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JFK UNSILENCED

JFK video: hear Kennedy’s ‘lost’ Dallas speech in his own voice

On November 22, 1963 John F Kennedy was silenced. Fifty-five years later we have made it possible for him to be heard again, writes Aaron Rogan

John F Kennedy pictured in 1957. Sound engineers pulled 116,777 sound units from 831 of JFK’s speeches and radio addresses to recreate his voice
John F Kennedy pictured in 1957. Sound engineers pulled 116,777 sound units from 831 of JFK’s speeches and radio addresses to recreate his voice
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The Times

It took eight weeks to bring to life the 2,590 words John F Kennedy never got to speak.

Sound engineers pulled 116,777 sound units from 831 of his speeches and radio addresses. These units were then split in half and analysed for pitch and energy. The half units, known as phones, were each about 0.04 seconds long and had to be tested next to each other to ensure that they did not clash. The W sound in weapons, for example, is not the same as the W sound in words.

“There are only 40/45 phones in English so once you’ve got that set you can generate any word in the English language. The problem is that it would not sound natural because one sound