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- EUROPEC
- [European Program d'Enregistrement de Corpus]
- License
- non-commercial
- Author
- J. Zeiliger
- Task
-
- Record and playback
- Protocol-driven recording session.
- Visual and acoustic prompts.
- Start and endpointing of utterances
- Signal and label files production
- Description
-
This is a corpus prompting/recording software making easier the
recording of speech databases. It ensures constant recording conditions
for various speakers and/or corpus. The recording session is driven by a
protocol file (user-made) which describes the way items (components of
the corpus) will be displayed on the screen.
- Components
-
- ``Standard SAM format'' files production.
- One or two-channels recording and listening facilities.
- Three recording modes (manual, automatic, continuous).
- Parameter adjustment (sampling rate, input and output gain, etc.).
- Sound levelmeter.
- Free / operator controlled session.
- Error treatment.
- Acoustic prompt.
- Easy data verification.
- Safeguarding files.
- Easy data retrieval and manipulation.
- Simplified session.
- User's Guide and many example files.
- User-customisable in any language.
- Modularity
-
- Extensibility
-
- Size
-
Version 4.11: 170 kbytes.
( data: examples of speaker, corpus, protocol and label files provided.)
- Implementation
-
MICROSOFT C (v5.1)
TMS code for the I/O board
- Platform
-
SESAM workstation (PC-DOS based), with OROS AU21/22 I/O board.
- Languages
-
All.
- Retargetability
-
- Orthography
-
Labelling via ASCII.
- Examples
-
The program is used in laboratories all over Europe.
- Status
-
- robust (used in over 30 labs).
- stable
- Windows release under consideration.
- Documentation
-
User's guide (30 Pages) SAM-ICP-O45, March 31st, 1991
- Upgrades
-
No foreseen upgrade. Windows implementation under consideration.
- SourceCode
-
Provided to members of ESPRIT projects only
- Consulting
-
- Format
-
1.4 Mb HD floppy disk
- Price
-
One floppy and mailing costs.
- Restrictions
-
- Research purpose only.
- Citation
- Contact
-
- Address
-
Institut de la Communication Parlée, Grenoble, France.
The EUROPEC prompting/recording tool has been clearly designed to make easier
the recordings in large recording campaigns for the constitution of speech
databases. However, it provides also simple and basic functionalities.
Some particular points must be developed here:
DATA AUTHENTIFICATION
The EUROPEC software ensures automatic and consistant filenaming of the files
it produces. The uniqueness of a filename during a recording campaign is
ensured by an incremental serial number. For each recording session, the
components: speaker, corpus to be recorded, recording conditions, protocol to
be used, have to be registered in the relevant DB files.
PROTOCOL OF CORPUS
The protocol-based approach uses a protocol file that contains instructions to
be executed by the program during the recording session. These instructions
address the prompting of items on the screen and the design of the session.
They define how and when items will be displayed, and allow training phases
before the recordings. Here are some examples of the relevant codes
implemented:
- CLS: CLearScreen and put cursor to 0,0
- VON: Video attribute ON: center, blink, inverse, underline, bright
...
- VOF: Video attribute OFF
- BEL: ring bell
- MSG: message to display according to valid video attributes
- NWL: newline on screen
- PAU: n (integer) = duration of the pause in seconds
- TRN: set training mode, no recording
- CMT: comment
- GET: n (integer)
n: number of items to read in the corpus text file, then to
display and record (if recording mode is activated) or not (if
training mode is activated)
- LOP: -n, m loop in the protocol file
n: number of one-line-back in the present file
m: number of iterations
- REC: recording mode activation
- RET: waiting for a RC (return)
In a research environment a prompting/recording tool can easily be extended
or retargeted with useful functionalities to cover other experiments and
researchers needs.
For instance, local variants of the EUROPEC software have been successfully
produced to perform adequate experiments in the following domains:
- Perception:
- The acoustic prompt can be used to perform perception tests.
Stimuli are played to the listener that is then presented menu options to
indicate his answer. The answers are stored in the label file (results of
the test).
- Prosody:
- Online listening facility is provided when the recordings aim
at matching a particular (`spontaneous') prosodic profile. The session is a
sequence of record, listen/accept/reject (menu options), record, listen/..
phases.
- Acoustic:
- The acoustic prompt can be used to play blank noise during
articulatory positioning then simultaneous I/O is used to record the
production of the vocal tract excitated by a blank noise.
All these examples demonstrate that prompting, recording and playback
facilities can appear in different ways in various experiments.
The protocol-based approach as initiated in EUROPEC is adapted to the
definition of the experiment session by the user. This approach must be
clearly enhanced: a recording tool should be better considered as a software
platform providing basic functionalities as signal input/output, acoustic or
text prompts, storage of labels or results, mouse driven menu. The modularity
of these functions would allow the user to design his experiment and write
the corresponding protocol file in a high level language; the protocol being
then interpreted by the program all along the session.
Next: Digital storage media
Up: Spoken language reference materials
Previous: PTM (Parametric Test Manager)
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