Re: speech/music - thanks

[Pierre Divenyi <pdivenyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 08:53 PM 3/29/98 +0100, Sue Johnson wrote:
>Thanks to all those who replied to me about the issue of determining
>speech/music in a soundtrack.
>I have looked at Slaney's paper, and now have the following problem...
>
>Suppose you have some characteristics which you can use to recognise
>speech (rhythm, harmonics, continuity, energy etc). If there is a piece of
>the soundtrack which contains a speaker talking, but with music in the
>background, then the system will recognise it as music.
>Whilst it is true that it contains music, I want it to recognise the fact
>that there is speech present, and mark it as speech.
>
>Of course it is helpful to me to be able to recognise things with music
>in, but it would be even better if I could almost re-phrase the problem to
>be looking out for when speech occurs.
>Has anyone any ideas on how you might be able to recognise the presence of
>speech when music is also present. Does it have any special
>pyscho-acoustic properties, or does the music drown them out?
>
>thanks in advance for any comments.
>Sue Johnson
>
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It seems to me that Sue Johnson's problem is analogous to finding how
speech and
music can form two streams. A countrywoman of hers, Sue McCabe from Plymouth
has a simple and quite efficient model of auditory streaming. I urge anyone
interested
in these problems to contact her at
        suem@soc.ply.ac.uk

                        Pierre Divenyi

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Pierre Divenyi             Experimental Audiology Research (151)
                           V.A. Medical Center, Martinez, CA 94553, USA
Phone: (510) 370-6745;     Fax: (510) 228-5738
E-mail :                   PDivenyi@ucdavis.edu
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