Level 1: Beginner
1. To select the level “beginner”
- Start
WinPitchLTL
- On
the toolbar click: Option ® Select
Version ® OK
The program displays a toolbar
with the basic functions of WinPitchLTL (figure 1):
Figure 1
2. To record via a microphone
- Make
sure that your system is set to record via a microphone (figures 2 et 3)
- In Properties: select Recording
then Mic.
Figure 2
Go back to WinPitchLTL:
- On
the toolbar select display mode:
 means that you want to record a short
segment (shorter or up to one screen display). The screen duration (figure 1) can be set between 1 and 10 seconds. The
default duration is 2 seconds. If you want to record a longer segment (exceeding
one screen display), click on the display Mode button. It will
change to  As you record,
you will see a continuous screen display until the end of your speech.
You can record speeches for up to 12 minutes.
- You can also
determine the duration of the recording. On the toolbar select: ® Options ® Record Buffer ® Record-Duplex.
A Record Set-up box opens (figure:
record set-up). The recording duration by default is 300 seconds (5
minutes).
- You
are now ready to start your recording. Click
 to record and  to stop. You can also use the
keyboard by pressing “E” to record and “Esc” to stop.
It is also possible to record
via other sources: audiotapes, CDs, sound track of video tapes, Internet
sound files, etc. Select line in
in the recording properties box (figure
3).
Record Set-up
box
3. To listen
to your recording
- Click on the playback
button
 . You will see a scrolling cross line
move from left to right on the screen along with the sound played back.
Alternatively, you can press the ‘Q’ key on the keyboard to get the same
result.
- You can also click
on the playback and display button
 . You will hear your recording while
the speech curves are written on the screen again. The melodic curve and
the signal are displayed by default. But you can select or unselect any
of the 3 curves (figures 4 and 5).
4. To listen to parts of your
recording
Specific parts of the signal can be defined with a block.
- To
define a block, click on the left mouse button (make sure the cursor has
an arrow shape at that time). This defines the starting corner of the
block.
- Drag
the mouse with the left button down and release it to define the
opposite corner of the block (figure 6). When you
release the left mouse button, the sound defined by the block will be
played back.
- To
hear it again, position the cursor inside the block: the cursor shape is
changed into a hand; press the left mouse button.
- To
change the block dimensions, position the cursor near the block edges,
and drag the block edge. The block can be moved without changing its
dimensions by positioning the cursor inside the block and dragging the
block, keeping the left mouse button down. Again, when the mouse button
is released, the corresponding sound will be played back.
5. To playback items at a selected speed
You can playback the entire
recording at a slower speed (to better identify phonemic or prosodic
phenomena) or at a faster speed.
- Select
the Playback at a selected speed button:
 . By default it
is slower by 50%. To change the playback speed, select on the toolbar:
Options ® Set Playback rate,
enter the speed you chose and click OK. Then click again the Playback
at a selected speed button. Alternatively, you can press the ‘A’ key
on the keyboard to get the same result.
- To playback selected
segments of your recording at a slower or faster speed, define a block
with the mouse (figure 6), position the cursor
inside the block (the cursor shape is changed into a hand), press and
hold the "shift" key on your keyboard at te
same time you are pressing the left mouse button.
6. To save a sound file.
- On
the toolbar select: ® File ® Save audio file. A Save Sound
File box opens (figure7).
- In
the left column, replace the * by the name you want to give to your file
(up to 8 characters).
- In
the right column, determine where you want to keep this file (drive a,
c, d…? directory? file? etc.)
You can also save your *.wav document in a personal Portfolio: select on the
toolbar ® Options ® Portfolio. Choose a name for your
portfolio and answer ‘Yes’ to the question: “Is the Portfolio Name Correct?”. Then click on the save button  (figure1). Your document
will be automatically saved in your portfolio.
7. To open a sound file
- On
the toolbar select: File ® Load
audio file. A Load File box opens (figure 8).
- In
the right column, select the drive, the directory and the folder where
the file you want to open is located.
- In
the left column, select the name of the file and click ‘OK’. The sound will be played
and curves and signal will appear in real time.
8. To work on sound files grouped as lessons
- Repeat
step 7 (To open a sound file) and select
in the Load File box the folder where the lesson is located.
Select the first item of the lesson (figure 9) and
click ‘OK’. The first item is displayed on the screen.
- To
work on the other items of the lesson, select the Load Next Phrase
button on the toolbar and the Open button (figure
10). The sound of the second item will be played and curves and
signal will appear in real time. The number of each item is displayed
under the toolbar (figure 10). You can follow the
same steps to open the following items, or to open the next lesson.
