>
>I'm sure that this system is very useful for capturing a lot of what is
>done in conversations. Still, as someone interested in producing
>transcripts with a level of detail as that found in conversation analytic
>research, I wonder how well such a system would suit my purposes. It just
>seems to me that a fair amount of conversationally significant phenomena
>I'm able to hear in a tape when it is slowed down is stuff I would have
>missed otherwise.
When I developed this system I was collaborating with a Conversation
Analyst who wrote a paper about the uses of the programme. (Brian Torode;
Narrative Analysis Using Code-A-Text; Qualitative Health Research Vol 8 No
3 pgs414 -432; May 1998). Recently I have been working with the sound wave
form this allows you to see the characterisitcs of a word or a phrase as
you hear them. Because you can "see" where a word or phrase starts you can
acheive a precision in linking sound and text which is not obtainable by
ear and hand alone. I am about to start a small project looking at the
relationship between what raters say about the ways vocal qualities
influence their judgments of emotion and the observable characteristics of
the wave form. It appears to be a lot nmore straightforward than one might
imagine.
>At the same time, I can see some great benefits to using
>a computer as a playback machine. So, I'm very interested in trying to
>ascertain if any slowed down audio of any kind is possible on a PC. For
>instance, while .wav files can't be slowed down, does the audio "track" of
>a slowed down PC video go as slow as the video? Does it play at all?
I've never tried this. Unless you have got a digital video editing package
it would have to be done programmatically. I sure someone on this list has
a video editor and can try it out. I will have a look once I return to the
video side of CT.
>Also, is there no way of rewriting a program to make .wav files playable at
>altered speeds (and pitchs, of course, given that voices become inaudibly
>low in pitch when slowed down signifintly).
This is an interesting question. There are two possible ways of slowing the
wav file each requires creating a new file. One would be to elongate
silences so that the gaps between and within words become longer. The other
would be to increase the length of each sound sample (in format I commonly
use there are 11025 of these per second) so, for instance, a sound could
be made to last twice as long. This is essentially the reverse of the
process CT already uses so it should not be difficult to do. You could then
probably run the file through an audio editor and compensate for the pitch.
Unless the files are small you will need a powerful pc.
Regards
Alan Cartwright
At 19:05 21/10/98 -0400, you wrote:
>At 09:36 PM 10/21/98 +0100, Alan Cartwright wrote (in response to my post):
>>>The trick is getting a computer to simulate the important features of a
>>>good transcription machine (e.g., auto-reverse, rate control, pitch
>>>control, etc.).
>>
>>The specification of the sound (wav) file format used on PCs does not allow
>>you to slow the file down. Oddly, you can slow video down but not audio.
>>When I wrote the Code-A-Text Transcription System, which simulates a
>>transcribing machine on the PC, I created a method by which the programme
>>"reads ahead" of the sound file and can therefore stop during silences to
>>allow the typist to catch up. This has the added advantage of giving
>>accurate measurement of pauses in the speech. The transcription is always
>>linked so you have access to text and sound similtaneously during the
>>coding process.
>>The numeric keypad is used to simulate the foot pedal giving the same
>>degree of control. My own expereince with the system is that an audio
>>typist can quickly learn these features and transcribe as quickly as with a
>>traditional system. As for myself I am much faster with this system but
>>unfortunately that is not necessarily a recommendation.
Alan Cartwright PhD
Code-A-Text Developer
Email [log in to unmask]
web page http://www.codeatext.u-net.com
Also
Senior Lecturer In Psychotherapy
Kent Institute of Medicine and Health Sciences.
University of Kent. UK.
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