Thomas Dubuisson

Phase-based information for voice pathology detection

In most current approaches of speech processing, information is extracted from the magnitude spectrum. However recent perceptual studies have underlined the importance of the phase component. The goal of this paper is to investigate the potential of using phase-based features for automatically detecting voice disorders. It is shown that group delay functions are appropriate for characterizing irregularities in the phonation. Besides the respect of the mixed-phase model of speech is discussed. The proposed phase-based features are evaluated and compared to other parameters derived from the magnitude spectrum. Both streams are shown to be interestingly complementary. Furthermore phase-based features turn out to convey a great amount of relevant information, leading to high discrimination performance.

On the use of the correlation between acoustic descriptors for the normal/pathological voices discrimination

This paper presents an analysis system aiming at discriminating between normal and pathological voices. Compared to literature of voice pathology assessment, it is characterised by two aspects. First the system is based on features inspired from voice pathology assessment and music information retrieval. Second the distinction between normal and pathological voices is simply based on the correlation between acoustic features, while more complex classifiers are common in literature. Based on the normal and pathological samples included the MEEI database, it has been found that using two features (spectral decrease and first spectral tristimulus in the Bark scale) and their correlation leads to correct classification rates of 94.7% for pathological voices and 89.5% for normal ones. The system also outputs a normal/pathological factor aiming at giving an indication to the clinician about the location of a subject according to the database.

AudioCycle: Browsing Musical Loop Libraries

This paper presents AudioCycle, a prototype application for browsing through music loop libraries. AudioCycle provides the user with a graphical view where the audio extracts are visualized and organized according to their similarity in terms of musical properties, such as timbre, harmony, and rhythm. The user is able to navigate in this visual representation, and listen to individual audio extracts, searching for those of interest. AudioCycle draws from a range of technologies, including audio analysis from music information retrieval research, 3D visualization, spatial auditory rendering, audio time-scaling and pitch modification. The proposed approach extends on previously described music and audio browsers. Concepts developed here will be of interest to DJs, remixers, musicians, soundtrack composers, but also sound designers and foley artists. Possible extension to multimedia libraries are also suggested.

AudioCycle: A similarity-based visualization of musical libraries

This paper presents AudioCycle, a prototype application for browsing through music loop libraries. AudioCycle provides the user with a graphical view where the audio extracts are visualized and organized according to their similarity in terms of musical properties, such as timbre, harmony, and rhythm. The user is able to navigate in this visual representation and listen to individual audio extracts, as well as query the database by providing audio examples. AudioCycle draws from a range of technologies, including audio analysis from music information retrieval research, 3D visualization, spatial auditory rendering, audio time-scaling and pitch modification. The proposed approach extends on previously described music and audio browsers. Possible extension to multimedia libraries is also suggested.