naturerecordists
[Top] [All Lists]

Nature Recordists, Birdsong, and Speech

Subject: Nature Recordists, Birdsong, and Speech
From: Michael Dalton <>
Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 03:41:58 -0800 (PST)
    Ladies and Gentlemen,
=20=20
  I joined this group some time ago because of my interest in sonic communi=
cation. When members discuss identifying a bird by the sound of its song, i=
t gives me hope to find a person who is sensitive to speech sounds.
=20=20
  Many members on this list mechanically record birdsong or bird calls. I p=
ose this question: Can you identify isolated speech sounds made by a talkin=
g bird? So far, one member of this group demonstrated a greater-than-averag=
e ability to understand speech from real-world recordings of a talking bird=
.
=20=20
  Despite more than 70 years of effort, man still has little idea about the=
 subject of bird communications. By reversing the investigative procedure, =
a talking bird communicates using her extensive English vocabulary. My maca=
w speaks sequences of words, phrases, and sentences about divergent topics =
that communicate her thoughts through words.
=20=20
  I need someone to work at learning the bird=92s dialect to corroborate th=
at my transcription is correct. I can provide initial suggestions for a lis=
tener, who would enjoy being a part of this experiment in interspecies comm=
unication. Eventually, I would like the person to be able to demonstrate in=
dependent transcription for short, unfamiliar, samples. (Isolated words in =
the bird=92s vocabulary are at high school level.) Because the bird uses se=
veral voices and the statements are isolated from extended context, the tra=
nscription process requires a degree of divergent thinking to connect the s=
ounds with the target words.
=20=20
  General comments are welcomed. Interested parties kindly respond directly=
.
=20=20
  Thanks to all,
=20=20
  Mike Dalton
  Florida




=09=09
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Shopping
 Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Yahoo! Shopping

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the naturerecordists mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU