Thursday, June 18, 2015

The Need To Understand Forensic Audio Analysis

By Freida Michael


There are many components, departments, etc involved in crime investigation. Forensic audio analysis allows investigators to examine and understand types of sounds -- such as recordings -- from a particular crime scene. Audio forensics is an important part of any investigation.

Analysis of forensic sound is not as easy as listening to the radio. Sound has many layers and each must be isolated to be analyzed thoroughly. The audio's authenticity is challenged to be certain that it is worthy to be passed as evidence in a court of law. If it is confirmed authentic, the crucial portions in the sound such as ambient sounds and dialogue are enhanced for improved audibility. People talking in the clip must be identified because they are part of the crime scene. Dialogues are transcribed and the persons involved will be identified and tracked down by investigators.

The audio is enhanced to improve the sound and make it clearer. This is to make sure nothing was missed on the initial listen. When a sound is enhanced, it cleans any unwanted noises such as static. Sound analysis requires professional equipment and specific skills. Improved technology allows different was to analyze sound. The old method required huge equipment. Technology has made it so most work is done digitally on computers today.

There are many different techniques used thanks to technology. Digital signal processing involves using math to manipulate an information signal. It messes with time and the frequency of the sound to better understand it. One trick is to reverse engineer a noise to determine where it came from. An analysis must be careful not to destroy important evidence while cleaning recordings. Discrete Fourier transform orders sounds by their frequencies as a way to interpret sounds better.

Light was shed during the Watergate scandal through sound analysis. Back then, they had tons of equipment to splice and clip and clean the sound recordings. Now in the digital world, all of these can be done with a simple computer.

On an average day, a forensics audio lab will handle a lot of sensitive sound recordings. For example, they analyze emergency calls to 911, voice mails from cell phones, memory cards recovered from mobile devices, and computer recordings which are all connected to crimes of some sort. It is the job of the lab to analyze these recordings and sounds and maker sure they are reliable in a court of law.

Sometimes, these forensic technicians must testify in a courtroom. They describe the sound and their analysis of the findings. It is important that they do an accurate and efficient job in analyzing sound from crime scenes. Their work plays an important part in the court of law and solving a crime. Their work is under careful observation in court and they must be able to defend their findings.

Audio forensics is an important part of an investigation. Recordings can help unravel things like motives and alibis, and can even help with determining who is at the scene of a crime. It is a difficult task to undertake, and an important part of trying to solve a crime.




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