Note on Buzz-Hiss Detection

Abstract

Speech sounds can be approximately divided into two categories, buzz or periodic sounds and hiss or aperiodic sounds. Vocoder buzz-hiss detectors have discriminated between the two classes by comparing the high-frequency and low-frequency portion of the spectrum. This technique succeeds during most of the input speech because most voiceless sounds contain a preponderance of high-frequency energy whereas the voiced sounds emphasize the lows. However, voiceless sounds such as aspirates and plosives often contain large amounts of low-frequency energy. Also, microphone distortions can produce low-frequency aperiodic sounds. This paper describes a periodicity meter that processes the output from six pitch detectors to produce another measure appropriate for buzz-hiss detection. Preliminary results are presented.