TORONTO – Forensic audio analysts are torn on whether the voice of a commenter who called a local Toronto radio station to defend Mayor Rob Ford Thursday night belongs to Rob Ford himself.
Global News contacted two forensic audio experts to separately and independently analyze the audio of the call – One expert analyst is convinced that the voice of the caller – who identified himself as “Ian from Etobicoke” – was that of Rob Ford. Another analyst found the tests inconclusive but could not rule out the possibility that the caller was the mayor.
The analysis of one expert is startling because, if accurate, it means that Rob Ford falsely represented himself and later, lied about it, and that Rob Ford’s brother, Doug, knowingly or unknowingly perpetuated the lie.
On Sunday, Ford maintained that he was not the voice of “Ian” on AM640.
“If I call, you’ll know it’s me,” said Ford during an interview with Lorne Honickman.
Forensic audio experts disagree on caller analysis
Global News provided the two forensic audio experts with the recording of the call to AM 640 – where a commenter, who identified themselves as “Ian from Etobicoke,” defended the embattled mayor – along with several audio samples of Ford speaking at press conferences, during his radio show, and during altercations with the media.
Ed Primeau, a forensic audio analyst with over 30 years experience, says he is confident that the voice of the commenter who called local Toronto radio station AM 640 to defend Mayor Rob Ford Thursday night belongs to Ford himself.
“I based my conclusion on the speaking style, voice and speech characteristics and vocal tone,” Primeau told Global News.
Primeau, who has testified as an expert witness in dozens of cases in American courts and overseas, previously matched a voice recording from a mysterious company that sent out a robocall “push poll” about Saskatchewan riding boundaries to the firm that was used to send out the infamous “Pierre Poutine” calls in the last federal election. Primeau also helped CNN confirm the identity of the voice of Apple’s “Siri” voice assistant.
After analyzing the AM 640 recordings using critical listening – a technique forensic audio analysts use to determine voice patterns – Primeau concluded with 85 per cent probability that the caller’s voice was that of Ford’s.
Primeau cut together sections of examples of Ford speaking in order to better analyze the voice – additionally, he added a filter to a cut of Ford speaking at a Gay Pride event to make it sound like he was using a telephone, making it closer to the radio call.
“I applied some equalization to the gay pride speech to get the tone of his voice closer to the tone of the caller’s voice.”
Listen: Primeau’s cut of Ford’s voice samples
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