Freesound Forums
Audio Forensics
Started March 6th, 2007 · 16 replies · Latest reply by dag451 12 years, 8 months ago
Ok I wasn't exactly sure where to post this but this seems like the best place.
Last year I took a criminal justice class (AOJ-1 Intro to Criminal Justice) and now I'm in a forensics class (AOJ-1 Intro to Forensic Science) and my teacher has told the class about a field in forensics called audio forensic science that deals mainly with analysing audio recordings either from 911 calls, surveillance cameras, ransom calls, etc
These specialists use equipment to filter out different foreground and background sounds to either find where the audio was recorded, or even to filter out voice scramblers so the suspects real voice can be heard.
So this brings me to my questions,
1: What kind of equipment could do something like that?
2: If anyone out there is actually IN this field or something similar, what background would be necessary to apply for job?
3: Are jobs like this in high demand right now? Would I have an extremely hard time finding work if I applied for a job in this field?
Thank you for any information you might have,
If you have any answers to my questions please post them, I'll be very appreciative.
Ok, to answer the first question, i don"t know exactly what they take but to do this.
for me, i use first the physic"s law in many case.
and professionnnal audio software that we can see spectrum histogram in real time like "Adobe Audition"(it"s the old "Cool Edit Pro"
Example of this:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/current/report/2007_01_report01.htm
General Theories:
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/lab/fsc/backissu/july2004/research/2004_03_research01.htm
check this link or seach "audio forensic science" on google
http://www.google.ca/search?q=audio+forensic+science&hl=en&start=10&sa=N
that"s all I can say to help you.... :wink:
[ :evil: ]_[ 
hock: ]_[ :twisted: ]
Wow! That's pretty cool about the baseball bat thing.
Do you know how much Cool Edit Pro is? or Adobe Audition?
by the looks of things about $300
Or you can use software with lower price like this:
http://www.visualizationsoftware.com/gram.html
But this is not your problem on the job, the employer refund all this.
Or check on google "portable forensic software"
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=portable+forensic+software&btnG=Search&meta=
And this is usefull to have an maximum sound culture and knowledge to identify background, machine, locations, etc.....
Every year my school hosts a "Crime Fair" that displays different presentations of subjects learned in the criminal justice and forensic science programs. This year my project is going to be all about audio analysis, and I'm going to bring my studio computer to the fair to display how basic equalizers can be used to remove different frequencies from audio recordings.
If anyone can help me out, either through posting links to LEGAL software used for this purpose, or maybe through uploading a voice recording and then uploading the same sample with filters to single out different tones of the voice I'd be very greatful.
Not many people know much about this subject and I think that with the right creative touch I can blow people away with it. I might even get some air time since 2-3 local news stations come out each year for the fair. :twisted: :twisted:
Sorry about the illegal link :cry: ,
next time I will just show you an picture...
But I can find for you some FRREEEWARE 
You can start with Spectrogram (only a demo)
- download link 1
The best freeware is Audacity
- dowload link 1
You can check these link for recording programs:
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1733
http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1526
yeah u will need the equaliser/noise removal tools in audacity if you wish to remove certain noises/frequencies from your audio. i can help you out with this is you want (i use it to remove vocals from audio tracks and remix them with other instrumentals)
Audio forensics and and enhancement is as much an art as it is a technology. You really have to know how to use the tools. The guys at restorationsound.com are experts. I learned allot from them.
There's a lot more to it than just cleaning up recordings, there are procedures you must follow to make sure the chain of custody isn't broken. You must be aware of the legal system regarding expert witnesses if you are going to testify. There are very few courses out there and they are rather expensive and so is the equipment i.e software ( don't even think of trying to get away with using audacity), write blockers, powerful PC, microscope, sound card...
It took me two years of studying and big investment (personally & financially) but I am glad I did it's a very interesting industry constantly evolving.
Hope this helps.
Sean Coetzee
Prism Forensics LLC
CEO & Forensic Consultant
www.prismforensics.com/a>
scoetzee wrote:
There's a lot more to it than just cleaning up recordings, there are procedures you must follow to make sure the chain of custody isn't broken. You must be aware of the legal system regarding expert witnesses if you are going to testify. There are very few courses out there and they are rather expensive and so is the equipment i.e software ( don't even think of trying to get away with using audacity), write blockers, powerful PC, microscope, sound card...
It took me two years of studying and big investment (personally & financially) but I am glad I did it's a very interesting industry constantly evolving.Hope this helps.
Sean Coetzee
Prism Forensics LLC
CEO & Forensic Consultant
www.prismforensics.com/a>
Simply wao
Wow, old thread. You may even have a degree in audio forensics by now. But I just felt I should add that anyone looking into this sort of thing should have a go at using iZotope RX. It's an amazing bit of software that lets you get really surgical with audio editing. Check some of iZotope's vids out on youtube to get an idea of what it can do.