AES Technical Committee

Audio Forensics

Chair:	Jeff M. Smith	(Send E-mail)
Vice Chair:	Christopher Peltier	(Send E-mail)
Vice Chair:	Eddy Bogh Brixen	(Send E-mail)

Current Areas Of Work

• To extend knowledge of audio forensic practice and techniques world-wide
• To identify areas requiring additional research
• To bring together professionals and students in the area of audio forensics
• To encourage publication of papers, and to arrange tutorials, conferences and workshops, within the AES
• To support standards committees on forensic audio via fostering of refereed journal publications

Mission Statement

Audio Forensics refers to engineering and scientific analysis, evaluation and presentation of audio and acoustic evidence in a judicial inquiry normally leading towards a presentation in court. The complex challenges faced by the field transcend borders and jurisdictions, and becomes increasingly complex with the proliferation of new types of digital media. In order to establish a reliable scientific basis for the procedures and analysis of the outcomes of audio forensic analysis, the technical committee meets at AES conventions to plan conferences, workshops and tutorials; to encourage dissemination of scientific information through peer-reviewed journal and conference publications and posters; to provide support to the AES Standards Committee on Forensic Audio SC03-12; and to communicate educational opportunities in the field. Presently, the technical committee meetings for audio forensics are open to all attendees.

Minutes - 129th Convention

AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY

Technical Committee on Audio Forensics Meeting

at 129th AES Convention

November 4, 2010

Meeting began at 4:00 p.m.

Present: Durand Begault; Co-Vice Chair, Eddy Brixen; Co-Vice Chair, Andrey Barinov, Kristin Bidwell, Tricia Boer, Enrique Fuentes, Brad Fuller, Leah Haloin, Rob Maher, Christoph Musialik, Christopher Peltier, Dustin Ruspini, Jeff Smith, Gregg Stutchman, Charles Van Winkle.

Overview of the Mission of the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics

• Durand Begault presented the current mission of the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics.

o “Audio Forensics refers to engineering and scientific analysis, evaluation and presentation of audio and acoustic evidence in a judicial inquiry normally leading towards a presentation in court. The complex challenges faced by the field transcend borders and jurisdictions, and becomes increasingly complex with the proliferation of new types of digital media. In order to establish a reliable scientific basis for the procedures and analysis of the outcomes of audio forensic analysis, the technical committee meets at AES conventions to plan conferences, workshops and tutorials; to encourage dissemination of scientific information through peer-reviewed journal and conference publications and posters; to provide support to the AES Standards Committee on Forensic Audio SC03-12; and to communicate educational opportunities in the field. Presently, the technical committee meetings for audio forensics are open to all attendees.”

• Begault emphasized that the mission statement is not fixed, and can evolve as the needs of the audio forensic community evolve. Comments were requested, and can be submitted any time to the committee.

Introductions

• Attendees at the meeting introduced themselves.

AES Website

• Durand Begault fielded a question about the purpose of the website and how it fits in with the mission of the Technical Committee. He responded that it would be a good task of the committee to brainstorm about how to leverage web resources, for example including a list of publications online. This could include providing information for those who are not familiar with audio forensics.

• Begault asked how Technical Committees leverage the web, and if there was any interest in researching options for development in this area.

AES 128th Convention

• Eddy Brixen reviewed the 128th AES Convention in London. Relevant discussion at the event focused primarily on preparing for the 39th International AES Conference on Audio Forensics.

• There was an excellent workshop offering at the convention, which was hosted by Peter French and associates. The workshop was initiated by the organizing committee for the convention.

AES 39th International Conference: Audio Forensics – Practices and Challenges

• Eddy Brixen as Chair of the conference presented a report on the AES 39th Conference on Audio Forensics in Hillerød, Denmark. He also presented images from the conference which will be included in the next AES journal.

