Sound Analysis

The sound analysis lab suite involves your making recordings of three distinct sounds and subsequently analyzing those sounds. The expected final result is a word processor document on your disk which includes a portfolio of 12 images related to your sounds plus the necessary text to describe that analysis. Six of those images are to be produced with the DataStudio software on the laboratory computers and patched into your word processor document with descriptive text. The other six images will be provided to you on your disc from another analog-to-digital converter, giving you an independent set of analysis images.

After you have the digitized sound files on your disk, the next task is to analyze those sound files to fill out the data sheet with information about their frequency, etc. The data is to then be transferred from the data sheet to your report. The following comments may help with the process of analyzing the sound files.

NOTE: Be sure to save all files to YOUR DISK! The lab computers are regularly purged of all saved files.

Procedure:

1. Open the DataStudio software on your computer and open one of your sound files from your disk.

a. Use the DataStudio features to fill out your data sheet for that sound. That is, make a graph of the sound, make the indicated measurements on the waveform, calculate its frequency and indicate the nearest equal tempered note from the table.

b. Click the data transfer icon and then double click "Graph" to make a graph of your waveform. Adjust the display of the waveform so that it has the appearance you want in your portfolio of images. Generally this involves using the Display menu to remove the icons and the legend which clutter up the picture. You can also adjust the height and width of the display by finding the vertical and horizontal "handles" just above the "voltage" and "time" labels to adjust the display.

2. Open the word processor by going to Open/Programs/Microsoft Word. Give the document a heading and save it as you laboratory document on your disk. This will be the document which will constitute your report for this lab sequence.

3. Returning to the DataStudio display, choose Display/Export Picture. Save the picture on your disk with a recognizable name. It will save as a .BMP file which takes too much memory, so it will be practical to transfer the images into your word processor document and then delete the BMP files to avoid filling up your disk. (You can probably get away with two or three BMP images before doing the transfer if you want to organize your time that way.)

4. To patch your image into your word processor document, return to your Word document and select the point at which you want the image. Then choose "Insert/Picture/from File.." and select the image. Click the "Insert" button to insert it in your Word document. Resave the document. After confirming that the new file is in your report document and is resaved, delete the old file to save disk space. You can go to My Computer/Disk A:3.5" floppy to find the icon for the image to delete.

5. Returning to DataStudio with the same sound file, choose FFT and display the plot of your sound as a function of frequency. Repeat the image capturing and pasting routine to put that into your report.

6. Transfer the data for that sound from your data sheet to complete the description of that sound.

7. Repeat the process for your other two sounds.