Vol. 13 No.2

VASTA

TechTalk - A Column on Technology

Web links to Voice and Speech

I received a number of requests in the past few months for an article on resources that might be of use to voice and speech professionals - our own little Yahoo! you might say. So I spent a few evenings and early mornings putting together a listing of sites I have used in the past few years. This is, of course, only a starting place. There are too many sites out there that might be of interest to voice and speech professionals to list them all here, but I hope that I will point you to a few that you might never have thought of. And once you find a site you like, make sure you Bookmark it, or add it to your Favorites list. This listing is divided into three categories: Speech, Vocal Anatomy Physiology, and Voice Related links. The third is really a miscellaneous category and the second could fill ten newsletters, as the medical industry, which we have to thank for many of these sites, has embraced the technology of the web. I am hoping that you won't find your favorite site on this list, and that will motivate you to email me or VASTAVOX, our listserv, with information on the URL (the address that follows ), and more importantly what you like about it. And to make life much easier for you, this list is currently posted to our VASTA web site,

. Just look for the "Web Links to Voice and Speech" link on our home page and you can click your way to all these sites without having to type a single colon, slash or double-u.

Speech

Summer Institute of Linguistics — or SIL, has some great software, information on Linguistics, and free IPA fonts. Contributed by Michael Barnes.
http://www.sil.org/

The Linguist List — a email list, much like VASTAVOX, for linguists, hosted by Eastern Michican and Wayne State Universities. Contributed by Michael Barnes.
http://www.linguistlist.org/

International Phonetic Association: web site — The IPA features many great resources, including information on where to find IPA fonts on the net, some of which you can get for free!
http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/IPA/ipa.html

Sounds of the IPA — on CD or audio cassette by J.C. Wells and Jill House, this recording gives you a definitive guide to all the symbols — even the strange one you’ve never seen or heard before. I’m not sure when I will ever use the alveolar voiceless ejective stop, but I know what it sounds like now, since I bought my copy!

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/cassette.htm

IDEA — International Dialects of English Archive, developed by Paul Meier of the University of Kansas, with assistance by Shawn Muller, is slowly growing into a resource for dialect coaches everywhere. Featuring samples recorded in MP3 format (you will need to download a free piece of software to use the samples), this web site should be on our "to visit" list.
http://www.ukans.edu/~idea/index.html

First International Collection of Tongue Twisters — if you think tongue twisters are useful and challenging, try them out in 56 different languages, including a listing of 257 English tongue twisters.
http://www.uebersetzung.at/twister/index.htm

Language Vision — low cost (including fully functional demo versions to download) speech therapy software for Windows 95, 98 or NT computers. Download it and try it out — the Vowel Target could be very helpful for clients/students working on matching vowel sounds (like learning the vowels in "ask-list" words).
http://www.langvision.com/index.html

The Wicked Good Guide to Boston English — want to learn about the sounds, and most importantly the language of a city, area or town? The web is your best bet for finding information (usually not terribly scientific) on the speech of the area in question. This guide on Boston is an excellent representative:
http://www.bu.edu/mfeldman/Boston/wicked.html

Audio/Video Searches - Search engines, such as www.excite.com, now feature searches for audio and video files. If you use RealNetworks’ RealPlayer G2 to listen to sound, internet audio, radio or video, you can use one of the search engines to locate sounds from a given locale. I did a search for "Texas", using the built in search utility found in my new RealPlayer G2 and found this great page, The Spirit of Texas, with plenty of sights and sounds of Texas.
http://www.wfaa.com/spirit/spirit.html

Audio Books — Interested in using the RealPlayer to hear examples of RP or GenAm? Free samples of Audio Books from Broadcast.com let you hear long stretches read by a native speaker. Classics such as The Pilgrim’s Progress or A Tale of Two Cities read aloud — perfect for working at the computer.
http://www.broadcast.com/books/Fiction/

Car Talk — Fans of the National Public Radio show, featuring Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers (a.k.a. Tom and Ray Magliozzi), will enjoy this site — better yet, their East Cambridge accents are a perfect source for a Boston sample, served up in RealAudio format.
http://cartalk.cars.com/Radio/Show/

Vocal Anatomy/Physiology — how it all works

Center for Voice Disorders — of Wake Forest University, gives an overview of voice disorders and then indepth analysis, and pictures of what each disorder involves.Contributed by Michael Barnes.
http://www.bgsm.edu/voice/

Gallery of Laryngeal Pathology — a subset of The Center for Voice Disorders at Wake Forest University (see above) features some gruesome images and highly detailed information on the disordered voice. From cysts to gastric reflux issues, this is a great place to start.
http://www.bgsm.edu/voice/gallery.html

Radiographic Anatomy of the Skeleton — want to see what the x-ray of your ribs would look like? Michael L. Richardson M.D. has put together an excellent resource of images of the body, divided into modules covering upper and lower extremity and the spine.
http://www.scar.rad.washington.edu/RadAnatomy.html

