Audio Recording Technology Research Articles

Arduino Nano Voice Recorder with MAX9814 Mic

This project involves creating a compact and efficient voice recorder using the Arduino Nano and the MAX9814 microphone amplifier. The device captures and stores high-quality audio, leveraging the Arduino Nano's small form factor and the superior audio sensitivity of the MAX9814. Ideal for various applications, including voice logging, sound monitoring, and DIY audio projects, this setup provides an affordable and accessible solution for enthusiasts and developers interested in audio recording technology. The project includes detailed instructions on hardware assembly and software implementation, ensuring ease of replication and customization.

Music and Audio Recording Technology: An Overview

The coalescence of music and technology form the base of audio production. This study offers a brief account of technological transformations that have shaped the modern audio industry. It takes into consideration the changes in audio recording equipment and audio distribution formats throughout the years up to contemporary time. The study attempts to emphasize the necessary prerequisites for quality audio recording and production in the digital age of today. The study draws its arguments from various secondary sources. This study adds an extra dimension to the already existing knowledge of audio production by blending conceptual and essential practical aspects of audio production. The simplified contour of audio production presented by this study will allow novice musicians and producers to grasp the basics of digital audio recording technology before venturing into the vast ocean of audio technology.

Media Primitivism: Technological Art in Africa By Delinda Collier

Media Primitivism: Technological Art in Africa By Delinda Collier

Music and Audio Recording Technology: An Overview

The coalescence of music and technology form the base of audio production. This study offers a brief account of technological transformations that have shaped the modern audio industry. It takes into consideration the changes in audio recording equipment and audio distribution formats throughout the years up to contemporary time. The study attempts to emphasize the necessary prerequisites for quality audio recording and production in the digital age of today. The study draws its arguments from various secondary sources. This study adds an extra dimension to the already existing knowledge of audio production by blending conceptual and essential practical aspects of audio production. The simplified contour of audio production presented by this study will allow novice musicians and producers to grasp the basics of digital audio recording technology before venturing into the vast ocean of audio technology.

Mobile Audio Recording Technology to Promote Informed Decision Making in Advanced Prostate Cancer.

Men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer increasingly encounter complex treatment decisions. Consultation audio recordings and summaries promote patient informed decision making but are underutilized. Mobile recording software applications may increase access. Little is known regarding the feasibility of implementation in clinical encounters. We conducted a mixed-methods pilot study in men with progressive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. We instructed patients to use a mobile software application to record an oncology visit. Patients could share the recording with our patient scribing program to receive a written summary. We assessed feasibility and acceptability with postvisit surveys. We measured patient-reported helpfulness of the intervention in decision making and change in Decisional Conflict Scale-informed subscale. We conducted semistructured interviews to explore implementation and analyzed transcripts using thematic analysis. Across 20 patients, 18 (90%) recorded their visits. Thirteen of 18 (72%) listened to the recording, and 14 of 18 (78%) received a summary. Eighteen of 20 (90%) visits were telehealth. Fourteen patients (70% of all 20; 78% of 18 question respondents) found the application easy to use. Nine patients (50% of 18 recording patients; 90% of 10 question respondents) reported that the recording helped treatment decision making. Decisional conflict decreased from baseline to 1-week postvisit (47.4-28.5, P < .001). Interviews revealed benefits, facilitators, contextual factors, and technology and patient-related barriers to recordings and summaries. In this single-institution academic setting, a mobile application for patients to record consultations was a feasible, acceptable, and potentially valued intervention that improved decision making in the telehealth setting. Studies in larger, diverse populations are needed.