9. To compare your production
to a model production
- Load
the model production (step 7: To open a sound
file). Once the model phrase is displayed on the screen, click on
the Student Mode button
 . When it becomes
red  it means that you are ready to
record your own phrase.
- Click
on the record button and start recording.
Your production (blue melodic curve by default) is automatically
displayed above the model phrase (in white by default). Click on to listen to your production or on to erase your
production and display the model phrase. You can repeat this operation
as often as you wish. You can save your production in a specific file or
in your portfolio (step 6: to save a sound file)
10. To open a new screen
- On
the toolbar select: File ® New document. A new screen opens. Click on
 to have a full screen and start your recording (step 2).
11. To print a file
- On
the toolbar select: File ® Print
or Print Setup
12. To change the colours of
display
- On
the toolbar click on
 .
13. To select level “intermediate”
- Click
on the toolbar: Options ® Select
Version ® Intermediate ® OK
The program displays a toolbar
with new functions of WinPitchLTL (figure
11)
14. To open a new screen
- On
the toolbar select
 (an alternative to step 10)
15. To add and place text on the
screen
Text (with any font available on your computer, including
phonetic fonts) can be placed, moved and edited.
- To
enter text, click on the Text button
 . A text box will appear (figure 12).
- Select
the appropriate height, width, pitch and font, and enter your text.
Click OK. The cursor will move with your text characters place holders.
- To
place text, press the left mouse button. You have the option to
move the text by block or by character (to align it on the curve for
teaching purposes, for instance). To move a character, click on it and
drag it to its new location, then release the left mouse button. (figure 13). To delete a
character, select it by clicking on it, then press the keyboard delete
key (‘Del’). To edit a character, double click on it. You can then
change the character attributes (color, size, font).
To select a group of characters, use the block function (define a block
around the characters you want to edit). You can move them around, or
edit them globally by pressing the keyboard’s ‘F3’ key. Furthermore, a
group of selected characters can be aligned horizontally on the first
character selected with the ‘L’ keyboard key.
16. To save files with text
Once you have added text to a sound file (*.wav), you can
save the file as a WinPitch file (*.wpc).
- On
the toolbar select: ® File ® Save WinPitch
file. A Save WinPitch File box opens.
- In the left column,
replace the * by the name you want to give to your file.
NB. WinPitch
files contain all the written and graphic elements of a sound file, therefore
every *.wpc file must have the same name as its *.wav equivalent.
- In
the right column, determine where you want to keep this file (drive a,
c, d…? directory? folder?).
NB.
A *.wpc file and its *.wav equivalent have
to be saved in the same folder/directory (figure 14).
17. To open a WinPitch file
- On
the toolbar select: File ® Load WinPitch file. A Load File box opens (figure 15).
- In
the right column, select the drive, the directory and the folder where
the file you want to open is located.
- In
the left column, select the name of the file and click ‘OK’. The prosodic curves and
signal will be displayed, along with any text or graphics saved in the
file.
NB.
You can choose the type of files you want to open at the bottom left corner
of the Load File box (figure 15)
18. To add Bookmarks and
comments via a Comments box
To enhance
interactivity between students and teachers Bookmarks attached to Comments
boxes can be placed anywhere along the signal to allow for easy retrieval
of reference points.
- To create and place a bookmark,
click on the Dialog Box button of the toolbar
 . A bookmark dialog box opens (figure 16) to allow you to specify a bookmark name, write
comments, choose the color of your bookmark, etc. Create the bookmark by
clicking on the Create button.
- You can also retrieve former
bookmarks by selecting their name in the list and clicking on the Find
button. You can delete them the same way.
- New bookmarks are placed by
dragging the bookmark and pressing the left mouse button to position
them. You can move the bookmark by selecting it and dragging it, and
delete it by selecting it and pressing the keyboard delete
key ‘Del’. To read the comments written in the dialog box, put the
cursor on the bookmark placed along the signal. The box will open
automatically. You can also put the cursor on the bookmark and press the
‘F2’ key (figure
17).
- To modify the content of a Comments
box, click twice on the bookmark and the Bookmark dialog box
will open.
- Bookmarks and their attached
comments can be automatically copied and positioned anywhere along the
signal using the Flag Bar buttons (figure 16).
19. To
display multiple windows.
WinPitch is a Multi Document
Interface program (MDI). As such, it allows you to open more than one window
and to perform all the comparisons and all the sound/text editing commands
independently on all the windows your computer memory would allow you to
open.
- Open
a sound file (step 7) or a WinPitch
file (step 17). Then open a second file the same
way, but while you are selecting the name of the second file to open, press ‘Shift’
on your keyboard. A second window will open. You can then align your two
windows by using the Windows | Tile horizontally | Tile vertically |
Cascade command found in the menu under Window (figure
18)
20. To redesign pitch
contours
For learning and correction purposes you can stylize
melodic curves or redesign descending or ascending pitch contours (figure 19).
