[DECtalk] Midi conversion?

John B. Eulenberg eulenber at msu.edu
Thu Jun 2 09:20:12 EDT 2005


Dear Jayson et al.,
Basically, the program, which runs under Windows XP, presents three text 
windows: The first is for English orthography (regular spelling); the 
second is for DECtalk phonemic code, without the musical note codes; and 
the third is for the fully "enchanted" DECtalk code, including the 
musical notes. You can enter text into either the first window or the 
second window. If you enter it into the first window, clicking a control 
button creates the corresponding phonetic text in the second window for 
you automatically. A separate navigation control allows you to select a 
midi file on your computer. Then, once you have thus specified the 
phonetic text in the second text window and the desired midi file, 
clicking a second control button creates the fully "enchanted" DECtalk 
text in the third text window. This text can then be played by clicking 
a third control button. Any of the texts can be copied to the clipboard 
for use in another application. Also, one can hand-edit the text in all 
three windows at any time.

I am working with Michigan State University on getting this software 
available either for free (my preference) or for a nominal license fee 
under $15.

As for accessibility of this software for blind users, I think it would 
be accessible to a person using most screen reading programs. I will 
give it a test with JAWS this week.

Yours,
John Eulenberg


Jayson Smith wrote:

> Hi,
> A few more questions if you don't mind.  I understand that this 
> software is currently unavailable to the public, and you'd need 
> sufficient interest in order to release it.  With that said, I'd like 
> to ask a few questions which might let everybody know if this program 
> would work for us.
> 1.  What operating systems does the program run under?
> 2.  How does it work?  E.G. what is the user interface like?  Is it a 
> deal where you write a text script which describes what phonemes or 
> sounds are to be put on each note, or is it a graffical representation 
> where you somehow find the proper notes on the screen and put phonemic 
> symbols on those notes or something?  If that's the way it is, it 
> probably wouldn't be that useful to most of us, as most of us on this 
> list probably are blind.
> I think once there was talk of writing a program to do something 
> similar, but putting some generic phonemic symbols on each note so you 
> could then go in and manually put the  phonemes in.
> Jayson.
>  
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: John Eulenberg <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>
>     To: DECtalk Discussions <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>
>     Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 10:23 AM
>     Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?
>
>     It hasn't been released, but it ould be. It's pretty much a matter
>     of clearing the MSU office of Intellectual Property. I'd be happy
>     to look into it if there is sufficient interest.
>     John B. Eulenberg
>
>John Bryson Eulenberg
>Professor
>Director, Artificial Language Laboratory
>
>
>     Jayson Smith wrote:
>
>>     Hi,
>>     Has this software ever been made available to the DECtalk
>>     community at large, or is it only available for internal use? 
>>     Just curious.
>>     Jayson.
>>      
>>
>>         ----- Original Message -----
>>         From: John B. Eulenberg <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>
>>         To: DECtalk Discussions <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>
>>         Sent: Thursday, May 26, 2005 7:15 AM
>>         Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?
>>
>>         Dear Jayson et al,
>>         We have been doing MIDI to DECtalk conversions for years at
>>         the Michigan State University Artificial Language Laboratory,
>>         using our own proprietary software. Our main application has
>>         been for nonspeaking people using a communication aid system
>>         such as DynaVox.
>>         Our program allows the user to input either at the phoneme
>>         level or at the level of orthographic representation (regular
>>         spelling).
>>         Yours,
>>         John Eulenberg
>>
>>         Jayson Smith wrote:
>>
>>>Hey,
>>>Did anybody ever figure out a way to convert data in MIDI files into proper
>>>DECtalk format for singing?  Obviously you'd have to put in the proper
>>>phonemes yourself, but still it'd be nice to be able to have the notes and
>>>durations converted.
>>>Jayson.
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>
>>>  
>>>
>>
>>
>>-- 
>>John Bryson Eulenberg, Ph.D.
>>Professor
>>Audiology and Speech Sciences
>>Linguistics, Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages
>>African Studies Center
>>Director, Artificial Language Laboratory
>>405 Computer Center
>>Michigan State University
>>East Lansing, MI 48824-1042
>>517-353-6622 voice
>>517-353-4766 fax
>>517-896-6655 mobile
>>517-332-1970 home
>>artlang at msu.edu
>>http://www.msu.edu/~artlang/
>>
>>
>>
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>>    
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