Article 3364 of comp.speech: Newsgroups: comp.speech Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!das-news.harvard.edu!news2.near.net!MathWorks.Com!zombie.ncsc.mil!romulus.ncsc.mil!afterlife!jpcampb From: jpcampb@afterlife.ncsc.mil (Joe Campbell) Subject: Re: Does rsynth sound like a 'robot' on your machine? Message-ID: <1994Sep23.050548.28197@afterlife.ncsc.mil> Organization: The Great Beyond References: <35fufk$epk@ionews.io.org> Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 05:05:48 GMT Lines: 282 In article <35fufk$epk@ionews.io.org>, Mike Stramba wrote: > >What kind of speech quality do the 'state of the art' programs generate? If you have access to a Macintosh, you might be interested in this... Listing of Speech Manager/MacInTalk Pro/PlainTalk Aware Applications Key Words: Speech Manager MacInTalk PlainTalk Gala Tea text to speech TTS (Display in small monofont, e.g., 9pt Courier) HOW DOES IT SOUND? Relatively speaking, Apple's Speech Manager, with the high quality voices, has a synthesized voice quality and pronunciation that are among the best I've heard (Bellcore's Orator might do better with proper nouns). Do you agree? Has anyone done formal testing of the Speech Manager vs other TTS systems? HAVE YOU SEEN? Is there a Speech Manager aware application that allows graphical specification of pitch and rate trajectories (similar to SoundEdit's Bender, but on text or phoneme strings rather than on the waveform)? TO GET IT Part of the Speech Manager can be purchased with At Ease 2.x and the CD-ROM version of System 7.5. As of 9/1/94, CompuServe and America Online don't have it. Fortunately, Apple graciously provides it via eWorld and the Internet. The Speech Manager is available from Apple on the Internet via anonymous ftp to ftp.apple.com in /dts/mac/sys.soft/speech. There are 8 files in this directory and 2 installation options. Among these files are Apple's SimpleText 1.1 application, installation instructions, and Inside Macintosh style documentation on the speech manager (in Apple DocViewer format): 76652 Jul 3 03:33 simpletext.hqx 2693 Jul 3 03:34 tts-read-me.txt 370108 Aug 13 1993 speech-manager-docs.hqx Select the installation option that's appropriate for your hardware and desired performance: Option #1 - MacinTalk 2 MacinTalk 2 produces moderate quality TTS and is suited for low-end platforms where available memory is low and CPU bandwidth is limited. Minimum configuration is System 6.7 running on a Mac Plus. To use MacinTalk 2, download these files: 334203 Jul 3 03:34 speech-manager.hqx Speech Manager (1.2.1) system extension includes Fred's voice 127633 Jul 3 03:30 macintalk-2.hqx MacinTalk 2 (1.2) speech synthesizer extension includes Marvin's voice 139960 Jul 3 03:33 macintalk2-voices.hqx MacInTalk2 Voices (1.2) speech mgr document 9 more voices Option #2 - MacinTalk Pro MacinTalk Pro produces high quality TTS and is suited for platforms with large memory and a 68020 or better processor running System 7 or greater. To use MacinTalk Pro, download these files: 334203 Jul 3 03:34 speech-manager.hqx Speech Manager (1.2.1) system extension includes Fred's voice 682166 Jul 3 03:32 macintalk-pro.hqx MacinTalk Pro (1.2) speech synthesizer extension 12484674 Jul 3 03:58 voices.hqx "High Quality" (large) and "Small" (lower quality) versions of Agnes, Bruce, and Victoria. TO INSTALL IT To install either option, create a folder called Voices inside your Extensions folder (System Folder for System 6 users) and place the appropriate voice file(s) in it. Drag everything else onto your closed System Folder and restart. To make your Mac talk, try SimpleText or one of the applications below. Some of the following applications require Apple's stdTTS extension (a standard dialog handler). It's also on ftp.apple.com: /dts/mac/sys.soft/quicktime/sample.code/speech-media-handler.hqx The stdTTS extension is in one of the folders you get when you expand the file "speech-media-handler.hqx". Just install it in your extensions folder and restart. REFERENCE Apple's work in spoken language technologies and systems is described in: Lee, Kai-Fu. "The Conversational Computer: An Apple Perspective." (Keynote Speech) In Proc. Eurospeech in Berlin, ESCA, September, 1993. Happy talkin' Joe _____________________________________________________________________________ | Dr. Campbell N3JBC jpcampb@alpha.ncsc.mil jpcampb@afterlife.ncsc.mil | | Speaking for myself Happiness = Reality - Expectations, Click & Clack | |___________________ Sun Mail Tool attachments welcomed ____________________| Application, etc. Source Comments _________________ ________ _________________________________________________ AddressSpeech info-mac 4D talking address book (from Speech Pack 2.0) Alphabet Pro v1.0--new AOL The Reading Lab Series At Ease 2.0.1 MW Friendly desktop that speaks file names At Ease 2.0.1 WG MW Friendly desktop that speaks file names Azile 4.4.x AOL Simulates a conversation with a total jerk Back To School Math v1.2 AOL The Math Lab Series Big Note Music Speller AOL The Music Lab Series Chromatic Note Speller AOL The Music Lab Series Diatonic Note Speller AOL The Music Lab Series Dolch Sight Word Game AOL The Reading Lab Series Eliza 4.3.x AOL A computer simulated Rogerian psychologist ExcelTalk 2.1 info-mac Excel Macro Sheet to speak the contents of cells FB Speech demo Inside Basic Mag, volume 3, no. 7. FutureBasic demo FB speech Inside Basic Mag, volume 3, no. 6. FutureBasic demo Find The Missing Letter AOL The Reading Lab Series Find The Word AOL The Reading Lab Series Find the Missing Word AOL The Reading Lab Series First Lessons In Math v1.3 AOL The Math Lab Series First Lessons In Multiplication AOL The Math Lab Series Fortune 1.1 info-mac Like a talking UNIX fortune command - slick HearIt 1.0d3 Apple Dev CD Speak highlighted text from most applications Homer 0.92d9 zaphod.ee.pitt.edu GUI IRC client, assign nicks voices - slick Informer 0.1b2 info-mac Leave voice messages for friends and colleagues MacMessage 1.1.1 AOL Share talking messages/customizable startup Make Words With Music v1.0 AOL The Music Lab Series Melodic Ear Trainer v1.0 AOL The Music Lab Series Music Space Invaders v1.0 AOL The Music Lab Series Phonic Building Blocks v1.0 New AOL The Reading Lab Series Phonics Fun House AOL The Reading Lab Series Phonics Fun House AOL The Reading Lab Series Prof Phonics Gives Sound Advice "Find The Word" AOL The Reading Lab Series Recite 1.0 info-mac Read text files aloud SaintEdit 1.1.1 info-mac Text editor with fonts, search & bedtime stories Say info-mac MPW Tool which converts standard input to speech ScriptTools 1.2 info-mac Write AppleScript scripts to say text messages Siege Watch 1.01f info-mac Wryly political speaking clock SimpleText 1.1 ftp.apple.com Apple's replacement for TeachText SmartVoice QC Add speech to apps & suite of talking acc; $50 So To Speak 1.0 info-mac SM demo w/dual voices, full parameter control Sounds Like AOL The Reading Lab Series Speak It! info-mac Type in a message and have it spoken Speak2Me 1.0 info-mac Read the icons in the finder as they are selected SpeakNoteGH_2 pack info-mac .Remote Speak GH 1.0 Allows speaking over Appletalk nets .Speak Note GH 2.0 Speaks all manner of alert dialogs, e.g., PrintMon .Speech Daemon GH 1.0 Gives inits/scripts/etc. configurable speech SpeakTextFiles1.01info-mac Read text files, change voice, rate, pitch & mod Speaker 1.14 info-mac Simple text file editor, speaks on , macros Speech Demo 0.1 info-mac Canned speech manager demo (mac-speech-01) Speech Pack 2.0 info-mac 4th Dimension external, add speech to database Speech Rhythms AOL A cool text file for one of the above apps (below) SpeechFKEY 1.0 info-mac Speak the contents of the clipboard SpeechManagerdemo info-mac Command line interface, C source, aka -explorer SpeechUnitEx info-mac Pascal source code for speech in Lab 7 Speecher 1.2.1 info-mac Customizable word pronunciation/substitution Speek-02b info-mac Speech XCMD for HyperCard Spell Maker Pro 1.0--new AOL The Reading Lab Series Spelling Tester K - 12 v1.0 AOL The Reading Lab Series SpokesDaemon 1.01 info-mac Scriptable, Apple event-aware, SM daemon Starting Sounds--new AOL The Reading Lab Series Talking Note Picker AOL The Music Lab Series Talking Number Teacher v1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series Talking Rhythm Teacher AOL The Music Lab Series TalkingClockPro2.0info-mac AppleScriptable talking clock extension (2.0b0) TeachText 7.2 AV Mac Apple's talking TeachText (simple editor w/QT) Tex-Edit 2.5.x AOL A styled, drag mgr-aware text editor and munger The Alphabet Bee AOL The Reading Lab Series The Beatitudes AOL Sunday School Series The Math Bee v1.2 AOL The Math Lab Series The Math Factory AOL The Math Lab Series The Math Musician v1.0 AOL The Music Lab