Sound Analysis and Synthesis with R (Use R!)

Sound is almost always around us, anywhere, at any time, reaching our ears and stimulating our brains for better or worse. Sound can be the disturbing noise of a drill, a merry little tune sung by a friend, the song of a bird in the morning or a clap of thunder at night. The science of sound, or acoustics, studies all types of sounds and therefore covers a wide range of scientific disciplines, from pure to applied acoustics. Research dealing with acoustics requires a sound to be recorded, analyzed, manipulated and, possibly, changed. This is particularly, but not exclusively, the case in bioacoustics and ecoacoustics, two life sciences disciplines that attempt to understand and to eavesdrop on the sound produced by animals. Sound analysis and synthesis can be challenging for students, researchers and practitioners who have few skills in mathematics or physics. However, deciphering the structure of a sound can be useful in behavioral and ecological research – and also very amusing.

This book is dedicated to anyone who wants to practice acoustics but does not know much about sound. Acoustic analysis and synthesis are possible, with little effort, using the free and open-source software R with a few specific packages. Combining a bit of theory, a lot of step-by-step examples and a few cases studies, this book shows beginners and experts alike how to record, read, play, decompose, visualize, parametrize, change, and synthesize sound with R, opening a new way of working in bioacoustics and ecoacoustics but also in other acoustic disciplines.

聲音幾乎總是在我們周圍，無論何時何地，進入我們的耳朵，刺激我們的大腦，無論是好是壞。聲音可以是令人不安的鑽孔聲，朋友唱的歡快小曲，早晨鳥兒的歌聲，或者晚上的雷聲。聲音科學，或稱聲學，研究各種聲音，因此涵蓋了從純粹到應用的廣泛科學學科。處理聲學的研究需要對聲音進行記錄、分析、操作，並可能進行改變。這在生物聲學和生態聲學中尤其如此，這兩個生命科學學科試圖理解和窺探動物所產生的聲音。對於在數學或物理方面缺乏技能的學生、研究人員和從業人員來說，聲音分析和合成可能具有挑戰性。然而，解讀聲音的結構對於行為和生態研究非常有用，同時也非常有趣。

本書專為那些想要練習聲學但對聲音了解不多的人而寫。使用免費且開源的軟體R以及一些特定的套件，可以輕鬆進行聲音分析和合成。本書結合了一點理論、大量的逐步示例和一些案例研究，向初學者和專家展示如何使用R來記錄、讀取、播放、分解、可視化、參數化、改變和合成聲音，開啟了在生物聲學、生態聲學以及其他聲學學科中工作的新方式。