A pretty good formant tracker

Algorithms were developed for estimating formant frequencies on a time frame by time frame basis. The algorithms incorporate acoustic phonetic knowledge about formants. The algorithms are based on knowledge of acoustic phonetics, and do not merely rely on spectral peaks. Thus two formants will be identified even when the first and second formants merge or when the second and third formants merge to form a single peak. The algorithms were evaluated by comparing formants drawn on a speech spectrogram by a trained phonetician to those drawn automatically. The data base consisted of both male and female speakers speaking phonetically balanced sentences. In addition, synthesis derived from the formant frequencies and amplitudes was tested for intelligibility. Results will be presented for these two procedures. [Supported by NSF and DARPA.]