Spectrogram Reading Home Page

Spectrogram Reading
Why would anyone want to read a spectrogram?

Figure 1 - The above spectrogram depicts the word "Why?" Note the leftmost triangular aspiration of `h', the closing of the gap between F1 and F3 which is `w', the stable energy in F1 and F3 with a rudimentary F2 dominated by F1 which is `a', and the separation and rise of F2 and which is the `i' part of the diphthong.

Human beings communicate with each other through the medium of spoken and written language. Spoken language is an earlier development in the history of the species and the individual than written language; nevertheless, speech is more mysterious than writing, both to researchers and to the billions of humans who every day speak and listen to thousands of different languages in order to communicate their thoughts, needs, and emotions to others. In fact, speech may very well be a code -- one that is far from being cracked at this time, in spite of great progress in the past few decades.

If speech is a code, then spectrograms provide our best clue to what sort of code it is. A spectrogram is a translation into the visual domain of speech and other sounds which we normally process with our ears. Very early in our lives, we begin to acquire the skill of translating auditory information into meaningful language. However, it is almost impossible for us to analyze this process. The translation is done by the lower neurological centers without any conscious involvement.

Learning to read a spectrogram is another matter altogether, something like learning to speak a new language as an adult. The conscious mind is able to participate fully in acquiring a second language and in learning to read a spectrogram. The disadvantage is clear: in all probability we will never learn a second language as well as we learned our own native tongue as a child. Similarly, it is not probable that an adult will learn to read spectrograms as well as he or she is able to decode spoken language; even if all the necessary information is present in the image, which is not certain.

However, there is a small compensating advantage in each case: as adults we participate as conscious beings in all phases of the learning process and thus can explain and analyze as we never did as children. In doing so, we understand spoken language from a different perspective; we can measure, compare, and build up a repertoire of patterns with all of the resources of our conscious intelligence. A portion of our daily lives reveals unexpected depth and beauty.