Sociolinguistics Brown Bag Winter 2007 Manuela Rasing
Getting Started Using Express Scribe
Express Scribe is a free audio playback program that will allow you to transcribe your recordings. You will find it most useful for handling conversational recordings. It has a variable speed playback and can be controlled with your keyboard or using a foot pedal. It can be downloaded at http://www.nch.com.au/scribe/ Getting a soundfile into Express Scribe: Express Scribe recognizes a large variety of sound file formats including .wav or .aif files. These are the easiest files to load. Other soundfiles that may be loaded onto Express Scribe are listed at the above website. Loading your sound file is fairly straightforward. They can either be found by going through the load icon in the program or more easily by simply dragging the file to the Express Scribe file menu. By then clicking on the sound file in the menu, it should begin to play. While the program has its own word processing box, word processing in Express Scribe is buggy (at least in the version of software currently available), and it appears that the program works just as well if you open and type into Microsoft Word (or other word processor). Open both programs on your desktop, and arrange on-screen so you can move back-and-forth between them easily. This can be a better option if you tend to type more slowly. An extended pause when typing into the Express Scribe word-processing box will cause the cursor to move back to the beginning of the paragraph, which can be frustrating. The function keys that are listed under “control” in the main menu of Express Scribe may not work as expected. If this is the case, go to “settings” and then “control” (or to “hot keys set-up” under the main “control” option). The hot keys that are listed there are the ones that your computer is actually set to. By clicking on the keys that are listed, you can also change the function of each key if you choose to. The speed of the playback can be adjusted in the bottom-right of the Express Scribe program. This will adjust the speed if you are using
the program manually with the hot keys, or also if you are using the foot pedals. (This is important as the foot pedals control play, rewind, and fast forward but play at a constant speed.) By setting the playback speed, the playback will remain constant even if you rewind or fast forward. Quick Guide for using ExpressScribe: Setting up the foot pedal for use with your computer 1. Follow instructions on attached NCH Swift Sound sheet. (See instructions for *USB* VEC footpedal in the foot pedal box) 2. Note: If you use MAC, no additional drivers are needed. If you use PC, you will need the free, required driver download. Loading soundfiles into memory 1. Drag a soundfile (.wav or mp3 formats) onto the main window pane. Files should appear in the file list with their recording date, time and duration information. 2. Pressing down on the central button (PLAY) on the foot pedal, will start/stop playback. 3. Pressing down and holding the FF button (left) will advance/cue the recording. Lifting foot up will resume normal playback 4. Similarly, pressing down and holding the REW button (right) will rewind/cue the recording. Lifting foot up will resume normal playback 5. Overall playback speed can be adjusted at the bottom-right corner of the Express scribe program. Auto jumpback 1. Click "preferences". (>>) 2. Click "playback" tab 3. Type a value into "Auto-backstep on stop" field.