- On
the toolbar (figure 11) click on the Redesign
Pitch Contour button
 (or press ‘R‘ on
the keyboard). The cursor becomes a horizontal white arrow with a small
T above it.
- Place the cursor on
the screen where you want to start redesigning the melodic curve and
press ‘B’ on the keyboard.
- Trace
the new shape with the cursor. Press ‘B’ each time you change direction.
- Press
‘N’ to finish the track (alternatively, you can use the left mouse
button and select the appropriate command on the pop up menu displayed).
- To
edit an existing melodic track, click on it to select it. The track
changes aspects showing it can be edited. Move the cursor along the
track: you will notice changes in the cursor shape: it takes a cross
shape near the track vertices, a scissors shape along the segment, and a
hand when at some distance from the track. When the cursor has a cross
shape, vertices can be dragged by maintaining the left mouse button
down. When the cursor has scissors shape, the segment can be cut by
pressing the left mouse button, and the vertex created can be dragged to
another position. To remove a vertex, select the track, position the cursor on the vertex until it becomes a cross,
and click the right mouse button (or the delete key “Del”
on the keyboard). The vertex will disappear and the track will change
overall shape (note: end points cannot be deleted). You can select all
redesigned segments with the keys ‘Ctrl A’.
Figure 19
21. To select level “advanced”
- Click
on the toolbar: Options ® Select
Version ® Advanced ® OK
The program displays a toolbar
with new functions of WinPitchLTL (figure
20)
22. To synthesize speech
By repeating step 20, you can trace a new melodic contour
on top of the original one and then synthesize it to listen to the new
melody.
- To
synthesize speech according to signal stored and the prosodic parameters
displayed on the screen, click on the synthesize button
 .
- To
listen to the synthesized speech again, either click on (which starts on new synthesis
process), or simply on the playback button (or ‘Q’ key) if you are in synthesis
mode. Indeed, two listening modes are available: recorded and
synthesized. These modes define what buffer will be played back when the
playback button is clicked.
- To
select the synthesis mode, press the ‘F’ key on the keyboard. The lower
tool bar becomes yellow. To go back to recorded mode, press again the
‘F’ key. The toolbar regains its gray color. In recorded mode, all
readouts pertain to the prosodic parameters of the recorded signal; in
synthesis mode, all readings pertain to the prosodic values, whether
copied (by default) or user defined, of the synthesized speech. This is
also true for defined blocks (step 4) where
recorded and synthesis modes can be toggled using the ‘F’ key on the
keyboard to quickly compare recorded (i.e. original) and synthesized
speech.
23. To redefine the duration
of speech segments
As for pitch, duration is another prosodic parameter that
the program allows you to modify for learning and corrective purposes.
Duration changes are displayed in %, and are negative (i.e. speech slower)
when the curve is below the zero line of the signal (yellow curve near the
bottom of the screen), and positive (speech faster) when positioned above
that zero line (figure 21).
- On
the toolbar (figure 20) click on the Redefinition
of duration button
 (or press ‘R‘ on the keyboard). The cursor becomes a horizontal
white arrow with a small T above it. Then follow the same procedures as
in step 20 although this time you are
working on the signal to modify duration of speech segments.
- You
can then repeat step 22 to synthesize
and hear the result.
24. To save a synthesis file
- On
the toolbar select: ® File ® Save Synthesis file. A Save Sound
File box opens (figure7).
- Repeat the
procedures of step 6.
- Synthesis
files are *.wav files, but you can add text, bookmarks, comments on the
synthesis file, the same way you do for a recorded sound file. You can
then repeat step 16 to save the file as a
*.wpc file.
25. To select level “professor”
- Click
on the toolbar: Options ® Select
Version ® Professor ® OK
The program displays a toolbar
with new functions of WinPitchLTL (figure
22)
26. To load a document
- On
the toolbar click on the Load a Document button
 . When the Load File box opens
(figure 15), search for your file in the right
column, choose if you want to open a *.wav file or a *.wpc file at the bottom left corner of the Load
File box, select the specific file in the left column and open it.
27. To cut, copy and/or
paste a sound block
In the same way we can cut/copy/paste parts
of text in a word processor program, WinPitchLTL
has sound Cut  ,Copy  and Paste  capability, activated when a block is
defined (step 4).
Cut will copy the sound block to a buffer and play back the resulting
recorded sound. Paste will paste the cut or copy sound block into the current
recorded sound and play it back. The undo button  will cancel the last operation. (This button
will undo the last action for prosodic track placement and editing as well).
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Instruments Inc.
All Rights Reserved
http://www.winpitch.com
e-mail: info@winpitch.com
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