Effects of Historical Recording Technology on Vibrato in Modern-Day Opera Singers

Past literature indicates that vibrato measurements of singers objectively changed (i.e., vibrato rate decreased and vibrato extent increased) from 1900 to the present day; however, historical audio recording technology may distort acoustic measurements of the voice output signal, including vibrato. As such, the listener's perception of historical singing may be influenced by the limitations of historical technology. This study attempts to show how the wax cylinder phonograph system-the oldest form of mass-produced audio recording technology-alters the recorded voice output signal of modern-day singers and, thus, provides an objective lens through which to study the effect(s) of historical audio recording technology on vibrato measurements. Twenty professional Western opera singers sang a messa di voce on the vowel [a] and on the pitch C4 for male singers and C5 for female singers, three times into a flat-response omnidirectional microphone and onto an Edison Home Phonograph simultaneously. The middle 1-3 seconds (6-10 vibrato cycles) of each sample was analyzed for vibrato rate, vibrato extent, jitter (ddp), shimmer (dda), and fundamental frequency for each recording condition (wax cylinder phonograph or microphone). Steady-state and frequency-modulating sinewave test signals were also recorded under the multiple recording conditions. Results indicated no significant effect of recording condition on vibrato rate (mean [standard deviation], cylinder: 5.3 Hz [0.5], microphone: 5.3 Hz [0.5]) and no significant difference was found for mean fundamental frequency (cylinder: 389 Hz [137], microphone: 390 Hz [137]). A significant main effect of recording condition was found for vibrato extent (cylinder: ±103 cents [30], microphone: ±100 cents [31]). Additionally, mean jitter (ddp) (cylinder: 1.22% [1.09], microphone: 0.24% [0.12]) and mean shimmer (dda) (cylinder: 9.40% [4.90], microphone: 1.92% [0.94]) were significantly higher for the cylinder recording condition, indicating more cycle-to-cycle variability in the wax cylinder recorded signal. Analysis of test signals revealed similar patterns based on recording condition. This study validates past scholarly inquiry about vibrato measurements as extracted from digitized wax cylinder phonograph recordings by demonstrating that measured vibrato rate remains constant during both recording conditions. In other words, vibrato rate as measured from historical recordings can be viewed as an accurate representation of the historical singer being studied. Furthermore, it suggests that the value of prior vibrato extent measurements from these acoustic recordings may be slightly overestimated from the original voice output signals produced by singers near the beginning of the 20th century (i.e., a narrow vibrato extent might have been numerically smaller on average). Increased jitter and shimmer in the wax cylinder recording conditions may be indicative of nonlinearities in the phonograph recording or playback systems.

Sounding Riddims: King Tubby’s dub in the context of soundscape composition

A significant body of academic literature and music journalism has explored the historical trajectory of Jamaican dub music and its innovative use of audio recording technology. The present article seeks to demonstrate the similarities between the studio compositional methods of Jamaican dub innovator King Tubby and those of Canadian soundscape composers Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp. Rather than attempting to identify aesthetic and stylistic similarities between Tubby’s dub music and soundscape composition, this article presents a comparative analysis of dub in relation to soundscape composition focusing on artistic articulations of contextual meaning and acoustic communication. Specifically, this work argues that Tubby’s compositional approach directly addresses the following conceptual themes common in soundscape composition: 1) referential composition and the invocation of past listening associations through sonic abstraction, 2) timbral play as a means of linking sound processing to acoustic communication, and 3) the evocation of real-world motion cues by way of ecologically informed sound-processing effects. Exploring the conceptual similarities between Tubby’s work and the established academic-affiliated genre of soundscape composition provides a new perspective on his work as reflecting a multifaceted musical approach that warrants further scholarly study.

The acoustic communities: Definition, description and ecological role

An acoustic community is defined as an aggregation of species that produces sound by using internal or extra-body sound-producing tools. Such communities occur in aquatic (freshwater and marine) and terrestrial environments. An acoustic community is the biophonic component of a soundtope and is characterized by its acoustic signature, which results from the distribution of sonic information associated with signal amplitude and frequency. Distinct acoustic communities can be described according to habitat, the frequency range of the acoustic signals, and the time of day or the season. Near and far fields can be identified empirically, thus the acoustic community can be used as a proxy for biodiversity richness.The importance of ecoacoustic research is rapidly growing due to the increasing awareness of the intrusion of anthropogenic sounds (technophonies) into natural and human-modified ecosystems and the urgent need to adopt more efficient predictive tools to compensate for the effects of climate change. The concept of an acoustic community provides an operational scale for a non-intrusive biodiversity survey and analysis that can be carried out using new passive audio recording technology, coupled with methods of vast data processing and storage.

