The Need To Understand Forensic Audio Analysis

By Freida Michael


Successful crime investigation is done through thorough analysis of many components associate din the crime. With forensic audio analysis, investigators are able to extract and examine recordings form the crime scene that can be helpful in solving the crime. There are many physical evidences that are easily collected like the murder weapon but if available, the non-physical ones like the sound or audio are crucial as well.

The analysis of forensic sound has many different components. One of the most important jobs is to make sure the sound is authentic. A sound analysis must make sure a recording hasn't been altered with or tampered from its original state. It must be evaluated to make sure it is okay to be used in a courtroom.

The audio is enhanced to improve the sound and make it clearer. This is to make sure nothing was missed on the initial listen. When a sound is enhanced, it cleans any unwanted noises such as static. Sound analysis requires professional equipment and specific skills. Improved technology allows different was to analyze sound. The old method required huge equipment. Technology has made it so most work is done digitally on computers today.

The process of enhancing a recording involves "cleaning" it -- clearing away static and other unwanted noises. The point of enhancing is to carefully uncover the evidence in the recording without accidentally destroying it. It is also possible to "reverse engineer" a noise in a recording in order to help determine where exactly it came from.

Light was shed during the Watergate scandal through sound analysis. Back then, they had tons of equipment to splice and clip and clean the sound recordings. Now in the digital world, all of these can be done with a simple computer.

A forensics audio lab handles many sensitive sound recordings throughout the day. The job of the lab is to make sure the recordings can be used in a court of law as evidence. They analyze many recordings connected to crime evidence including emergency calls to 911, voicemails from cell-phones, memory cards recovered from mobile devices and computer recordings.

Aside from the recording itself, the sound engineer or technician is also invited to testify and confirm the contents of the recording. As professionals, they have to be 100% sure that the recording they presented is authentic, clear and able to withstand scrutiny. Once on the witness stand, they have to answer all questions related to the sound recording and their findings.

Audio forensics is an important part of a crime investigation. Recordings might reveal who is at the scene of the crime and can help establish things such as motives and alibis. As new technology changes, advances in technology will be able to interpret sounds in different ways and do a better job of analyzing sound recordings. It is not an easy job, but it is an important part of trying to solve a crime investigation.




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