Abstract

Ever since the development and usage on math on proper Engineering and
Communication, different methods have been used to analyze and comprehend
different functions and signals in order to manipulate them and find solutions to
everyday problems in the real world. In nowadays communications, the
manipulation of signals has become crucial, the analysis of waves and sound is
playing a very important role in our society; from entertainment to security we need
to fully understand the nature of waves and, of course, how to operate them.
In this paper, we will show a basic understanding on sound waves. We will analyze a
basic sine wave in both, frequency and time, domain using the knowledge acquired
on the course, Signals and systems. Subsequently, we will use the software Matlab
and the properties of Simulink to analyze two sound-waves (voice) on both,
frequency and time, domain. After the analysis of this waves, we will compare the
software outcomes to a hardware outcomes by using a voice changer.
Intro
Sound is defined as vibration, a mechanical wave that propagates in a medium.
Those vibration causes a compression of the surrounding molecules creating a
variation in pressure of the medium. When these changes in air pressure vibrate the
eardrum signals are sent to the brain and are interpreted as sound. As mentioned
before, sound is a wave and the basic principles of physics on waves also apply to
them and can be represented in standard XY graph to get a better and more
mathematical perspective of them. The result of the curves is known as waveform
The main properties of a wave are (See Fig 1 1)

Amplitude (A): The height of a wave, measured in

meters (also commonly measured in decibels (db).

Wavelength ): Distance between identical points

in the adjacent cycles, measured in meters.

Period (T): Time that takes to complete a vibrational
cycle, measured in seconds.
Frequency(f): Number of complete waves that pass a
point in one second, measured in Hz (1/s)
Speed: horizontal speed of a point on a wave as it propagates.

1 Image retrieved from

http://eesc.columbia.edu/courses/ees/climate/lectures/radiation/em_energy.html

This general properties allow us a better understanding and manipulation of sound

waves, even though most of this properties are independent there are some
relations that are important to comprehend to follow the relationship of time and
frequency that we will talk later on this paper.

Period (T )=

1
frequency ( f )

Speed ( c)=

wavelenght ( )
= f
period (t)

Fundamentals of a Sound Wave

The speed of sound waves in air is
approximately given by

331.4+.6 T C m/ s

where Tc is the temperature in Celcius.

The pitch is the frequency of the sound wave. The higher the pitch, the higher the
frequency. The frequency range that humans being can detect is from 20 to 20,000
Hz. Figure 22 shows the spectrum of sound waves.

Human voice
Human voice is the result of the air being forced from the lungs, though the vocal
chords along the vocal tack. The vocal track stretches from an opening in the vocal
chords to the mouth and nose. Every single individual has a unique sound due the
mix of frequencies that they produce. However, it has been measured that
frequencies of 50Hz and above are generated by human speech. The majority of the
energy is concentrated between 300Hz and 3 kHz. [1].
The range of a typical adult male have a fundamental frequency from 85 to 180 Hz
while the typical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz.

2 Image retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/AbhishekNirmal/ultrasonics-30498428

Figure 1 Frequency Analysis of a Young Female Voice Sample

The sine and cosine waves are probably the easiest and simple kind of wave. Even
though is rarely found naturally, other waves can be broken down into combination
of sine and cosine waves. This method is also known as the Fourier transform.
The Fourier transform shows that any waveform can be re-written as the sum of
sinusoidal fractions [2]. There are four different Fourier representation, each one
applicable to very particular class of signals determined by the periodicity
properties and whether the signal is discrete or continuous in time [3]. These are:

Continuous Time-Periodic
Continuous Time-Non Periodic
Discrete Time-Periodic
Discrete Time-Non Periodic

FOURIER TRANSFORM

The Fourier transform decomposes any function into a sum of sinusoidal basis. This is a very
useful tool to make the analysis of complex functions and (nonperiodic) signals on the time
domain easier in the frequency domain.
The Fourier transform is defined as