AUDIO RECORDING OF HOUSEHOLD INTERVIEWS TO ENSURE DATA QUALITY

AbstractThe use of audio recording technology in the collection of quantitative household survey data in developing countries offers many benefits at a low cost. The benefits include ensuring that interviews take place, training and supervision of enumerators, assuring data quality, secure data storage, and easy data sharing, among others. This paper describes the use of audio recording by a research project that collected household level data in rural western Kenya in 2011–2012. I discuss the benefits of audio recording, both anticipated and encountered, as well as the costs and the applicability of this method in other research settings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Mobile Tech Trends to Watch

You have accessThe ASHA LeaderApp-titude1 Jan 2013Mobile Tech Trends to WatchLook for devices to shed bulk and limitations. Look for apps to add speed and interactivity. Sean SweeneyMA, CCC-SLP Sean Sweeney Google Scholar More articles by this author , MA, CCC-SLP https://doi.org/10.1044/leader.APP.18012013.30 SectionsAbout ToolsAdd to favorites ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In For many of us (including me!), keeping up with what is happening today with technology is enough of a challenge. But we also need to keep an eye on the future to ensure that we’re critical consumers and clinicians and that we develop realistic yet “envelope-pushing” expectations of the technology we use in our evaluations and treatment. Here are four mobile-app trends that may reshape the way we use technology in the coming years. Devices and app availability We are already seeing increased adoption of mobile devices in schools across the country, with many piloting 1:1 programs in which all students have a tablet. Many districts are also looking to supply their speech-language pathologists with iPads or other tablets for use in evaluation and treatment. This increased availability of devices is positive, but we must continue to stress critical thinking about app selection. As a consultant, I frequently encounter questions about which apps should be supplied to all SLPs in a particular district. Although bulk purchasing deals can be practical and tempting, SLPs are probably more likely to integrate apps in their work if they have had a voice or direct choice in selecting them. Evaluation Having a many-in-one treatment tool saves clinicians time in planning and gathering materials, and also reduces stress on our backs and cars. And it seems only a matter of time before publishing companies begin to translate their standardized assessments into mobile app form. This change will, of course, necessitate additional standardization procedures, but imagine the potential impact not only in reducing the need to lug stimulus books, protocols and manuals, but also in providing more automatic scoring, use of audio recording technologies for speech and language samples (also already built into several existing qualitative assessments) and fast report generation. Interactivity, animation and educational relevance With advances in programming, developers are producing increasingly interactive speech and language apps, allowing clients to make choices and solve problems as part of language comprehension and expression activities. We see this with the increased use of animation in language-based apps such as Mobile Education Store’s Tense Builder, in which movement and action target an understanding of tense. An abundance of (perhaps more inexpensively developed) interactive websites are directly related to the language of curriculum content, but engaging apps filled with classroom concepts are published daily. As is the case with Disney American Presidents, these are usually not free, but they offer multimedia aspects and interactivity that engage all students in often-abstract language contexts. Information sharing You likely have noticed—and perhaps have used—the QR, or “Quick Response,” codes in printed materials that direct you to online content. You can leverage this technology in your treatment via apps such as Scan and QR Reader for Android. These apps allow clients to engage with vocabulary, narrative content, articulation targets, social language tips or images you share via QR—created and printed quite easily on sites such as Kaywa. You also will likely see more apps that incorporate augmented reality, in which you access a “layer” of information or visuals by scanning a code or marker or navigating to a particular location with your mobile device’s camera. Examples include Tour Wrist, which immerses you in 360-degree pictures of worldwide geographic locations that you can navigate by moving your device—a descriptive language goldmine. In the years to come, these and other technological developments will no doubt continue to reduce drudgery in our jobs and enable us to focus on the parts we enjoy. Author Notes private practice in Newton, Mass., an instructional technology consultant, and product development manager for Smarty Ears Apps. His blog, Speech-Techie. (http://www.speechtechie.com) looks at technology “through a language lens.” [email protected] Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Advertising Disclaimer | Advertise With Us Additional Resources FiguresSourcesRelatedDetails Volume 18Issue 1January 2013 Get Permissions Add to your Mendeley library History Published in print: Jan 1, 2013 Metrics Downloaded 75 times Topicsasha-topicsleader_do_tagleader-topicsasha-article-typesCopyright & Permissions© 2013 American Speech-Language-Hearing AssociationLoading ...