• The AES 39th Conference was successful, including over 74 participants in attendance from 19 different countries. There was good representation from both United States and European law enforcement, which had not been seen previously. There were 24 papers and workshops presented. The papers from the conference can be downloaded from the AES website. A conference report will also be posted on the web.

• The chairs of previous audio forensics conferences were honored: Roy Pritts and Richard Sanders.

• Responses to the questionnaire distributed to attendees were very positive with regard to overall satisfaction with the conference. There was a general acceptance that conferences like this should continue to be offered.

• Durand Begault thanked Eddy Brixen for his outstanding contributions to making the conference a success.

Future Audio Forensic Conference Planning

• Jeff Smith addressed plans for the next AES conference on audio forensics to be held in 2012 in Denver. He noted that a goal would be to get attendance over 100, and perhaps leverage video forensics professionals as well.

• The timeline of offering an audio forensics conference every two years, alternating between Europe and Denver, has proven to work well. This usually includes a small group of exhibitors. Sessions are intensive and single-track, usually lasting 2-3 days.

• Jeff Smith noted that any discussions or comments about the 2012 conference would be welcome, particularly potential exhibitors. Thoughts can be sent to Jeff at jeff.smith@ucdenver.edu.

• There was discussion about the types of topics that may be focused on at the 2012 conference. It was mentioned that it would be worthwhile to solicit papers from individuals on some of the hot-button topics for the 2012 conference.

• An announcement of the dates of the conference will be made after the AES Conference Policies Group approves.

• It was also noted that there is a push for the quality level of the conference papers to be raised, potentially so that conference publications might go directly to the journal.

Upcoming Conventions

• Durand Begault asked if anyone had ideas for activities (worships, tutorials, paper sessions, etc.) for upcoming conventions. He also reviewed the process for submitting a proposal.

o There was a suggestion for vendors to participate in a speech enhancement workshop – possibly set-up as a competition. This might also be a more appropriate topic for the conference, rather than the convention, and could possibly draw vendors.

o Jeff Smith volunteered to organize a topical workshop on enhancement.

o A potential tutorial topic would be authentication: then and now.

o Charles Van Winkle noted that he would feel confident helping coordinate a tutorial on authentication.

o Durand Begault also noted that an option would be to invite a professional in a different but relevant field that could provide insight that has bearing on audio forensics.

Codecs related to Voice ID

• Durand reviewed one of the goals of the Technical Committee: to support the call for papers on codecs related to voice identification. Feedback was provided on what had been accomplished in this area.

Enhancement Effects on Voice ID and Authentication

• There is potential for creating a best practices paper with regard to enhancement effects on voice identification and authentication. Durand noted that the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics could sponsor a paper on this topic, if there was any interest in an individual writing one.

• Jeff Smith noted that the Scientific Working Group on Digital evidence (SWGDE) had developed a best practice guideline for forensic audio, and it could be the feeder document for an AES best practices document or combined effort.

Listing of Audio Forensics Articles on AES website

• Durand Begault noted that it would be helpful to collect various audio forensics papers on the AES website.

Technical Committee Chair and Vice Chair

• Durand Begault stepped down as Vice Chair of the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics.

• Jeff Smith was elected to serve as Chair.

• Christopher Peltier was elected to serve as Vice Chair of North America.

• Eddy Brixen will remain serving as Vice Chair of Europe.

• It was noted that any type assistance that anyone wants to provide for committee activities is more than welcome.

Outreach/Partnerships

• Durand Begault asked about potential outreach and partnerships that the committee could be doing to enhance the field, including educational opportunities.

• Gregg Stutchmann was appointed as the new chair of the American Board of Recorded Evidence (ABRE) with American College of Forensic Examiners International (ACFEI.) He noted that there is definitely interest in partnerships.

• There is also potential for partnerships with SWGDE.

Meeting ended at 5:00 p.m.

