UPDATE!! see below
Also see later post here
OK, so you've heard the Romney whisper. Now take a look at the two 'clicks' that come on either side of the whisper.
The following graph shows the FFT (log) of the segment. A Hanning window was used, for those who are interested, 1000-pt, 50% overlap window-to-window. Nothing crazy.
The area denoted "A" is the whisper. It's pretty typical of a whisper -- high frequencies, but no definite frequency pattern, no clear pitch. Whispers are essentially noise (think 'sssss') passed through filters to shape them.
The area denoted "B" is a 'click' sound. It's quite audible. Visually, you can see that there is no pitch, and a fairly even frequency distribution. It starts and stops suddenly. It's a click. Note that it occurs after the whisper. A microphone is clicking off.
Is there an 'on' click. Yes! Area "C" is the tail end of Tim Russert's question. It's typical resonant speech. It's the middle-to-end of the word "three" (1983). "Three" has resonant sounds; there are no 'clicking' or what a speech processor would call plosive sounds in the word. You can see a very clearly defined pitch, along with harmonics.
But there's an additional sound in there, area "D." It has evenly distributed frequencies, like the "B" sound. The human voice is not capable of making a clicking sound and the "ee" sound at the same time. This sound comes from a second source. I can't make it out on the audio, because the ear is much better at picking up resonant sounds -- Russert's voice, in this case. But it's there. It's also a click. It's the microphone clicking on.
UPDATE: Romney is known to have worn an ear-piece while speaking at the American Dream Summit in Michigan. One of his handlers was at the other end:
http://www.redstate.com/blogs/jerry_zandstra/2008/jan/26/who_is_whispering_in_romneys_ear
UPDATE 2: Well, we need to all try to be fair and honest, even in the pajama media. When I went to further process the audio, I realized that I had not applied the Hanning window, as was stated in the text above. The Hanning window is applied to get rid of certain FFT artifacts, and the appearance of the first 'click' is a possible artifact. (The FFT treats a signal as though it were an endless loop, and looping can cause a discontinuity, much like a click, that isn't really there.) So, I fixed that, and the first 'click' disappears:
So there's a click after the whisper, but if there's one before the whisper, it's covered by Russert's voice ... at least for now.
6 comments:
They want you to believe that these stories are "buried" yet if you say that you figured out that it is the moderators that "allow" Paul stories to the front page you get banned.... like they banned me for that.
I said the jig is up when a story had 800+ diggs and 80+ comments yet didn't go to the front page. I was banned within minutes.
Excellent job!
Study this one now. I would love to see if you find the same thing....
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/Second_Mitt_Romney_Whisper_support
Good work! Can you pass this on to any local media outlets or someone who would like to scoop this?
I remember as a kid tape recording songs off the TV. I always got a click when I stopped the tape, but not when I started it. It may be because stopping the sound suddenly leaves a click as the current is interrupted, while starting it is a more gradual process. I confess I'm not certain of the process, but it's analogous to when you plug in the vacuum, it simply starts; while pulling the plug on a running vacuum causes a spark.
Ray
According to Jerry Zandstra, Romney wore an earpiece during a speech in Michigan on January 12th. See redstate.com
"on" clicks are not the same sound as an "off" click (in my experience with mics). There is an inrush of sound with the "on" which may actually have a tone to it, like a deep thud. Given Russerts deep voice it could be lost in the mix, but I would think it would not have the same signature as the 'off' click.
AJStrata
www.strata-sphere.com
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