Unfair? The Unique Status of Sound Recordings under U.S. Copyright Law and its Impact on the Progress of Sample-Based Music

IntroductionOn June 3, 2005 in a United States federal courtroom in Nashville, Tennessee, seven words disrupted the age-old, natural cycle of musical development: a license or do not sample.1 At the heart of the case was a sample2 of a common, three-note guitar riff3 from the introduction to the George Clinton funk song Get Off Your Ass and Jam. The sampled portion was sonically altered and repeated five times in the background of the song 100 Miles and Runnin ' by the hip-hop group N.W.A. 100 Miles was also featured on the soundtrack to the film I Got the Hook Up. In this pivotal case, the Sixth Circuit Court reversed a lower court ruling that the use of the sample was de minimis4 and established a bright-line rule5 for digital sampling. The three-judge panel concluded, We do not see this as stifling creativity in any significant way.6 This article intends to show that while the court was technically correct in its assessment of the Copyright Act in relation to Sound Recordings,7 the decision exposed a flaw in the Act itself. Namely, as currently defined, Sound Recordings are fundamentally different from other categories of works8 in that they do not, and in fact cannot, meet the same minimal creativity requirement9 for copyright. The idea/expression dichotomy10 is not relevant to Sound Recordings because unlike every other category of works, they are not the result of an expression of ideas fixed in tangible form. They are strictly the result of fixation regardless of the nature, quality, and originality (or lack thereof) of the sounds embodied therein. Authorship of Sound Recordings is problematic since they are not the result of any individual's expression and thus cannot be infringed upon save by the physical duplication of a material object. Therefore in contrast to all other categories of copyrightable works, ideas cannot be freely extracted from them to be used as the building blocks for new, independent creations. The historical record shows that Sound Recordings were afforded copyright protection for a singular economic reason: to combat record piracy. Owners exercise a complete monopoly over any reproduction and derivative of Sound Recordings for the full term of copyright. While enormously effective in battling record piracy, this broad statutory stranglehold continues to impact the naturally transformative cycle of musical development in regards to sample-based music. The court was legally right: sampling requires copying.11 But the court was musically wrong: transformational copying is the heart of musical innovation and development. Creativity has been significantly stifled.A Brief History of Copyright in Sound Recordings in the United States: 1900-1970Law typically follows innovation; an axiom exemplified throughout the history of recorded music. By the turn of the twentieth century, emerging audio recording technology had already made an indelible mark on the music industry. Three major labels (Edison, Victor, and Columbia) were selling three million records per year in the United States by 1900.12 Yet federal copyright protection was not made available to producers of recordings until 1972. Why? Lawmakers in the U.S. were reluctant to define recordings, then known as phonograms, as writings. The U.S. Constitution states that Congress shall have the power...To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.13 The Copyright Act of 1909 specified in Section 4, ...the works for which copyright may be secured under this Act shall include all the writings of an author14 (emphasis added). In 1908 the Supreme Court in the landmark case White-Smith Co. v. Apollo Co. concluded that because the pattern of perforations on piano rolls15 were not visually perceivable as music, the objects were not copies of musical works (i.e., not writings),16 authors could not control their use. …

