Some Hints on Using Wavesurfer
Wavesurfer
is a very nice open-source acoustic analysis software package distributed for free by the Centre for Speech Technology (CTT) at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. It can be downloaded from this address. There is a manual.
Wavesurfer also comes packaged in the current edition of Peter Ladefoged's textbook A Course in Phonetics. The book has version 1.8.3. If you download from the KTH website, you can get a slightly newer version, and I suspect you'd find the program easier to use if you just install it on your computer rather than using the CD.
Starting up
If you're having trouble starting up the program, visit the Hint Section.
To do stuff with Wavesurfer, you either first use it to make a recording, or you open up an existing digital recording.
Making a recording
The Wavesurfer interface uses the standard tape recorder style buttons. (Red dot is record, right triangle is play, square is stop, and so on.) Try recording with the red button. If it works, move on to the next direction; if you're having trouble, click here.
Giving yourself enough time: if you're doing a long recording, ask for enough time. Select File, Preferences, Misc, Record Time Limit, and enter the maximum number of seconds you need.
Opening an existing file
It might pay first to fix your copy of Windows so you can see the file suffixes. If you don't know how to do this, visit this page. Once you've done this, you can determine what kind of sound files you have, by looking at the suffix (.wav, .aiff, etc.). Wavesurfer opens various kinds of sound file.
To open a sound file in Windows, right-click on it and select Open With. Choose Wavesurfer, if necessary picking Browse to find where the program is (it will be on your CD drive, or if you downloaded it and installed it, in your Program Files folder).
Analysis
Here's what the Wavesurfer interface looks like:
The one slightly counterintuitive bit is this: to get started, you
need to right-click on what you're
recorded, as shown and select Create Pane. It will give you
the list of options, like:
Waveform
Spectrogram
Pitch Contour
Time Axis
What you pick will depend on what you're analyzing, but I recommend you always include a time axis.
You can change the size of the windows by dragging on the edges with the mouse.
Adjusting pitch range in a display
Often, pitch tracks are hard to interpret unless you stretch them vertically to show the pitch changes clearly. To do this, right click on the display and select Properties, then Data plot, find Plot value bounds, and lower the Max until it's just a little higher than the maximum pitch found in the recording. Then click Ok.
Likewise, spectrograms are often easier to read if you cut off the top frequencies. I find it's useful to cut them off at 4000 hz if there are no sibilants, and 6000 hz if there are. To do this, right click on the spectrogram window and select Properties, then enter a number (hz) for Cut Spectrogram At and click OK. For pitch tracks, select
Chopping out what you don't need
Often a recording has unwanted pauses at the beginning or end, or between items. Select these pauses with the mouse and press Delete.
Printing
You can follow the directions in the Wavesurfer manual for printing, but it involves downloading a great deal of other software and may not work. A "quick and dirty" alternative (Windows only) is:
a. While in Wavesurfer, type Alt PrintScrn (this is an archaic key
on the computer keyboard hardly ever used any more, but very useful here!).
b. Open the Windows utility program called "Paint" (find it, if necessary,
by searching for "mspaint.exe") and select Edit, then Paste
(or, faster, Ctrl v) You'll then have a copy of your Wavesurfer
screen which you can edit with Paint and print.
c. Sometimes it's a good idea to use the Select tool in Paint to grab
just the bits of the Wavesurfer output that are most relevant and useful.
Select this material, then Copy it (Edit menu, or just
Ctrl C). Then File, New, Paste (Ctrl
v).
d. Once you've pasted into Paint, you can save the image, or you can type
Ctrl A ("Copy all"), go into your word processing program, and type Ctrl
V ("paste"). In many word processing programs, you can resize images to fit
the page.
Hint section
Trouble starting up WaveSurfer from the Ladefoged CD
You may get automatic web software starting up when you insert the CD in your computer. To get to Wavesurfer instead, go to My Computer, right-click on Ladefoged Course, and select Open. Then click on the little red icon for wavesurfer.exe.
Setting Inputs and Volume Levels in Windows
Be sure your computer is set up to record from the microphone or line input, whichever one you happen to be using. To do this, right click on the little loudspeaker at lower right of screen, then Open volume controls, Options, Properties, Recording, Ok, check either Microphone or Line In, set recording level. Then close the Volume Control window. You may have to experiment to find a level that is loud enough but doesn't overload.
If there is no little loudspeaker at the lower right of your screen, open Windows Help and search on Volume Control.