Definition
Plain language
A measurable property of a sound, like how high, how loud, or how long it is.
As stated in the literature
A numeric descriptor extracted from an audio signal — pitch statistics, energy/intensity, spectral shape, durations — typically computed over an utterance and used as input to classifiers or for statistical comparison between conditions.
Also called: acoustic features, acoustic property, acoustic properties
Why it matters: Turning sound into a handful of measurable numbers is what lets researchers test claims about voices statistically instead of relying on impressions.
For example, a researcher might record the same sentence from fifty people and measure each one's average pitch, loudness, and how long the sentence took, then compare those numbers.
Heard on the show
“The researchers measure sixty-six acoustic properties for every clip.”Episode 262 — Raise the Pitch Nine Percent and the Model Cries Sarcasm