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Avisoft-SASLab Pro Tutorial
Measuring sound parameters from the spectrogram automatically
If the sound
files to be analyzed are reasonably structured, the Automatic
Parameter Measurements tool can dramatically speed-up the acquisition of sound parameters. A wide range
of various measurements can be carried out:
Figure 1: The Automatic Parameter
Measurements setup dialog.
The success of the automatic measurements will heavily
depend on the type of sounds, the quality of sound recordings and
the configuration settings made under Tools/Automatic parameter
measurements/’setup…’. The first and most essential step in
configuring this tool is to establish a safe element separation.
There are four options in the ‘Element separation’ section:
- automatic (single threshold)
Use this option for sound files, where all elements nearly have the same amplitude.
- automatic (two thresholds)
This option is suited for sound files containing elements with varying amplitudes.
- automatic (three thresholds)
Use this option for sound
files containing elements with varying amplitudes that require separate thresholds for detecting the start an end of each element
- interactively (section labels)
This option is appropriate for sounds where the automatic element separation is not possible.
- automatic (whistle tracking)
This option is suited for detecting soft whistles in noisy sound recordings.
automatic (single threshold)
The single threshold is used for both detecting the elements and the determination of the
start and end point of each element:
Figure 2a: Single threshold element separation (option "relative to maximum" not activated).
Figure 2b: Single threshold element separation (option "relative to maximum" activated).
The point where the
amplitude exceeds the threshold is assumed to be the start of an
element. Similarly, the point, where the amplitude goes first below
the threshold is the end point of the element.
The thresholds can be adjusted interactively. There is an option called "show threshold" that activates a graphic display, which might help to optimize the settings. The primary element separation threshold can easily be edited graphically (by dragging):
An additional hold
time parameter prevents to recognize the end of an element in case the
amplitude goes below the threshold for a short period of time only.
For adjusting the threshold, it might be useful to first set the ‘Hold
time’ parameter to a small value. Then, if all elements are
recognized properly, increase the hold time parameter in order to
melt closely spaced related parts.
Figure 3: The ‘Hold time’ parameter of 5 ms is too low for these
amplitude modulated elements. The first, third and fourth element
are each recognized as two separate elements.
Figure 3:
Increasing the ‘Hold time’ parameter to 50 ms provides satisfying
results.
Figure 4:
Larger amplitude differences lead to poor start and end point
locations. In such cases use the ‘two thresholds’ option described
below.
automatic (two thresholds)
The first threshold is used for element detection only. The second start/end threshold is used
to determine start and end points. The specified relative start/end
threshold is used to calculate an internal individual absolute
threshold for each detected element:
Figure 5: Two
thresholds element separation: The first absolute threshold
for the element detection is shown as a continuous horizontal line. The short lines depict the
second relative start/end threshold that is referenced to the maximum of each detected element. In this
way, the automatically recognized element borders are independent
from the absolute element amplitudes. This is especially important
for vocalizations with high dynamic ranges (both loud and soft
elements) or in recording situations with varying distances between
the animal and microphone (e.g. flying bats). Adjusting the two
parameters should be done in the following sequence: First use the
‘automatic (single threshold)’ mode to adjust the first absolute
threshold for element detection. Modify this value until all
elements are recognized safely. At this stage it does not matter,
whether the element borders are recognized correctly. It is only
important that there is a number displayed above each element:
Figure 6:
Adjusting the absolute element detection threshold. Then switch back
to the ’automatic (two threshold)’ mode to adjust the second
relative ‘start/end threshold’. Start with high values (e. g. –5dB)
and decrease the relative threshold (down to – 10 … - 20 dB),
depending on the structure of your signals. Alternatively, adjusting
the two thresholds can be done without switching into the single
threshold mode. Then first set the ‘start/end threshold’ to 0 dB to
find the correct absolute element detection threshold.
Figure 7: The
relative start/end threshold of –17dB is too low . The reverberation
noise between the elements prevents proper element separation at
this low threshold.
Figure 8: Correctly recognized elements (using a start/end threshold of –11
dB), despite of the varying element amplitudes.
automatic (three thresholds)
This option is similar to the above two thresholds option, except that there are two separate thresholds for the localization of the start and the end of each element. This is certainly useful for sounds influenced by reverberration.
If there is too much noise that prevents the automatic recognition, you might try to remove that noise. If the noise does not overlap with the sounds of interest, then a simple high- or low-pass filter might help.
It is possible to hide low frequencies on the spectrogram window from the command Display/'lower Cut-Off Frequency...'.
In case the noise overlaps with the sound elements, then it would be possible to remove that noise manually by using the command
Tools/Cursors/'Standard eraser cursor':
Figure 9: Noise prevents the proper element detection
Figure 10: Manually erasing the noise provides the desired result
Another option for rejecting broad-band noise is the Entropy option in the 'Post filter' section.
In case the automatic element detection does not work satisfying for all elements, it is possible to edit the automatically detected element borders subsequently by clicking at the "edit>" button. The automatically detected element borders will be converted into section labels and the element separation method is set to 'interactively (section labels)':
interactively (section labels)
In some recordings the automatic threshold-based
element separation may not work satisfying because of strong ambient
noise or because of poorly structured vocalizations. For such sounds,
the element borders can be defined manually by inserting section
labels. These section labels can be quickly inserted by
left-clicking at the desired start point while the shift key is
pressed. Then drag the end point of the label to the desired location
and release the mouse button. The location of these labels can be
altered subsequently by simple dragging. Section labels can be
placed at various layers (layer 1...3 and total). However, for this
application, the specific layer is not important.
Figure 11:
Section labels have been placed on the top of the
spectrogram.
automatic (whistle tracking)
This element separation method employs an alternative detection algorithm that does not rely on amplitude thresholds.
Therefore, this option is more appropriate for detecting soft whistle-like sounds in noisy sound recordings (certainly for analyzing USV’s emitted by laboratory rats).
The implemented algorithm searches for steady signals having a relatively stable (peak) frequency course without rapid frequency modulations.
Figure 12: Principle of the whistle tracking algorithm
Figure 13
For proper function of the algorithm, the background noise should have a broad-band structure. There should be only the thermal noise of the microphone or noise caused by the movement of the animals on the substrate. Any additional regular harmonic noise (e.g. electromagnetic interferences from technical equipment) may prevent the reliable detection.
Once the element separation described above is working satisfying, the desired parameters to be measured can be activated from the
setup dialog (see also the manual for the details):
Temporal Parameters
Spectrum-based Parameters
The above spectrum-based parameters can be taken at various locations within each element (or syllable):
The example below illustrates the differences between the options Mean and Max spectrum of entire element. Assuming a syllable consisting of a constant frequency and a frequency-modulated part having a constant amplitude throughout its duration, the mean spectrum would be dominated by the constant frequency part (most of the energy is concentrated at the constant frequency). Instead, the max spectrum would have a flat top across the entire frequency range of the syllable, regardless of the duration of the constant frequency section.
This means that the 'Max spectrum of entire element' can be used to describe the frequency range of a vocalization. However, in frequency-modulated and whistle-like vocalizations, the two options 'Min' and 'Max param. of entire element' in conjunction with the 'Peak frequency' would provide more precise results.
Alternative measurement approaches
Another way for measuring frequency contours automatically is the spectrogram window command 'Tools'/'Scan frequency contour and amplitude envelope'.
The resulting frequency values can be obtained by executing the File/Save command of the Graphic Synthesizer. The ASCII file NEW.ft (or xxxxxxx.ft) contains the frequency values along with the associated time stamps.
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