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Forensic Audio Training Courses Online

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(@otsantos)
Posts: 2
New Member
Topic starter
 

Hi,

I'm an audio engineer with years of experience editing and cutting backgrounds for film and tv. I'm very interested in starting working as an Audio forensic expert. However, even though I feel pretty confident about audio enhancement, I do not feel prepared for audio authentication and voice recognition. I was wondering if anyone knows an online training course where I could learn the workflow and the step-by-step process of a forensic audio analysis as well as the specific tools (mainly software) professional audio experts normally use for each step of the process. I know about software like Praat, Easy Voice Biometrics, Adobe Audition, RX 7 and so on. I'm just not sure if there is one that is preferred among others, or if experts normally change software along the way or do all the process using only one of their choice.

I've searched a lot on the internet but could only find presential courses, which are not an option once I live in South America.

Forensic Audio doesn't seem to be a big thing - at least education-wise - around here, so it's been a real struggle to find a place to study. Just to be a bit clearer, I've been reading a lot, so I guess the theoretical part of the activity is okay. My concern is exclusively practical.

Hope to hear from the community,
Cheers

 
Posted : 14/02/2020 12:15 am
kastajamah
(@kastajamah)
Posts: 109
Estimable Member
 

My background is in digital forensics. I have a little experience with video enhancement. As I have spoken to forensic experts in various disciplines, I have learned whether it is digital forensics, video forensics, etc. there is no one tool to rule them all. We all have our go to software and hardware that we use, but there are times when they are not sufficient. In that case, we then use other software to help us accomplish our task.

Sometimes I will use commercial software and other times I use opensource (free) software. For example, although a lot of forensic software has come along way in viewing a SQLite database, there are times they are not sufficient so I use a free opensource SQLite database browser to view the database.

As far as training goes, I would not only search for audio forensics, but I would also look into video forensics. Some of the vendors will include audio forensics while they are teaching video forensics.

No matter what you use, make sure you document the following
The software and the version of the software you are using.
The steps you took during your examination.
Do not work with the original evidence. Work with a copy of the evidence.
Keep a list of your training whether it is course work for your non-forensic job, an online course provided by a vendor, forensic class, etc. along with the length of the course (4 days, 8 hours, 40 hours, 32 hours, etc)
Keep track of the number of cases you work along with the number of audio files you examined for each case

I Googled "audio forensics training US". I saw a couple that offered training online. I know you mentioned you are in South America, but if it is an online course you could probably take it.

I hope this information is helpful and wish you well as you look at enhancing your career.

 
Posted : 14/02/2020 1:58 pm
(@otsantos)
Posts: 2
New Member
Topic starter
 

Thank you very much for your insights @kastajamah. It was very helpful.

I had not thought about searching for audio + video training combined. That was a precious tip. Also, regarding the "safety" steps you provided, I will definitely pay attention to them. I will take a look at the results you got from your Google search and see if any of the courses fit my needs.

Thanks a lot

 
Posted : 14/02/2020 7:22 pm
(@armresl)
Posts: 1011
Noble Member
 

I don't know anything specifically online.

All the audio forensic classes I took were in person and on the East coast.

Sorry I can't help more.

 
Posted : 14/02/2020 7:48 pm
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