2 ft

F { g ( t ) }=G ( f ) = g ( t ) e

dt

Considering =2 f

1
^x ( t )=
X ( j) e jt dw

For continues time signals and

( j n ) d
X
For Non-Periodic Discrete Time signals

1
x [ n ]=

Where g (t) is a function on the time domain and the result is a G (f) in function of the frequency.
Similarly is the Transform from the frequency domain to the time domain, given by the Inverse
Fourier Transform
However, there are some other signals that are very difficult to analyse by simply
using the Fourier Transform. The soundwaves of the human voice are exaples of
this, Discrete Fourier Transform.
In order to analyse this complex signals, the Fast Fourier Transform is the right
algorithm to use.
Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
The Fast Fourier Transform is a very important algorithm in signals processing, like
linear filtering and spectrum analysis.
The FFT operates by decomposing an N point time domain signal into N time
domain signals each composed of a single point. The second step is to calculate the

N frequency spectra corresponding to these N time domain signals. Lastly, the N

spectra are synthesized into a single frequency spectrum.

Theory

Fourier Transform of a Sine wave

For this project, we used the analysis of a sine wave in the time domain and transform it to the
frequency domain using the Fourier Transform.

G ( f )=F { sin ( 2 At ) } =

e i2 At ei 2 At i 2 f t
e
dt
2i

1
[ ei 2 At ei 2 ft dt ei 2 At ei 2 ft dt]
2 i

F { sin ( 2 At ) }=

1
[ ( f A ) ( f + A ) ]
2i

Figure 2 and 3 shows a sine wave using Simulink (a platform for multidomain simulation and
Model-Based Design of dynamic systems). With

Figure 2 Simulink Sine Wave Time domain

Figure 3 Simulink Sine Wave frequency domain

Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)

Explanation
Graph in time and frequency FFT/ spectrum analyzer

Voice sample
Experimient #1 -Sine WaveProcedure
For this experiment we will use a simple sine wave to show how our voice modifier
works and using the (software) to analyse the signal, and finally we will show
manually our process of doing the FT to show how it change from time domain, then
to frequency domain. Basically we convert a stream of audio, in this case our sine
function into its frequency spectrum (frequency domain). In the frequency domain
we can altered its values and then revert back into audio. To accomplish this,
(Software) use a FFT (Fast Fourier Transform), which is a algorithm to compute the
DFT of a signal and its inverse.

Figure 4 Audacity Sine wave time domain (1kHz)

Figure 5 Simulink Scope Sine Wave Time domain (1 kHz)

Figure 6 Audacity Sine Wave Frequency Domain (1 kHz)

Figure 7 Simulink Sine Wave Frequency Domain (1kHz)

Image of the sine wave without modification using the voice modifier
Image of the sine wave with modification using the voice modifier

Image of the sine wave without modification using the Audacity

Image of the sine wave with modification using the Audacity

Sadly, with our current knowledge we cannot use the FFT in our sine wave, but we
can still show how to pass it from time domain to frequency domain, which is quite
simple. Then, our main goal here is to show a comparison between the voice
modifier signal and the signal modified with the Audacity

Experiment #2 Voice Sample

After performing the experiment 1, using the sine wave and understanding the
usage of the Fourier Transform to change the wave from time domain to frequency
domain and vice versa, we will take two samples of a voice wave in the time
domain: the sample of an adult male and a sample of an adult female. This samples

were recorded and digitized on the time domain and sampled on the frequency
domain using (FFT SOFTWARE). This software allow us to take any soundwave and
analyze it in both domains by using the Fast Fourier transform along with other
mathematical algorithms that were not particularly covered in this course like:
blaaahhh blaaahhh blaaaaahhh..
Figure X shows the voice sample of the adult male in the time domain. The x axis
represents the time and the y axis represent the amplitude in ___.

Figure Y shows the voice sample of the adult male in the frequency domain. The x
axis represents the frequency and the y axis represent _____ in ____.

Figure A shows the voice sample of the adult female in the time domain. The x axis
represents the time and the y axis represent the amplitude in ___.

Figure B shows the voice sample of the adult female in the frequency domain. The x
axis represents the frequency and the y axis represent _____ in ____.

Example 3 Modification using Frequency.

After analyzing both voice samples on the frequency domain, we used Audacity on
the resemble

Depending on time, this may change :D

1)
a)
b)
c)
2)
a)
b)
c)

simulacion FFT matlab -Voice Transform

sine wave
voz masculina
voz femenina
Simulacion FFT matlab -Audacity
sine wave alteracion de frecuencia voice changer
voz masculina con alter frec
voz fem alteracion de frecuenc