The Bones Table — Gross Anatomy at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences details every bone, its structure and a precise medical description of those structures. The only flaw is that it might be overwhelmingly accurate. See their other tables.
http://anatomy.uams.edu/HTMLpages/anatomyhtml/bones_thorax&abd.html

also see their Gross Anatomy Resources, listed at
http://anatomy.uams.edu/HTMLpages/anatomyhtml/grossresources.html

Anatomy Tutorials — Donal Shanahan, of the Anatomy & Clinical Skills Centre, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne has put together a number of superb tutorials on anatomical structure. The navigation of the site is very clear and the site features some excellent images of the structures discussed.
http://numedsun.ncl.ac.uk/~nds4/tutorials/

Southern California Orthopaedic Institute — Anatomy of the Spine, presented in lay terms, including detailed information on the structure of the disc.
http://www.scoi.com/spinanat.htm

TMJ Tutorial — The University of Washington Dept. of Radiology present Anatomy Modules, in particular an excellent presentation on the Termporomandibular Joint. With so many students/clients having TMJ issues, the excellent detail, QuickTime movies, CTs and MRIs of the TMJ, this site is priceless. Highly recommended.
http://www.rad.washington.edu/anatomy/modules/TMJ/TMJ.html

Virtual Anatomy Browser — this site features beautiful 3D computer graphic images of anatomical structures, viewable in MPEG movie format from all angles, or you can browse your way around the structures, adding or removing skin, bones, organs, blood vessels, etc. as you please.
http://www.vis.colostate.edu/cgi-bin/gva/gvaview

American Lung Association — covering Asthma, Tobacco issues, Smoking cessation, Air Quality and featuring a Lung Disease A — Z, the ALA site is clear, relevant and useful.
http://www.lungusa.org/

Please note that many other countries, states and provinces have their own excellent Lung organizations. [e.g. the Ontario (Canada) Lung Association is another great example: http://www.on.lung.ca/ ]

Gas Exchange in Humans — can’t remember from you high school biology class how the oxygen and carbon dioxide gases exchange in the body? Why not check in with Clarenville high school’s biology web site for the level of information you’re looking for? A well presented web site with just the right amount of detail.
http://www.stemnet.nf.ca/%7Edpower/resp/main.htm

Emory University’s Human Anatomy Course — Pharynx and Larynx information, clearly presented, with lots of clear line drawing of the structures of the throat.
http://www.emory.edu/ANATOMY/AnatomyManual/pharynx.html

Voice Related Links

National Center for Voice and Speech — "The NCVS is interested in protecting, rehabilitating and enhancing voice and speech." They site features info on vocal health, research information, fun stuff and links to other voice sites. Contributed by Michael Barnes.
http://www2.shc.uiowa.edu/ncvs_home.html

The VoiceCare Network — of interest especially to singers, VoiceCare does courses in "lifespan voice education for choral conductors, music educators, church musicians, singing teachers, singers and speech pathologists". Contributed by Michael Barnes.
http://www2.csbsju.edu/VoiceCare/

Music Acoustics on the Threshold of the 21^st Century — Johan Sundberg shows off a "little shop window of music acoustics," based on a talk given in Braunschweig in 1996. Excellent explanation of formants, with great images and examples, though a little complicated.
http://www.speech.kth.se/music/threshold21st/

Khoomei /Overtone Singing Page — Steve Sklar’s web page (featured in previous newsletters) continues to grow, including new QuickTime movies of Khoomei singers.
http://www.tc.umn.edu/nlhome/g057/sklar001/khoomei.html

Guidelines for Singers: Do’s & Don’ts — University of Pittsburgh Voice Center presents a list of vocal hygiene tips for singers which apply to all voice users. A handy reference.
http://www.upmc.edu/upmcvoice/dos.htm

Also see their Common Causes of Hoarseness page:
http://www.upmc.edu/upmcvoice/horseness.htm

SinuCleanse — featured in a newsletter advertisement earlier in 1998, this web site gives you information on a new twist on an old method of dealing with nasal congestion, the netti pot.
http://www.sinucleanse.com/

A Habit to Die For — SmithKlineBeecham, makers of NicoDerm CQ, present an article on the hazards of smoking for the 25% of Americans who smoke.
http://sbhealthcast.sohonet.com/docs.cfm/Home/Smoking

Sore Throats: Causes and Cures — The American Association of Otolaryngologists put out this pamphlet, which has been turned into a web page, on the causes of a sore throat. Simple, clear and handy.
http://www.netdoor.com/entinfo/throaaao.html

The Voice + Speech Source — last but not least (I hope) I have to get in a plug for my own web site. Though it hasn’t change much in the past year, it still serves up what I feel is a useful series of articles on voice, speech and technology.
http://www.brandeis.edu/speech/