How to: Increase or Reduce Silence Between Words

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Edit alignments manually in Wave Editor if words are padded with too little or too much silence.

Moving word boundaries can change the amount of silence at the beginning or end of a word or phrase. Another way to increase silence around words is to paste a silent segment from another part of the same .wav file or copy a silent segment from another file.

Pasting a Silent Segment Within the Same File

To paste a silent segment within the same file

1. Open Wave Editor, displaying the .wav file that contains the word requiring additional silence.

2. Click and drag to select part of the waveform that represents silence.

   These areas might be marked with a <\sil> tag.

3. Right-click the selection, and then click Copy.

4. To create an insertion bar, double-click the target location in the waveform.

   An insertion bar is a blue line, with blue arrows at the top and bottom of the line.

5. Right-click the insertion bar, and then click Paste.

Copying a Silent Segment Between Files

To copy a silent segment between files

1. Open Wave Editor, and then display the .wav file that contains the source segment.

2. Click the prompt database tab.

3. In the Transcription pane, double-click the Has Wave icon or the Has Alignments icon for the recording containing the target segment.

4. Copy and paste.

   Note

   Pasting silent segments alters the .wav file.

See Also

Other Resources

Prompt Projects and Databases
Prompt Transcriptions and Recordings