Say YESSSSSS!

Therapists who work with hearing-impaired speakers have often told us that teaching them how to produce /s/ and related high-frequency sounds is a big challenge, as the frequency ranges in which these sounds exist is generally outside the range in which deaf folks can hear.  While it is possible to illustrate production of these sounds somewhat with the lips and air flow from the mouth, it’s really little changes in tongue position behind the teeth that make the most difference, and these can't be easily shown.  Having a concrete way to illustrate the differences between these two sounds can make a real difference in results.  The same is true with children who lisp or lateralize the /s/ sound. 

With Video Voice’s Formant Multi-Frequency displays, there are a couple of ways to make the differences between /s/ and /sh/ visible. One is the Temporal Display, which represents the F3, F2 and F1 components of a production. In that display, if you say a word that contains both /s/ and /sh/ sounds, such as "sunshine," you will see distinct differences in the F3 and F2 frequencies for the two sounds. With the /s/ sound, the F3 frequencies are higher than those for the /sh/, while the F2 levels higher for /sh/ than they are for /s/.

Any speech production can be saved as a model, and used for repeated practice of sound or words.

There’s also a Matrix-Match form of the Multi-Frequency Display. It transforms the F3 and F2 frequencies measured into a relationship of those sound components. This makes sounds like /s/ and /sh/ appear as dense patches of color in different regions of the screen, as shown the sample below.

You can use these matrix patterns in a model match mode, or in a live feedback format similar to the F2/F1 Gobble game. The immediate visual response to sound changes in the Gobble mode helps speakers learn articulator position needed to produce these sounds accurately.

There is presently no scoring in the Formant Multi-Frequency displays, but we’re working on that, and expect it to be available in an upcoming release. Stay tuned!

Video Voice Support Team
1-800-537-2182
mv@videovoice.com