This repository contains the implementation of the Hammarberg Index [1]. This index value is applied in speech signals and is related to the vocal effort reflected in the spectral information. It is a spectral slope measurements and can be used as a feature in emotionally expressive speech. The Hammarberg Index is defined as the intensity difference [in dB] between the maximum intensity in a lower frequency band [0–2000 Hz] versus a higher frequency band [2000–5000 Hz] [2]
Implementation details
The signal must be more than 5 seconds of duration. This is a temporal suggestion. Based on the
data that the experiments conducted in [1] used speech signals of duration around 40
seconds.
The speech signal should not contain relevant noise components. It is assumed a clean
speech signal or a preprocessing stage that attenuates the noise before the computation
of the Hammarberg Index. Otherwise, high power noise frequency components will mask
the relevant frequencies involved in the computation of the index. This might be a
limitation in a high noise environment.
The speech signal must be sampled at least 12KHz. This is implied due to the fact that
there is a need to compute properly a maximum of 5KHz component
The signal must be .wav format according to the code implemented.
References
[1] HAMMARBERG, Britta, et al. Perceptual and acoustic correlates of abnormal voice
qualities. Acta oto-laryngologica, 1980, vol. 90, no 1-6, p. 441-451.
[2] SCHMIDT, Juliane; JANSE, Esther; SCHARENBORG, Odette. Perception of emotion in
conversational speech by younger and older listeners. Frontiers in psychology, 2016, vol. 7,
p. 781.
MIT License
Copyright (c) 2021 David Castro Piñol
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