J. Smith approved on 11/10/2010

Minutes - 127th Convention

AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY

Technical Committee on Audio Forensics Meeting

at 127th AES Convention, New York

10 October 2009

Present: Eddy Brixen (EBB Consult), Co-Vice Chair; Durand Begault (Audio Forensic Center), Co-Vice Chair; Jeff Smith (NCMF, UC Denver); Ryan Longenecker (AES UC Denver President); Leslie Gaston (UC Denver); Jon Whelihan, Ben Scibelli (UMass, Lowell); Marisa Dery (Tamar Mastering); Deppen Sinha (ATC Labs); Mike McDermott (Frank M. McDermott Ltd.); Anibal Ferreira (Un. of Porto); Gordon Reid (CEDAR Audio); Charles Van Winkle (Adobe Systems); Olivier Attia (Audiovamix).

ACTION ITEMS

Minutes

• Minutes from the AES 125th Convention AES Technical Committee on Audio Forensics meeting were reviewed and accepted; unanimous approval with no abstentions.

Areas of interest

• The vice-chairs were pleased to see the many attendees, including new persons interested in the field and persons from many different countries. Each person related their field of interest and association.

Chair nomination

• The recent passing of Professor Richard Sanders, the chair of the technical committee, was noted. Professor Sanders' contributions to the field of audio forensics were affirmed. Vice-chair Durand R. Begault volunteered to act as interim (temporary) chair of the technical committee.

Upcoming activities

• Details of the upcoming conference (AES 39th, Audio Forensics: Practices and Challenges) to be held 17-19 June in Hillerod, Denmark, were described. It was thought that no activities be proposed for the AES 128th Convention in London so as to concentrate activities for the 39th conference.

• A workshop "Introduction to Audio Forensics" was to be presented on 11 October at the New York convention.

Chair:

Durand Begault, Audio Forensic Center. - San Francisco, CA, USA

Panelists:

Eddy B. Brixen, EBB-consult - Smorum, Denmark

Robert Maher, Montana State University - Bozeman, MT, USA

Tom Owen, Owl Investigations - NJ, USA

Jeffrey Smith, University of Colorado, Denver - Denver, CO, USA

Abstract:

This is a non-technical introduction to the field of Audio Forensics, sponsored by the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics, intended for persons new or interested in the field. Audio Forensic professionals associated with the AES will review basic methods, challenges, and history related to the field. Opportunities for education (and certification) will also be discussed.

This event is sponsored by the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics.

Minutes - 128th Convention

AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY

Technical Committee on Audio Forensics Meeting

at 128th AES Convention, London, UK, May 24th 2010.

Present:

Brian McCarty, Coral Sea Studios

operations@coralseastudios.com

Carolin Hahne, University of Applied Sciences,Hamburg, Germany

carolin.hahne@haw-hamburg.de

Eddy B. Brixen EBB-consult

ebb@ebb-consult.com

The meeting was convened by vice chair Eddy B. Brixen.

As the attendance were limited and the participants - except for the chair person - had not earlier been introduced to the work of the TC-AF most of the meeting was spent presenting the actual position and tasks of the committee. Also a status of the upcoming AES 39th International Conference on Audio Forensics was given.

Upcoming events: AES39th International Conference: Audio Forensics - Practices and Challenges. The AES39 conference will take place in Hillerød, Denmark, June 21-23 2010.

AES129 San Francisco: No actions were taken regarding the AES125 as focus should not be taken away from the Denmark conference. However, individual papers are welcomed.

Minutes by Eddy B. Brixen, VC TC-AF

Minutes - 130th Convention

AUDIO ENGINEERING SOCIETY, Technical Committee on Audio Forensics Meeting

at 130th AES Convention, May 14th, 2011

Meeting began at 9:00 a.m.

