PCquirer

PCquirer / MacquirerThe lab PCquirer/PCQuirerX software package from Scicon Research & Development, developed by Henry Tehrani; only the PC version is actively supported here, but the CLICC lab has PC and Mac versions. Some capabilities of this software include the following. While there is no documentation available with the programs, Ling. 104 TAs provide class handouts each year.


Narrow band spectrograms
Wide band spectrograms
Pitch track with ToBI labeling
Pitch track with text labeling
FFT/LPC with formant / bandwidth values
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formant plots
PlotFormants for either Mac or PC is available for download here (PC version) (Mac version). Please note that the Mac version will not work on some newer Macs/some newer versions of OSX, and we do not plan to update it. Download it, try it, if it works for you, great; if not, try one of these other links, or look for scripts to do it in Praat:
Roger Billerey-Mosier's JPlotFormants is free and available from his webpage
Labov's lab's Plotnik, which allows linking sound files to tokens, is free and available at http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/Plotnik.html
CSL / MultiSpeech (Kay Elemetrics Corp.)
Note: Kay Elemetrics renames its webpages from time to time, and as they use frames it's tedious to keep the links updated here. If the links here don't work, go to their main page, and click through from their Products link.
The Lab has owned 4 Computerized Speech Lab (CSL), two Model 4300s and two Model 4300Bs. However, only one of them is currently set up and ready to use: on Jasmine in the Physiology Lab, for use with the Palatometer. These are old models, not Kay's latest, but there are at least 4 reasons to still use CSL: the external A/D hardware for best signal quality; the ability to write macros, which makes repetitive analysis easier; the choice of LPC methods (covariance, including pitch-synchronous, as well as autocorrelation); the filter library.
The Lab also has Windows-based Multi-Speech (Model 3700) for PCs, but it may not work under any OS currently installed.
In practice, currently no one uses CSL for capturing audio signals in order to get the best S/N ratio. Instead, people use the computers with better sound cards (e.g. in the Audio Lab) or the external AudioBox.
Old handouts:
Some basics about CSL command and configuration files
Some MultiSpeech configuations that differ from CSL's
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DSP Sona-graph 5500 (Kay Elemetrics Corp.)
The DSP Sona-Graph is a dedicated (i.e., not computer-based), real-time, audio spectrum analysis instrument which was designed "from the ground up" for high speed signal analysis and display.
1. Introduction
The Kay 5500 Sonagraph is located in the General (largest) computer room of the phonetics lab, where it serves as a museum piece. However, it still functions.
2. Basic Layout
The sonagraph consists of three components: a printer, a monitor and the console (depicted above). Additionally, a microphone is usually in the vicinity for inputing data into the sonagraph. The on/off switch is located on the power strip behind the console. There is also a small black power switch in the bottom right corner of the console; this switch has tape over it and should not be tampered with.
3. Console
The console consists of several buttons which are grouped according to the functions they perform. There are nine groups of buttons, each delineated by boxes (see picture above). Six boxes are outlined in gray, one in blue, and one in red. These will be discussed in turn.
Input: The input region of the console is outlined in blue and is located in the bottom left corner of the console. Data may be inputed from either a microphone or from another source (e.g. tape recorder, DAT recorder, computer, etc.) into one of two channels. The choice of channels does not make much difference, though the default is typically channel 1. There are four input plugs, two for microphone and two for auxiliary cables, one of each per channel. Input levels can be adjusted in increments of 1 or 10 decibels by pushing the buttons in the smaller blue boxes within the larger blue box. The decibel levels pop up on the monitor when the input level buttons are pressed.
Recording levels register on the red lights in the input box. Ideally, recording levels should fall within the range indicated by an illuminated green light. If the red light is illuminated, recording levels are too high and should be lowered.
Record: The record box is red and is located in the middle of the bottom third of the console. Pressing the on button begins the recording, while pressing the off button stops it. The recording continues until the off button is pressed, at which point the monitor will display the message: Enhance is necessary. This message is your cue to press the E button in the special functions menu (see below).
Special functions: The special functions region is in the middle of the console and delineated in gray. It consists of six lettered buttons. The most important of these buttons is E which you must press once you press the off button to stop recording. Pressing E allows the sonagraph to enhance the image(s) corresponding to what was recorded. Pressing D gives a few options for redrawing and aligning the screens. Pressing F changes the color(s) of the images; keep on pressing F to see the various options which range from traditional white and gray to various shades of fire. Pressing C provides you with various options for playing the data which is stored on the screen. Some of these options require cursors which are discussed below. Buttons A and B are rarely used. A allows one to vary the reference amplitude for the displays and B is non-functioning.
From:http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/linguistics/faciliti/facilities/acoustic/acoustic.html#PC/Macquirer