Praat

Praat (Dutch for "speak") is a computer program from the University of Amsterdam for speech analysis. It can be used by MTF trans* people to help alter their voices.

It is freely available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, FreeBSD, SGI, Solaris, HPUX. The source code is available as well.

Installing Praat

Various files may be downloaded from the Praat home page.

Pratt graphic application

The graphic application is what most users will be using.

Pratt command line application

This is a command line application for advanced users who would like to process speech using script files.

Phonetic symbol fonts

For the display of IPA phonetic symbols, two fonts are provided. There are not needed if display of phonetic symbols is not desired.

• Charis SIL font
• Doulos SIL font

Using Praat

Praat is a comprehensive program for speech analysis and has many features. Those with simple requirements will need to only use a small subset of its features.

Simple usage

The main window in the Praat graphic application is "Praat objects". There is another window called "Praat picture" which is not required for simple usage and may be closed.

In the Praat object window are listed all the audio clips and associated data derived from them. The verb buttons on the right hand side will change depending upon the type of object selected

Using the menu commands Read : Read from file... a WAV or MP3 file may be read in and added to the objects. Select an audio clip and click the Edit button. An edit window will open.

By default, this will show the audio waveform on the top half and the pitch contour on the bottom half. Clicking on the graph will select a single point of the audio clip. Clicking and dragging will select a portion of the audio clip. Readout of either instantaneous or average values will be indicated on the axises.

See also

• Voice

External links

• Praat home page at the University of Amsterdam
• Praat Language Lab, a tutorial from the University of Minnesota
• Harvard Sentences, some standardized sentences for testing or practice
• Spectralissime, an alternative to Praat

Discuss

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