Software
There are many different programs for generating, recording, processing, and analyzing sounds. Here are some free ones that you may want to explore. The first program listed below (Raven Lite) is used in this course to do the homework assignments.
Spectrum Analysis
These programs display the frequencies (or equivalently, the musical pitches) that are present in a sound. Some of them require that you record the sound before you can analyze it, while others can process sound in "real time" as it comes to the computer. Most of these programs will also show the sound in the "time domain" by displaying a graph of the sound pressure versus time.
- Raven Lite An excellent tool for people who are new to sound analysis. It was developed at Cornell University to study bird sounds. The program records sounds from a microphone and then displays the waveforms in time domain and as spectrograms. Mac, PC and Linux versions are available. To get Raven Lite, first go here and get a FREE license code. To do this, you add Raven Lite (not Raven Pro!) to your shopping cart, and then check out. No payment is required, but be sure you give a correct email address, because they will email the license code to you along. Then download the program using the link provided in the email. Make sure you download the correct program, and do not download an old version from another web site. If you have problems installing or running Raven Lite, or entering the license code, be sure to check the Raven Help Forum and the FAQ.
- Windows Installation: Double click on the downloaded .exe file. Then click Next four times and click Install to install the program with all defaults. Do not change the install location. Click Done and then launch Raven Lite. A window will appear where you paste in the license code you received in the email. (Or you can choose to run in Demo Mode.) Next the program will ask if you want to download update files. Click Yes and then click Yes again to restart the program. Now it will probably tell you that QuickTime was not detected. Don't try to fix this! (The features that are lost do not matter to us.) Click on Just Run Raven. On Windows 10, you might find that the text in the program window is too small. Use press Windows key and + to make it bigger.
- OS X Installation: Make sure you are logged in as an administrator. Follow the instructions provided under "Raven Lite 2.0 Build 40." They are up to date and will work on all versions of OS X. Ignore the warning about QuickTime.
- Sonic Visualizer Fairly complex for beginners, but with many cool spectrogram features, including direct note/cents readout. Does not record, but loads .wav and .mp3 files. Works on Linux, Macs and PCs. Excellent for frequency estimation.
- Visual Analyzer Project Real-time analyzer with "oscilloscope" style display. Typical of the style of spectrum analyzer used in electrical engineering. PC and Linux under Wine emulator.
- There are also many nice smart-phone apps. These are fun for field work but it is usually not possible to get permanent data records from them. n-Track offers a free app called n-Track Tuner, as well as a sophisticated laptop/desktop system.
Recording and Editing
- Audacity sound recorder and sound editor.
- Kristal Audio Engine sound recorder, editor, effects processor.
- Wavosaur sound recorder and sound editor.