“Channeling” the powers of God’s Word

Starting with the controversial esoteric employment of audio recordings by followers of the charismatic Muslim preacher Sharif Haidara in Mali, the article explores the dynamics emerging at the interface of different technologies and techniques employed by those engaging the realm of the Divine. I focus attention on the “border zone” between, on the one hand, techniques for appropriating scriptures based on long-standing religious conventions, and, on the other, audio recording technologies, whose adoption not yet established authoritative and standardized forms of practice, thereby generating insecurities and becoming the subject of heated debate. I argue that “recyclage” aptly describes the dynamics of this “border zone” because it captures the ways conventional techniques of accessing the Divine are reassessed and reemployed, by integrating new materials and rituals. Historically, appropriations of the Qur’an for esoteric purposes have been widespread in Muslim West Africa. These esoteric appropriations are at the basis of the considerable continuities, overlaps and crossovers, between scripture-related esoteric practices on one side, and the treatment by Sharif Haidara’s followers of audio taped sermons as vessels of his spiritual power, on the other.

Evoking moral community, fragmenting Muslim discourse: Sermon audio-recordings and the reconfiguration of public debate in Mali

The article explores the processes that have allowed Islam to gain great appeal as a community-building idiom in Mali since the introduction of multiparty democracy in 1991. Drawing on the mediatic performances of the charismatic preacher Sharif Haidara, the article analyzes how new media technologies facilitate and play into Islam's new prominence and how they influence the particular ways in which Islam is presented in the public sphere. It examines the particular ways audio recording technologies intervene in and complicate the terms of interaction between political regimes and their critics, and thus change the place of religion in postcolonial state politics. Rather than interpret this process as a “resurgence” and threat of religion to secular nation state politics, the article emphasizes the paradoxical effects “small”, decentralized media have on the constitution of moral community. Audio recordings enable the move to public prominence of a variety of interpreters of Islam who seek to articulate an Islamic normativity as the basis of the common good. Paradoxically, the same processes that enhance the possibilities of Muslims of various backgrounds and pedigree to participate in public debate simultaneously undermine their appeal to Islamic scholarly consensus. While these processes strengthen these Muslims' possibilities to speak in public, they weaken their capacities to speak as the public, a claim that is pivotal to their quest for collective moral renewal. Journal for Islamic Studies Vol. 27 2007: pp. 39-72

Videohistory: Focusing on the American Past

The technological revolution of the twentieth century has provided historians with new sources of documentation for their research. With the advent of video technology, the researcher has access to new types of visual information about people, places, objects, and interactions. Just as the development of audio recording technology in the 1940s stimulated the field of oral history, the ease and low cost of video technology in the 1970s offered new opportunities for the historian interested in using visual documentation. Self-conscious and structured historical documentation with video -often called videohistoryprovides an essential component of research for historians interested in material culture, the use of objects, and the relationships of people to one another and to their environments. Many historians have also found videohistory an excellent way to capture the history of people and communities who do not leave extensive written documentation. Visual information, then, supplements and complements documentary evidence, audiotaped oral histories, and artifacts. The historian who uses the video medium to study a person's environment (and ways of interacting with that environment) and material culture encounters a density of information rarely found in other forms of historical documentation. The words, background, objects, and movements each tell a separate story; when analyzed together, the subtle relationships between them provide an information total greater than the sum of the parts. Individual scholars and projects nationwide have created a wide range of videohistory materials that are now available for research use. Videohistory collections contain visual portraits of scientists, politicians, doctors, teachers, and artists. A video camera captured veterans discussing their Vietnam experience and a group of women scientists from Los Alamos recalling the first atomic bomb test. Videohistorians have recorded processes of traditional food preparation by southwestern native Americans, dairy farming by Minnesotans, and clockmaking by New Englanders to document rapidly changing life-styles. Videohistorians have preserved glimpses of life in the city and rural towns, in the laboratory and the slate quarry, on the farm and in the factory. Videohistory collections mirror the diversity of