Summary Flashcards
Most fundamental qualities of sound
Pitch (wavelength) and loudness (amplitude)
The larynx is formed by 4 cartilages
- Thyroid
- Cricoid
- 2 Arytenoids
Vocal folds and Vocal Tract
Vocal folds are two bands of muscle that are located within the larynx (voice box). They vibrate when air is pushed through them, producing sound.
The vocal tract is the area of the body which includes the vocal folds and all of the other structures involved in producing sound, such as the mouth, nose, and throat.
When does the vocal folds shorten and when lengthen
Short : thyroid cartilage contracts –> arytenoid slides –> decreasing of the distance vocal processes and thyroid prominence
Length: cricoid cartilage contracts –> thyroid and cricoid rotate –> increase distance vocal processes and thyroid prominence
What does contraction of cartilages do?
manipulate length of vocal folds, abduction (vocal folds further) and adduction (vocal folds closer)
3 involved systems in speech production
- sub glottal system (initiation phase –> breathing)
- glottal system (phonation phase –> Bernoulli so contraction cartilages)
- supra-glottal system (articulation phase –> oral and pharyngeal cavity)
Characterizing vowel and consonants
vowels:
- location (front, central, back) –> front means higher f1
- tongue position (high, mid, low) –> high means lower f2
- mouth position (rounded or unrounded)
consonant:
- place
-manner
- voiced
speech characteristics
- Periodicity –> voiced
- local maximum –> vowel
- silence and pre voicing –> plosive
- noise –> fricatives
- burst –> plosive
- change in amplitude –> change in sound
- change is sound structure –> change mouth position
Coarticulation
the process of blending one sound into another in order to achieve a desired pronunciation
- anticipatory (u influences word onset in stew)
- carryover (u influences consonant in use)
prosodic features
- properties of larger units of speech and reflects elements of language not encoded by grammar or choice of vocabulary
- To convey meaning and emotion
- intonation (use of pitch to convey meaning in speech)
- stress (emphasis placed on certain syllables of a word or phrase)
- Tone (the emotion or attitude in speech)
Two parts of the Fourier spectrum
- Amplitude spectrum
- Phase spectrum
Fourier transform
The Fourier transform is a mathematical technique used to transform a signal from its time domain into its frequency domain.
Explain briefly how the functionality of the cochlea is similar to Fourier Analysis
The functionality of the cochlea is similar to Fourier analysis in that it breaks down sound waves into their frequency components. This is done by converting the sound wave into an electrical signal, which is then analyzed by the cochlea. The cochlea then separates the signal into different frequency bands, allowing the auditory system to interpret the sound.
Path of sound
Ear canal –> eardrum –> ossicles –> cochlea
Three small bones (ossicles) in middle ear and function
Malleus, incus and stapes
to transmit tiny sound vibrations to the cochlea
Function and parts of inner ear
- Cochlea
- Basilair membrane
- oval window and round window are openings
responsible for converting sounds waves into electrical signals that can be interpreted by the brain
The cochlea also helps to filter out background noise and adjust the volume of incoming sounds. (Bandpass-filter)
Outer ear, parts and function
- auricle (outside)
- ear canal (connects to middle ear)
funneling the acoustic wave into ear canal
middle ear, parts and function
transfers vibrations of air particles into vibrations of mechanical structures
- Eardrum
- ossicles (malleus incus stapes)
What does the acoustic reflex?
spans the space between stapes and wall of middle ear, if this contracts it reduces the motion of the stapes
- protects ear from loud noise
Otitis media with effusion
Infections where ear cavity fills up with fluid and no longer perform an impedance bridge between air-filled ear canal and fluid filled cochlea.
Mel scale frequency
a logarithmic frequency scale used to measure the perceived pitch of a sound
Basic idea of Fourier transform
any signal can be approximated by sum of cosines
VoCoder
- Encoder coding the speech
- Decoder re-synthesizing speech
technique for coding speech for more efficiently for long distance phone calls
A3 Scrambling
to encode longer distance radio-telephone calls
- frequency bands were rearranged and inverted
- intercepted and decoded by Germans
SIGSALY (Project X or Green Hornet)
based on Vocoder
- needed for encryption (white noise stored on 2 vinyl phonographic records)
- special turntables to synchronize time
Concatenation
process of splicing together pieces together of pre-recorded speech
Signal processing modification
process of changing a pre-recorded signal to produce a desired sound
Advantages and disadvantages of concatenation
A
: ability to produce natural-sounding speech
: flexibility in creating new words
: speed of production
D
: lack of control over the sound of the speech
: its susceptibility to error
: inability to produce continuous speech