[DECtalk] Midi conversion?

John B. Eulenberg eulenber at msu.edu
Thu Jun 2 10:47:55 EDT 2005


Dear Jayson,
Thanks for your questions.
You're right about the licensing. It would require a license for DECtalk.
The program could be distributed in a form that doesn't include DECtalk, 
if the user would be content with just a function that merged the 
already phoneticized DECtalk string with the midi file.
The program works with just the first track of the MIDI file, so in 
casese of multi-track MIDI files, you'll want the first track to be the 
vocal track, rather than some other instrument. My current 
implememtation doesn't isolate the vocal track for you, but there are 
MIDI editor programs that allow you to strip out the non-vocal tracks 
from the song and resave the stripped-down version.
As for operating systems, this program has worked under ME, and probably 
would work under 98 and 2000. I've been using XP during the last several 
years, as I've refined the software, but the code doesn't depend on it's 
being used under XP.
The program does assign one syllable per note, where a syllable is 
defined as a vowel, diphthong or syllabic consonant, plus the preceding 
consonants, if any. For syllables that need to be stretched over two 
notes, such as the "O" in "O say can you see by the dawn's early 
light....", the solution is just to put a number (in the case of "O", it 
would be "2") in the DECtalk phoneme text box directly before the 
phoneme for the vowel, as in "[2ow]", and the program will automatically 
assign two consecutive notes to that syllable.

If I have time over the weekend, I may be able to give the list a couple 
examples of how this works.

Does anyone have a song (with lyrics and associated midi file) for this 
test?

Yours,
John Eulenberg

Jayson Smith wrote:

> Hi,
> Thanks for the explanation.  I do have a few more questions.  One's 
> about DECtalk itself.  Does the software actually have a DECtalk 
> program in it, or does it call an external program to play the song 
> you've just created?  If DECtalk is bundled with the program, this 
> might present a whole mess of licensing concerns.  Most of us in this 
> community use the freely available DECtalk demo program put out by 
> Digital way back when, called speak43.exe.  I have written a small 
> program called Playdec which will allow for command-line or Windows 
> association playing of DECtalk files using the Speak43 application or 
> any similar application.  Let me know if you want a copy.  The license 
> for my program is, basically, do whatever you want with it but if you 
> use my code somewhere else I'd like credit.
> Is your program only usable under XP?  That's not a problem for me or 
> probably for most others, but I'm just wondering if it actually 
> requires XP or if it's just not been tested on older systems such as 98.
> My other question involves the translation of MIDI notes into DECtalk 
> code.  Let's say you have an eight-note MIDI file, and you create a 
> DECtalk phonemic version of the text 'This is a test'.  Now, would the 
> first note sing 'this', the second note sing 'is', the third note sing 
> 'a', and the fourth note sing 'test'?  If so, what about the other 
> four notes, would they be silent?  In other words, is it always 
> assumed that one note equals one syllable?
> Thanks,
> Jayson.
>  
>
>     ----- Original Message -----
>     From: John B. Eulenberg <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>
>     To: DECtalk Discussions <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>
>     Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 9:20 AM
>     Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?
>
>     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/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>This e-mail may contain proprietary information and may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately.
>>>    
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>>
>
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>


-- 
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/



This e-mail may contain proprietary information and may be confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error, please delete it immediately.

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