Present:

Juão Nunes, Student, metare@live.com

Andrey Barinov, Speech Technology Center Ltd, barinov@speechpro.com

Christoph M. Musalik, Algorithmix GmbH, cmm@algorithmix.com

Louis Manno, Audio History Library, manno@gmail.com

Eddy B. Brixen, EBB-consult, ebb@ebb-consult.com

Overview of the Mission of the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics

EBB presented the current mission of the Technical Committee on Audio Forensics.

Minutes from the AES129 meeting

Accepted as written.

Papers for AES 131

EBB introduced the new structure for papers presented at AES conventions and conferences. Now, a full paper submission is an option which provides the opportunity for a peer review process that fully complies with the procedures of other scientific organizations. Also a new level has been introduced: The engineering briefs. These presentations are basically related to practical work that is not exactly described as scientific research.

Asking the attendees if anybody were planning to submit papers for AES131 it was the general understanding that the efforts would be reserved for the upcoming conference next year.

Future activities

It was discussed that speaker identification is a topic that need to be considered by the AES. Different methods are in play. However, these methods have achieved different level of acceptance depending on law/tradition/technology or other parameters. Recently there have been carried out some tests where automatic systems were compared against manual techniques. Unfortunately these tests were not directly adequate for any conclusions on methodologies. Regarding an AES event on speaker recognition it was suggested also to involve SWGDE (Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence), NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) as well as NCMF (National Center of Media Forensics). It was decided to look into the possibility of organizing a workshop for AES 131.

Conference: AES 46, June 14-16, 2012

This conference – the fourth on audio forensics - will take place in Denver, CO, USA and will be chaired by Jeff Smith, NCMF. It is the hope that the conference will be attended also by many from outside the USA including third world countries.

List of organizations

In connection with the announcement of the AES 46 it was suggested to work out a list of organizations-/companies/universities that are active within the field of audio forensics. This should be done to ensure as many as possible get aware of the AES activities, especially the dedicated conferences. At this point we do not have the knowledge of who doesn’t know they belong to our society.

Minutes by Eddy B. Brixen 2011.10.08

Minutes - 133rd Convention

Technical Committee on Microphones and Applications

Report on TC meeting held in conjunction with the 133st AES convention

San Francisco, CA, USA, October 27th, 2012

Attendees:

Jackie Green, Audio-Technica, jagreen@atus.com

Ken Platz, Shure Inc., platz_ken@shure.com

Helmut Wittek, Schoeps, wittek@schoeps.de

Tad Rollow, Sennheiser, tad.rollow@sennheiser.com

Douglas McKinnie, Indiana University, d.mckinnie@gmail.com

Eddy Bøgh Brixen, EBB-consult/DPA Microphones, ebb@ebb-consult.com

The meeting was convened by chair Eddy B. Brixen.

Report from AES132

The report was accepted as written.

AES International Conference 2014

Prior to the TC meeting the Conference Policies Committee (CPC) was informed about the status of the conference on microphone technology which is under. The feedback from the CPC was encouraging. Now we must provide the final proposal and final date a.s.a.p. in order to make it possible for the CPC to allocate a conference numbers as there are many different conferences in the pipeline during 2014.

The conference organizing committee was presented as it looked at the time of the meeting:

David Josephson, Josephson Engineering

Ron Streicher, (Ron Streicher)

Douglas McKinnie, Indiana University

Jackie Green, Audio Technica

Eddy B. Brixen, EBB-consult/DPA Microphones

(After the TC meeting the following people joined the committee:

Jürgen Breitlow, Neumann, and Veronique Larcher, Sennheiser)

Asilomar Conference Grounds, Asilomar, CA, USA, have been selected as the venue for the conference.

The date for the conference was discussed and the period of June 23rd-27th 2014 was chosen as this does not conflict with other events related to our business. The final date has to be decided.

Regarding the quality and the number of papers expected it was discussed to establish a list of researchers who work in the field of microphone technology. At a conference like this it is more likely to have contributions from the academia than from manufacturers.

The chair will take the steps to move on with the preparation.

