A voice is much more than just a string of words. Voices, unlike fingerprints, are inherently complex. They signal a great deal of information in addition to the intended message: the speakers' sex, for example, or their emotional state, or age. Although evidence from DNA analysis grabs the headlines, DNA can't talk. It can't be recorded planning, carrying-out or confessing to a crime. It can't be so apparently directly incriminating. Perhaps it is these features which contribute to the interest and importance of Forensic Speaker Identification (FSI)
Forensic Speaker Identification explains what FSI involves, and clarifies the problems of inferring identity from speech under the less than ideal conditions typical in forensics. It will allow the reader to appreciate:
*the complexities of voice sample comparison
*the probabilistic nature of the technique - it will not yield absolute identification or exclusion of a suspect
*the difficulties introduced by differential variation within and between voices and the generally poor degree of control over forensic samples
*acoustic and auditory comparison and the comparison of linguistic and non-linguistic features
*the expertise required in linguistics, acoustics and statistics.
This book has been written for forensic scientists, the legal profession and law enforcement officers. It's accessible to those with no previous knowledge of FSI, or of phonetics or acoustics. It can also be used as a base for teaching tertiary level courses in aspects of phonetics.
This practical, lucid text takes the reader through all the underpinning knowledge necessary, and will bring much needed clarity to an important technique.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203166361

Beyond its elucidation and critique of traditional 'notation-centric' musicology, this book's primary emphasis is on the negotiation and construction of meaning within the extended musical multimedia works of the classic British group Pink Floyd. Encompassing the concept albums that the group released from 1973 to 1983, during Roger Waters' final period with the band, chapters are devoted to Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983), along with Waters' third solo album Amused to Death (1993). This book's analysis of album covers, lyrics, music and film makes use of techniques of literary and film criticism, while employing the combined lenses of musical hermeneutics and discourse analysis, so as to illustrate how sonic and musical information contribute to listeners' interpretations of the discerning messages of these monumental musical artifacts. Ultimately, it demonstrates how their words, sounds, and images work together in order to communicate one fundamental concern, which-to paraphrase the music journalist Karl Dallas-is to affirm human values against everything in life that should conspire against them.

Since Radiohead's formation in the mid-1980s, the band has celebrated three decades of creative collaboration and achieved critical acclaim across music genres as cultural icons. Recognized not only for their musical talent and daring experimentation, Radiohead is also known for its work's engagement with cultural and political issues. Phil Rose dissects Radiohead's entire catalog to reveal how the music directs our attention toward themes like cyber technology, the environment, terrorism, and the inevitability of the apocalypse. With each new album, Radiohead has sought to reinvent its sound and position in the music industry. Abandoning traditional distribution for their 2007 In Rainbows album, Radiohead experimented with a pay-what-you-want model that embraced the crowd-sourced commerce that has continued to gain prominence in modern consumer culture. In addition to chronicling the band members' various solo projects, Rose outlines Radiohead's political and civic activism. As the most up-to-date and thorough discussion of this landmark body of musical multimedia, Radiohead: Music for a Global Future recounts the band's triumphs and tragedies along with their role at the forefront of adaptation both to a changing music industry and a rapidly changing world.

Beyond its elucidation and critique of traditional 'notation-centric' musicology, this book's primary emphasis is on the negotiation and construction of meaning within the extended musical multimedia works of the classic British group Pink Floyd. Encompassing the concept albums that the group released from 1973 to 1983, during Roger Waters' final period with the band, chapters are devoted to Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), The Wall (1979) and The Final Cut (1983), along with Waters' third solo album Amused to Death (1993). This book's analysis of album covers, lyrics, music and film makes use of techniques of literary and film criticism, while employing the combined lenses of musical hermeneutics and discourse analysis, so as to illustrate how sonic and musical information contribute to listeners' interpretations of the discerning messages of these monumental musical artifacts. Ultimately, it demonstrates how their words, sounds, and images work together in order to communicate one fundamental concern, which-to paraphrase the music journalist Karl Dallas-is to affirm human values against everything in life that should conspire against them.

Even prior to the field's invention, Susanne Langer implied that the arts are all subtopics of Communication Studies. This unique project has effectively allowed the author to combine his backgrounds in the interdisciplinary fields of popular music studies, cultural theory, communication studies, and the practice of music criticism. This book investigates the fascinating and important work of the British group Radiohead, named by Time Magazine among its Top 100 Most Influential People of 2008, and focuses particularly on their landmark recording OK Computer (1997), a document preserved as part of the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2015. Probing the band's exploration of the crucial issues surrounding contemporary technological development, especially as it relates to the concern of human survival, Radiohead and the Global Movement for Change is essentially a work of criticism that in its analysis combines what is known as 'musical hermeneutics' with the media ecology perspective. In this way, the author delineates how Radiohead's work operates as a clarion call that directs our attention to the troubling complex of cultural conditions that Neil Postman (1992) identifies as 'Technopoly' or 'the surrender of culture to technology'-a phenomenon that must become more broadly recognized and comprehended in order for it to be successfully confronted. This book's distinguishing features include: 1) its edifying analysis of a richly profound and celebrated musical text; 2) its extended focus upon what Martin Heidegger famously refers to as 'the question concerning technology'; 3) its use of the media ecology scholarly tradition at whose core lies communication study; and 4) its innovative and unique deployment of the affect-script theory of American personality theorist Silvan Tomkins in the study of musical communication.

Even prior to the field’s invention, Susanne Langer implied that the arts are all subtopics of Communication Studies. This unique project has effectively allowed the author to combine his backgrounds in the interdisciplinary fields of popular music studies, cultural theory, communication studies, and the practice of music criticism. This book investigates the fascinating and important work of the British group Radiohead, named by Time Magazine among its Top 100 Most Influential People of 2008, and focuses particularly on their landmark recording OK Computer (1997), a document preserved as part of the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2015. Probing the band’s exploration of the crucial issues surrounding contemporary technological development, especially as it relates to the concern of human survival, Radiohead and the Global Movement for Change is essentially a work of criticism that in its analysis combines what is known as ‘musical hermeneutics’ with the media ecology perspective. In this way, the author delineates how Radiohead’s work operates as a clarion call that directs our attention to the troubling complex of cultural conditions that Neil Postman (1992) identifies as ‘Technopoly’ or ‘the surrender of culture to technology’—a phenomenon that must become more broadly recognized and comprehended in order for it to be successfully confronted. This book’s distinguishing features include: 1) its edifying analysis of a richly profound and celebrated musical text; 2) its extended focus upon what Martin Heidegger famously refers to as ‘the question concerning technology’; 3) its use of the media ecology scholarly tradition at whose core lies communication study; and 4) its innovative and unique deployment of the affect-script theory of American personality theorist Silvan Tomkins in the study of musical communication.