spectrograms
Sound made visible
Spectrograms are visual representations of sound frequencies over time, typically displayed as graphs where one axis shows time, another shows frequency, and color or brightness indicates intensity.
Scientists and audio engineers use them to analyze speech patterns, music, birdsong, or any acoustic signal: The spectrogram revealed harmonics invisible to the naked ear.
In medical contexts, spectrograms can display other frequency-based data like brain waves or heart rhythms.
Rate of recurrence
- amplitudeMaximum oscillation displacement
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
- resonanceAmplified oscillation at natural frequency
- waveformGraphed oscillation pattern
timbre · decibels · pitch · bandwidth · overtones · fundamental · intensity · noise
Study of speech sounds
- phonemesMinimal sound distinctions
- vowelsLetters with unblocked airflow
- consonantsLetters that aren't vowels
- prosodyStudy of verse rhythm
intonation · articulation · voicing · fricatives · plosives · nasals · intelligibility · speech recognition
Value-to-hue translation scheme
- heatmapColor-scaled data visualization
- waterfallDescending river over precipice
- grayscaleTonal range, black to white
- axisRotation reference line
display · plot · sonogram · real-time · scrolling · contrast · brightness · logarithmic scale
Avian musical vocalizations
- whale callsMarine mammal vocalizations
- music transcriptionConverting audio to written notes
- sonarUnderwater detection by echoes
- radarRadio-wave object detection
seismology · echolocation · engine diagnostics · quality control
Rapid spectral decomposition algorithm
- windowingDividing screen into panes
- sampling rateCaptures per second
- aliasingSignal misidentification from undersampling
- segmentationDivision into sections
frequency
Rate of recurrence
- amplitudeMaximum oscillation displacement
- harmonicsFrequencies above the fundamental
- resonanceAmplified oscillation at natural frequency
waveform · timbre · decibels · pitch · bandwidth · overtones · fundamental · intensity · noise · signal
phonetics
Study of speech sounds
- phonemesMinimal sound distinctions
- vowelsLetters with unblocked airflow
- consonantsLetters that aren't vowels
prosody · intonation · articulation · voicing · fricatives · plosives · nasals · intelligibility · speech recognition · diphthongs
colormap
Value-to-hue translation scheme
- heatmapColor-scaled data visualization
- waterfallDescending river over precipice
- grayscaleTonal range, black to white
axis · display · plot · sonogram · real-time · scrolling · contrast · brightness · logarithmic scale · annotation
birdsong
Avian musical vocalizations
- whale callsMarine mammal vocalizations
- music transcriptionConverting audio to written notes
- sonarUnderwater detection by echoes
radar · seismology · echolocation · engine diagnostics · quality control
FFT
Rapid spectral decomposition algorithm
- windowingDividing screen into panes
- sampling rateCaptures per second
- aliasingSignal misidentification from undersampling
segmentation · pattern recognition · classification · machine learning
- speechspeech, speaking, talk, diction, conversation
- machine learningneural networks, deep learning, backpropagation, underfitting, CNNs
- phoneticsphonemes, phoneme, vocal folds, consonants, vowels