Editing Voice analysis (section)

=== Forensic Voice ===
Experts in forensic voice analyze recordings by examining transmitted and stored speech, enhancing it and decoding it for criminal investigations, court trials, and federal agencies.

To utilize audio recordings in court, a forensic phonetician must authenticate the recording to detect tampering, enhance the audio, and interpret the speech. Their first job is to ensure that the speech in the recording being used is comprehensible. Oftentimes, samples have poor sound quality due to environmental factors such as wind or movement. Other times the sound degradation is due to technological issues within the recording device. Any investigative work on speaker identification cannot be done until the recording is of proper quality. Different solutions for poor comprehensibility are done using computer programs that allow the user to filter and eliminate noise. Computer software is also able to convert the speech to spectra and waveforms, which is useful for the forensic phonetician. However, any work done on the recording should be done after a copy of the original recording is made.

A main part of the forensic phonetician's job is speaker identification. The interpretation process might include piecing together a timeline, transcribing the dialog, and identifying unknown or unintelligible sounds in the audio recording. In court, the expert ultimately serves to explain the facts surrounding the audio evidence, providing an explanation of relevant acoustical and physical principles to explain what is evidenced by the recording. Reports are made to include detailed information, if there is a section of the recording that is not comprehensible or is inaudible, an explanation of what was happening (in the recording), and a description of what is missing from the recording.