Proposals for upcoming conventions

For the AES134 it was decided to forward these proposals:

1 Tutorial: Understanding microphone specifications (DLJ, follow up on X85).

2 Workshop: PA-miking. (What is important regarding specs, set-up, alignment regarding microphones on lectern, on musical instruments, stage pick-up, etc.)

We will look into other proposals for the upcoming convention and offer our assistance providing panelists if needed.

Emerging trends

A paper prepared by Audio-Technica researchers entitled “On the Study of Ionic Microphones” was presented at this convention.

Any other business

None.

Minutes by Eddy B. Brixen

Minutes - 134rd Convention

Technical Committee on Microphones and Applications

Report on TC meeting held in conjunction with the 134st AES convention

Rome, Italy, May 5th, 2013

Attendees:

Helmut Wittek, Schoeps, wittek@schoeps.de

Hans Rickehof, Schoeps, rickehof@schoeps.de

Eddy Bøgh Brixen, EBB-consult/DPA Microphones, ebb@ebb-consult.com

The meeting was convened by chair Eddy B. Brixen.

Report from AES133

The report was accepted as written. Follow up on proposal for the AES134: As David Josephson was not able to attend the Rome convention, the tutorial on “Understanding Microphone Specifications” was given by Eddy B. Brixen.

AES International Conference on Microphone Technology

At the time of the TC meeting it was not sure whether the conference will take place at the planned time in June 2013. The Conference Policy Committee may consider postponing the conference as a final proposal has not yet been presented to the committee. The decision will be communicated at a later stage.

Proposals for upcoming conventions

For the AES135 it was decided to forward these proposals:

Workshop: Microphone specifications – how to get it right (the title to be optimized…)

Each member of a panel should present one item from the spec sheet, how the data are obtained and what really matters, technology, measurement techniques, etc. The following panelists and topics are proposed:

Jörg Wuttke: Understanding phantom requirements.

David Josephson: Environmental data, how to deal with EMC, humidity, mechanical shock, etc.

Helmut Wittek: High directivity in microphones.

??: Microphones and extreme SPL. (Dynamic linearity, how we actually measure – if we measure)

EBB or ??: Noise in microphones – where does it come from, how to minimize it).

Miking for PA

This could basically be a repetition of the Rome workshop. However, the panel members cannot be expected to be the same. So we will be looking for Sound designers related to live concert sound, theatre sound designers, venue engineers, perhaps one representing the demands of the artist.

Further: As usual we will look into other proposals for the upcoming convention and offer our assistance providing panelists if needed.

Emerging trends

No trends spotted at this time.

Any other business

There seem to be an interest in discussing a standard for the measurement of wind induced noise. Actually researchers from the hearing aid industry are interested in this. There will be a proposal for the establishment of a working group related to SC 04-04.

Minutes by Eddy B. Brixen

Committee Members

Christoph Musialik	Durand Begault	Gordon Reid
Rob Maher	W.A. Deutsch	Eddy Bogh Brixen
Anibal Ferreira	Lise-Lotte W Tjellesen	J. Keith McElveen
Wes Dooley	Wanda Newman	Robert-Eric Gaskell
Margaret Luthar	Myke Roy	Erik Achrén
Ronny Max	Tom Owen	Mark Stebbeds
Robert Lusk	Ryan Hansen	Davis Appelt
Todd Makinen	Lars Clausen	Pascal Lorenz
Kuldip Raj	Thor Legvold	Florian Raschke
Sebastian Schneider	Michaela Schuster	Jeff M. Smith
Phil Manchester	Truls Birkeland	Jacob Setinhour
Andrey Barinov	Christopher Peltier	Hafiz Malik
Matthew Owens	Sean Coetzee	Matthew Eardley
Norm Broner	Neil Muncy	Kristin Bidwell
Doug Gregory	Catalin Grigoras	Felix Klemke
Dan Nyberg

To request membership in this Technical Committee please e-mail the Chair by using the link above.