( 1) record . and play waveforms;(2) placelabelsat variouspoints,and savethese .. labels; (3) copy, delete, and insert waveform segments;and (4) do, acousticanalyses,suchas computationof durations,formant frequen- cies and bandwidths,and linear predictioncoctficicnts.The spectro-graphicdisplayprogram (SPECTO) producesspectrograms from ILS . sampleddata filesusingfiltersof user-specified bandwidths.Parameters.' that determinespectrogramappearance(such as darkness,contrast,. and frequencyand time range) arc usercontrolled.Spectrograms canbe: sentto the PC monitoror to dot-matrixor laserprinters.Bothprograms. arc designedto be easyto install and to use on any PC, with either a . commercialdigital-to-analog converteror the PC-internalspeaker.Both . programsare beingdistributedas unsupportedsoftwareand nonprofit: redistributionis permitted.[Work supportedby NIH.] 8SP7. Teaching acoustics to phoneticians. Peter Ladefoged. (Phonetics Lab., Dept. of Linguistics,UCLA, Los Angeles, CA. 90024-1543)

A hypercardstack has been written that providesan interactive: approach to the basic conceptsof acoustics.It is assumedthat the: studentswill know little or no mathematics.Graphicaldisplaysare: providedof wave motion and the superimposition of waves.Students. can both seeand hear the effectof adding wavesof their choice.Con- ceptssuchasthe Nyquist frequency,vibrationof air in a tubeand in the vocal tract, and the parametersrequiredfor synthesizingspeechare ß demonstrated. A sectionof the stackis concernedwith the propertiesof ' damped exponentialwaves. The notions of the addition of sine and _ cosinewaves and the correlation between two waves are demonstrated, _ as a basisfor understanding Fourier analysis.The stackis copyrighted, but is availablefor nonprofituse at a nominal chargefrom the author.

123rd Meeting:AcousticalSocietyof America

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