[DECtalk] Midi conversion?

Nick Gawronski nick at nickgawronski.com
Fri Jun 3 22:20:21 EDT 2005


Hi, I would like to hear some of dectalk singing with this midi program to 
hear what it sounds like?  bye
My web page is at http://www.nickgawronski.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Shaun Everiss" <shaun.e at xtra.co.nz>
To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>
Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 8:25 PM
Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?


> jayson I can't download your mids.
> I try and it finds the file.
> I choose save.
> it says file name.
> I push enter and then it says it can't read the file from source.
> At 09:58 a.m. 4/06/2005, you wrote:
>>Hi,
>>I made the MIDI files with Quick Windows Sequencer.  It can be found at 
>><http://qws.andreLouis.com>http://qws.andreLouis.com
>>It's a free program written by a blind individual so as far as I know it's 
>>100% accessible.
>>Jayson.
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: <mailto:nick at nickgawronski.com>Nick Gawronski
>>To: <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk Discussions
>>Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 12:12 PM
>>Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?
>>
>>Hi, What midi editor did you use to make these files and if it is free 
>>where can I download it and how accessible is it?  Where is a good place 
>>to get midi files of normal songs and a program to convert them to wav 
>>files?  bye
>>My web page is at 
>><http://www.nickgawronski.com>http://www.nickgawronski.com
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: <mailto:ratguy at bellsouth.net>Jayson Smith
>>To: <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk Discussions
>>Sent: Friday, June 03, 2005 5:59 AM
>>Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?
>>
>>Hi,
>>I just made a few MIDI files for this purpose.  You can grab them at the 
>>following url.
>><http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mid.zip>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mid.zip
>>There are three files.  The file row.mid is "Row, Row, Row your Boat", 
>>mary.mid is "Mary Had a Little Lam" and joy.mid is "Joy to the World" (the 
>>Christmas song and not the Three Dog Night song).  I made all these files. 
>>They are all single-track files, and have nothing except the actual notes 
>>to be sung.  Just about everybody on this list will probably be familiar 
>>with these songs, so this shouldn't be a problem.
>>Joy actually really provides the only test of syllables being sung over 
>>multiple notes.  Is there any provision for the opposite.  I don't even 
>>have a song in mind, but let's say there was a song with the word 'idea' 
>>in it, where the 'dea' part was to be sung on one note.  Now, this 
>>constitutes two distinct vowel sounds.  Is the solution to make the midi 
>>accomodate the song by putting in a double note in that instance? 
>>Actually, an actual example of this can be found in the song "God Rest Ye, 
>>Merry Gentlemen" in the lyric "To save us all from Satan's power".  Here, 
>>the word 'power' is sung on one note.
>>Jayson.
>>
>>----- Original Message ----- 
>>From: <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>John B. Eulenberg
>>To: <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk Discussions
>>Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2005 10:47 AM
>>Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Midi conversion?
>>
>>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: <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>John B. Eulenberg
>>>To: <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk Discussions
>>>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 a
> ll th
> ree 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: <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>John Eulenberg
>>>>To: <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk Discussions
>>>>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: <mailto:eulenber at msu.edu>John B. Eulenberg
>>>>>To: <mailto:dectalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk Discussions
>>>>>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
>>>>>>
>>>>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>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
>>>>>
>>>>><mailto:artlang at msu.edu>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.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>----------
>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>>>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>>
>>>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>>>>
>>>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>>>>
>>>>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>----------
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>_______________________________________________
>>>>
>>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>>>
>>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>>>
>>>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>----------
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>
>>>DECtalk mailing list
>>>
>>><mailto:DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info>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
>>
>><mailto:artlang at msu.edu>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.
>>
>>----------
>>_______________________________________________
>>DECtalk mailing list
>>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>
>>
>>----------
>>_______________________________________________
>>DECtalk mailing list
>>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>
>>
>>----------
>>_______________________________________________
>>DECtalk mailing list
>>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>>
>>_______________________________________________
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>>DECtalk at jaybird.no-ip.info
>>http://jaybird.no-ip.info/mailman/listinfo/dectalk
>
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