Series The Math School AOL The Math Lab Series The Music Chord Teacher v1.0 AOL The Music Lab Series The Reading Factory AOL The Reading Lab Series The Reading Factory v1.2 AOL The Reading Lab Series The Sentence builder v1.0 AOL The Reading Lab Series The Seven Sacraments AOL Sunday School Series The Talking Addition Magician v1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series The Talking Algebra Teacher 1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series The Talking Alphabet v2.5 AOL The Reading Lab Series The Talking Grammar Teacher v1.2 AOL The Reading Lab Series The Talking Money Teacher v1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series The Talking Piano Teacher v1.5 AOL The Music Lab Series The Talking Ruler v1.2 AOL The Math Lab Series The Talking Spelling Bee v2.5 AOL The Reading Lab Series The Talking Spelling Teacher v1.0 AOL The Reading Lab Series The Talking Times Tables v1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series The Talking Watch v1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series The Ten Commandments AOL Sunday School Series The Times Tables v1.5 AOL The Math Lab Series The Ultimate Math Machine 1.2 AOL The Math Lab Series The Word Game AOL The Reading Lab Series The Works of Mercy AOL Sunday School Series Things Kids Should Know v1.2 AOL The Reading Lab Series Tiny Talking Alphabet v1.0 AOL The Reading Lab Series True Or False v1.0 AOL The Math Lab Series Unscramble AOL The Reading Lab Series VoiceDemo 1.0.1 info-mac Bare bones phrase talker Welcome!v1.3.2 info-mac A talking Welcome to Macintosh startup Which Word Does Not Rhyme AOL The Reading Lab Series Word Math AOL The Math Lab Series Word Speak PIM 1.0 AOL Talking Plug-In-Module for MS Word 5 (MW0979) vvvvv unsure of Speech Mgr compatibility vvvvv AV Speech Macros AOL BlueFoxSox@aol.com Excel XLTalk Add-in AOL AFADaveAx@aol.com Carrie's Coins Stack AOL AFLCheryl@aol.com MacKun0.95 AOL Kojiro@aol.com Startup Speech AOL MikeMartin@aol.com LipService (cdev) AOL Angus3@aol.com Talking Eggs 1.0 AOL AFADaveAx@aol.com Starting Sounds 1.0 AOL Proteus2@aol.com Talkworks AOL BLACKJ9353@aol.com Speak Easy MacinTalk Learn AOL AFLCheryl@aol.com The Last Ninja AOL MarcusWK@aol.com TAO AOL AFCSteveY@aol.com ^^^^^ ??? ^^^^^ Sources: AOL = America Online info-mac = {ftp sumex-aim.stanford.edu, ftp wuarchive.wustl.edu, et al.} MW = MacWarehouse (800) 255-6227 QC = Quality Computers (800) 777-3642 NOTES: 7/3/94 Apple's WWDC Technology P&A CD has MacinTalk Pro v. 1.2, Feb '94 and Speech Manager v. 1.2.1, Apr '94. An installer is provided and a "Voices" folder in your Extensions folder now holds the voice files. More MacinTalk Pro Voices are included with "High Quality" and "Small" versions of Agnes, Bruce and Victoria (TTS Agnes, high quality; TTS Agnes, small; TTS Bruce, high quality; TTS Bruce, small; TTS Victoria, high quality; and TTS Victoria, small). "High Quality" means that there's very little compression on the voice file resulting in high audio fidelity but larger size. "Small" means high compression on the voice file resulting in small voice footprint but lower audio fidelity. Many new voices and special effects are also included (Albert, Bad News, Bahh, Bells, Boing, Bubbles, Cellos, Deranged, Good News, Hysterical, Junior, Kathy, Pipe Organ, Princess, Ralph, Trinoids, Whisper, and Zarvox). 5/10/94 The Feb '94 Apple Developer CD has MacinTalkPro 2 v. 1.0, Sep '93. Speech Rhythms: ss cc cc tt cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ss cc cc tt cc cc ra ra ra,,, Here are a few rhythms I came up with. Drop me a line and let me know how you ll ll ll ll ll like them. Ken Lacovara (Lacovara@aol.com),,, Bossa Nova, xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Conga, xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Jazz, xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx xx Rock, tt xx tt tt xx tt tt xx tt tt tt xx tt xx tt tt xx tt tt xx tt tt tt xx Military, cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc cc ,,,,, That's ebedee ebedee ebedee ebedee all folks! pp pp pp pp pp pp pp -- _____________________________________________________________________________ | Dr. Campbell N3JBC jpcampb@alpha.ncsc.mil jpcampb@afterlife.ncsc.mil | | Speaking for myself Happiness = Reality - Expectations, Click & Clack | |___________________ Sun Mail Tool attachments welcomed ____________________|