Complete Tutorial

From audio loading to data export in 30 minutes

Overview

This tutorial will guide you through the complete workflow of using Ozen-web for acoustic analysis and annotation. By the end, you’ll know how to:

  • Load and explore audio files
  • View acoustic features (pitch, formants, intensity)
  • Create and edit annotation tiers
  • Collect acoustic measurements at specific points
  • Export your annotations and data for analysis

Prerequisites:

  • Ozen-web running (Getting Started Guide). The GitHub-hosted server should be enough for most purposes.
  • A sample audio file (.wav, .flac, .mp3, or .ogg). You can also record yourself.
  • Basic familiarity with spectrograms (helpful but not required)

Sample Files

For this tutorial, you can use:

  • Your own audio: Any .wav, .flac, .mp3, .ogg file of speech
  • Record in-browser: Use the microphone icon to record a few sentences
  • Download samples: Example audio files from this documentation
Tip

For your first time, use a short file (5-15 seconds) to see results quickly. You can try longer files later.

Tutorial Sections

1. Loading Audio

Learn three ways to load audio files: drag-and-drop, file picker, and microphone recording.

2. Exploring Audio

Navigate the interface with zoom, pan, cursor placement, and audio playback.

3. Acoustic Analysis

Enable and interpret pitch, formants, intensity, and other acoustic overlays.

4. Annotations

Create annotation tiers, add boundaries, edit labels, and use keyboard shortcuts.

5. Data Collection

Add data points to collect acoustic measurements at specific time/frequency locations.

6. Exporting

Export TextGrids, data points (TSV), and audio files for further analysis.

Learning Path

Complete beginner? Follow sections 1-6 in order.

Familiar with spectrograms? Skip to section 3 (Acoustic Analysis) or 4 (Annotations).

Just need annotation? Jump to section 4 (Annotations) and 6 (Exporting).

Just need measurements? Go to sections 3 (Acoustic Analysis) and 5 (Data Collection).

What You’ll Create

By the end of this tutorial, you’ll have:

  • ✅ An annotated audio file with multi-tier transcription
  • ✅ A TextGrid file (Praat format) for further analysis
  • ✅ A TSV file with acoustic measurements and labels
  • ✅ Skills to analyze your own research audio

Tips for Success

Tip

Use keyboard shortcuts — They’re listed in each section and dramatically speed up your workflow.

Experiment freely — The app has undo/redo (Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Y), so you can’t break anything.

Note

Save your work — Export your TextGrid and TSV files regularly (section 6) to avoid losing progress.

Need Help?

Ready to start? Let’s begin with Loading Audio →

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