Analog Devices : Analog Dialogue : Book Review: Audio Anecdotes III

Book Review

Audio Anecdotes III, Tools, Tips, and Techniques for Digital Audio, Edited by Ken Greenebaum and Ronen Barzel, A.K. Peters, December 2007, ISBN 978-1-56881-215-1

Reviewed by Vladimir Botchev [vladimir.botchev@mediatek.com]

This book is the third in AK Peters’s series, Audio Anecdotes, all devoted to problem-solving and practical explanations in the area of digital audio. Unfortunately, it would also appear to be the last in this remarkable series. A thorough technical review of this work could span several pages; this much shorter (preferred) review comprises impressions from reading the book and using the tools and techniques described.

The writing style used is similar to that of the previous volumes, basically a comprehensive tutorial. Even when topics are not covered in the greatest of detail—for example, HRTF (headphone-related transfer-function) spatialization, or audio/video synchronization—enough information is provided for the reader to appreciate the complexity of the problem, understand the ideas of the suggested solutions, and gain a good background in those specific areas.

The various topics covered in this volume include: music recording; sound synthesis, with an emphasis on physical modeling continuing from previous volumes; voice synthesis, including very interesting research on artificial speech natural-ness; speech processing, confined to waveform processing—no compression or parameterization—and presenting techniques for changing the rate of the speech and its apparent pitch.

Then there is a chapter on applied signal processing for audio, without doubt of great value to both audio practitioners and students of digital audio. The seldom-discussed-elsewhere topic of dynamic-range compression is dissected, and almost no relevant detail is left out of consideration. In this chapter a speech detector is also presented in detail. HRTF spatialization and audio/video synchronization are covered by well rounded tutorials, including some practical tips, such as dealing with interpolation issues in the synchronization.

Music composition is unfamiliar to me, so it was with great interest that I tried to learn some basics from a chapter of that name. Fortunately the style of this chapter is, as with all other chapters, excellent and quite helpful for someone without any background in the area. The book closes on a chapter that discusses the way humans experience sound. This is the kind of information one would enjoy finding in, say, Scientific American, and one is grateful the editor thought of including it in this book. The book is supplemented with a CD containing demonstrations, code examples and a lot of audio data.

This book cannot be recommended highly enough. It is necessary reading, not only for audio specialists or students, but for anyone with interest in how modern audio technology works and how it is perceived. In fact, all three volumes of this series should be considered an indivisible body of knowledge, an open gate to modern audio marvels.