This is not an exhaustive list of open source tools and programs to produce spectrograms; if you have a favorite I missed, please add it in the comments!
Tools
- Python: some tutorials and example scripts using the following libraries…
- WarbleR
This is not an exhaustive list of open source tools and programs to produce spectrograms; if you have a favorite I missed, please add it in the comments!
I took a dive into iPhone apps that produce spectrograms of recorded sound, with an interest in bird song (of course). I got into spectrograms looking at the figures in Handbook of Bird Biology. I’m mainly looking for something that I can match to Field Guide to Bird Sounds, with the thought that this could even be a useful field tool for the deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) to enhance experience of the outdoors. I wasn’t willing to buy the super fancy apps with my limited knowledge. With that in mind, here are my thoughts on the apps I tried.
Let me start with some disclaimers: I’m just starting to learn about sound analysis. From what I can gather, it seems that the best thing to do is get the highest quality recording possible (preferably with advanced equipment) and run it through a sophisticated program. Also, I’ve been testing these apps with a chickadee call from my computer speaker, which has its pros and cons…
I’m in a bit of a bind, therefore, in testing the apps: in some ways, it’s the best bird call signal I can expect to get with my iPhone microphone, but I do wonder about the consequences to the spectrogram of the speaker. So, I decided to test it out with the fancier Raven software.
Probably one of the weirdest effects in the phone recording from my speaker is the speeding up of the audio file. Also, notice the loss of some of the higher frequencies in the playback. All this to say, perhaps getting a raw recording of an actual bird on my iPhone will improve the spectrograms (and I’m sure even more so if I had a microphone).
Related, I am curious about the quality of the recorder in a given spectrogram app, because the recording software is bundled with the spectrogram app (or perhaps it uses the native phone recording functionality). Nonetheless, it was a bit of a relief (in a sense) that weeding out apps was not difficult based on design.
At the time of this posting, these apps don’t make the cut for me.
OK in reality these aren’t all “out of my budget,” but more my point that I’m not buying $100’s worth of apps just to compare them. (If you’ve bought one of these though, please comment your review!)
My understanding is that an app probably won’t give you the output that’s as nice as anything in a professionally produced book figure. I’m wondering if at our point in smart phone technology, a real-time spectrogram produced within an app on a phone screen will have much standalone utility. In other words, with no auditory cues, is it realistic at this point to capture a sound with your iPhone mic and get a spectrogram that can be matched up to a figure in the book?
Please comment with your reviews of these (or any) smart phone apps for spectrograms!