SOURCE-FILTER SEPARATION VIA THE CEPSTRUM

An example of source-filter separation using voiced speech:
(a) Windowed Signal

(b) Log Spectrum

(c) Filtered Cepstrum (n < N)

(d) Smoothed Log Spectrum

(e) Excitation Signal

(f) Log Spectrum (high freq.)
An example of source-filter separation using unvoiced speech:

(a) Windowed Signal

(b) Log Spectrum

(c) Filtered Cepstrum (n < N)

(d) Smoothed Log Spectrum


The reason this works is simple: the fundamental frequency for the speaker produces a peak in the cepstrum sequence that is far removed (n > N) from the influence of the vocal tract (n < N). You can also demonstrate this using an autocorrelation function. What happens for an extremely high-pitched female or child?