Voice Compression Article Index for
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Information About

Voice Compression





HISTORY


Hiring spokesmen who could talk extremely quickly, and still be understood, was widely used, especially for disclaimers, before electronic methods were developed.


METHODS


  • Removal of silences. There are normally silences between words and sentences, and even small silences within certain words. These can be reduced considerably and still leave an understandable result.


  • Increasing speed. The speed can be increased on the entire audio track, but this has the undesirable effect of increasing the frequency, so the voice sounds high-pitched (like someone who has inhaled helium). This can be compensated for, however, to bring the pitch back down to the proper frequency.



ADVANTAGES


The same number of words can be compressed into a smaller time, and thus reduce advertising costs, or more information can be included in a given radio or TV ad. Also, since the words are faster, this leaves less time for consumers to critically evaluate each statement. Thus, such compressed speech acts more on a subliminal level than a conscious level. Another advantage is that this method seems to make the ad louder (by increasing the average volume), and thus more likely to be noticed, without exceeding the maximum volume allowed by law.


DISADVANTAGES


The effect of removing the silences and increasing the speed is to make it sound much more insistent, roughly like someone is yelling at you quickly. Most radio listeners and TV viewers find this intensely annoying, and are likely to turn down the volume or mute such an ad. This can also cause a negative opinion of the advertiser, their product or service, and the radio or TV station.