From: saarikko@cc.helsinki.fi
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.ethology,sfnet.tiede.bio.elaint
Subject: New sound analysis software from Cornell - forwarded from Birdchat
Date: 21 Jul 92 22:18:32 GMT
Distribution: sfnet
Organization: University of Helsinki

message from birdchat forwarded by Jarmo Saarikko:
===========================================================================
*Date:         Fri, 17 Jul 1992 18:22:18 EDT
*Sender: "National Birding Hotline Cooperative (Chat Line)"
*              <BIRDCHAT@ARIZVM1.BITNET>
*From: "Norman C. Saunders" <NYS%NIHCU.BITNET@FINHUTC.hut.fi>

*The Canary Sings!
*
*It's a Bird . . . It's a Disk . . . It's
*New Sound Analysis Software
*
*        The Cornell laboratory of Ornithology's Bioacoustics
*Research  Program  (BRP)  has released  a  new  computer  software
*program  for  analyzing  natural  sounds.   Called  "Canary,"  the
*Macintosh-compatible program transforms recorded sounds into  data
*files   that  can  be  displayed  as  spectrograms,  then  edited,
*compared,  and interpreted.  The development of Canary was  funded
*by an $82,000 National Science Foundation grant and matching funds
*raised by the Lab.
*
*       "The bioacoustics research community has a real need for  a
*sound   analysis  program  that's  user  friendly  but  also   has
*sophisticated   analytical  capabilities,"   says   BRP   director
*Christopher Clark..  "Canary is both, and it runs on a  moderately
*priced computer system that many researchers already have in their
*labs."
*
*       According to Clark, most of the sound analysis systems  now
*in  use have been adapted from industrial or medical applications.
*"Bioacousticians  have been forced to analyze  sounds  using  less
*than  optimum  parameters," he says, "simply  because  that's  how
*these  instruments are set up--to measure the human voice  or  the
*sound of worn-out ball-bearings."  Canary has a whole continuum of
*settings  available, so researchers can tailor each  analysis  for
*the sound spectrum of the animal being studied.
*
*       BRP  programmer  Steve  Mitchell, who  wrote  the  program,
*demonstrated Canary's capabilities for Lab staffers  at  a  recent
*meeting.  First recorded sounds are converted to data files;  then
*the  computer  screen  displays a window with  as  many  as  three
*sections  that show a sound's waveform, spectrogram, or  spectrum.
*A  command  panel controls the display scale and playback  volume,
*while  a measurement panel lets the researcher quantify parameters
*of   the   sound.    Two  sounds  can  be  viewed   and   compared
*simultaneously.
*
*      Researchers can put Canary to work in their labs for a small
*fee.  The $200 purchase price covers future upgrades, including  a
*user  manual, on-line help, and tutorials.  "That's our  immediate
*next project," says Clark, "developing these materials to make the
*program  even  easier to use."  BRP is also planning  an  advanced
*version  of  the  program  for the Cornell  bioacoustics  research
*community.
*
*
*This  article  appeared in Birdscope, Vol. 6, No. 3, Summer  1992.
*Birdscope   is  the  newsletter  of  the  Cornell  Laboratory   of
*Ornithology.   If  you have further questions about  the  article,
*contact the Labs directly at 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca,  NY
*14850 or by phone at 607-254-BIRD.
*
*This  material is provided compliments of The Osprey's  Nest,  the
*world's  first  computer  bulletin board  for  birders  and  other
*amateur naturalists.  Online in a suburb of Washington, D.C. since
*July 1987 at 301-989-9035.

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