Richard Fontana audio files

by Bob Cunningham
 

An experiment to try a way of comparing sounds

These recordings provide interleaved comparisons of Richard Fontana's sounds with sounds from the IPA's CD Sounds of the IPA. The reason for making the recordings was to see how helpful this approach may be in deciding which sounds a speaker uses.

Each of the last six files deals with one sample from RF's rendition of 'Bother, father caught hot coffee in the car park.' The first file is the full rendition.

The sample appears three times, each time followed by a sound from the Phonetic Association's CD Sounds of the IPA.

The IPA sounds are, in succession, cardinal vowels 4, 5, and 13.
Cardinal 4 is /a/ (open, front, unrounded).
Cardinal 5 is /A/ (open, back, unrounded).
Cardinal 13 is /A./ (open, back, rounded).

In each case, I've expanded the length of the vowel sound in the RF sample by copying a small section of the vowel portion, then pasting it repeatedly. This produces various artifacts such as warble, or clicks at the meeting points of the segments. Despite the artifacts, I think the vowel quality is clear enough for the purpose.

Click on a file name to listen to the file: