[DECtalk] Modifying DECtalk (was User dictionariesforSpeakwindows)

Raymond Grote musicalman1 at comcast.net
Wed May 18 14:54:36 EDT 2011 

>From reading in the manual, there are two models, one for a male voice and 
one for a female voice, that can be switched with the sx peramitor after the 
:dv part.
So, you can convert Paul, or any male voice to any other male voice without 
using the SX peramitor. But to convert from male to female or vice versa, 
requires the sx peramitor. The kit voice is based off the female model, 
which is sx 1. The sx 0 is the male model.
I think this is how it works.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jayson Smith" <ratguy at insightbb.com>
To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 1:30 PM
Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Modifying DECtalk (was User 
dictionariesforSpeakwindows)


> Hi,
>
> I have another question having to do with the voices. Are the voices 
> defined
> entirely by their parameters or is there some internal model for each 
> voice?
> What I'm getting at is, for instance, let's say you started with the Paul
> voice. Could you, after making lots of adjustments, end up with what was
> exactly the same as the Betty voice, even though you'd never changed from
> Paul? Or does each voice have some internal model, waveform, etc. that 
> makes
> it unique?
> Thanks.
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Corine Bickley" <corine.bickley at gallaudet.edu>
> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 6:55 AM
> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Modifying DECtalk (was User dictionaries
> forSpeakwindows)
>
>
> Dennis was not one to show off. He was interested in how the voice
> parameters he has defined could be used to vary voice quality. For
> instance, was intelligibility decreased with a whispered voice? Humans
> certainly understand each other when they whisper, and whispering is
> appropriate in some situations. Dennis was a true scientist and wanted
> to understand everything about synthetic voice.
>
> On Tue, May 17, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Jayson Smith <ratguy at insightbb.com> 
> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Just curious, how were the other voices named? What is this thing with
>> every
>> synthesizer that supports this feature including a whisper voice? Is it
>> seen
>> as actually useful, or just the developers showing off?
>> Jayson
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "ebruckert Bruckert" <edbruckert at gmail.com>
>> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2011 6:07 AM
>> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] Modifying DECtalk (was User dictionaries for
>> Speakwindows)
>>
>>
>>> The voices were named by Dennis. Perfect Paul was modeled after Dennis
>>> his
>>> voice before he got cancer and Dr. Dennis was modeled after his voice
>>> after
>>> he got cancer. The issue of just using one voice is a process issue it's
>>> always existed would DECtalk we never tuned old games to last step
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 1:33 PM, Jayson Smith <ratguy at insightbb.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Changed the subject on this one.
>>>>
>>>> Ed, you were talking about focusing on the Paul voice for now. I think
>>>> that's a good move. In my opinion, whoever gave Paul his name got it
>>>> right.
>>>> He's pretty much the perfect DECtalk voice, I think. That having been
>>>> said,
>>>> I think the following goes without saying. As I see it, all nine 
>>>> factory
>>>> voices should be tuned at least to an extent where they are perfectly
>>>> understandable. I was going to say they should be pleasant to listen 
>>>> to,
>>>> but
>>>> some people might not think certain voices would be pleasant to listen
>>>> to
>>>> for a long time. What this basically means is, no factory voice should
>>>> produce overload squawks or other undesirable noises when synthesizing
>>>> any
>>>> reasonable text. Obviously once people get into messing with the
>>>> parameters
>>>> and creating their own voices, they're asking for it.
>>>> Jayson
>>>>
>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> From: "ebruckert Bruckert" <edbruckert at gmail.com>
>>>> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>>>> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 12:52 PM
>>>> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] User dictionaries for Speak windows
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> > I'm busy today but I will send versions of the user Dic. T
>>>> > On in all honesty I can't remember if there were different versions,
>>>> > but
>>>> > there certainly weren't many.
>>>> > One of the main differences in the know of version was I tuned the
>>>> > frication
>>>> > or high-frequency noise is stronger because of signal loss going to
>>>> > the
>>>> > transmitters through regular telephone lines. I am slowly working on 
>>>> > a
>>>> new
>>>> > version I want your feedback but understand this is a stepwise 
>>>> > process
>>>> > so
>>>> > I
>>>> > need feedback on both what you like and what you don't like. Attached
>>>> > is
>>>> a
>>>> > very short piece of Paul. The way the gains of the vocal track have 
>>>> > to
>>>> > be
>>>> > tuned I'm only going to focus on Paul or perhaps a different voice if
>>>> > you'd
>>>> > prefer until we get closer to what we want. I'm almost afraid to
>>>> > mention
>>>> > something, but I have archived the last research DECtalk version that
>>>> > Dennis
>>>> > was working on when he died, I may try to get it running obviously it
>>>> > was
>>>> > never finished. In that regard does anybody know of a utility that 
>>>> > can
>>>> > convert an old 16 bit sound file into a wave file?
>>>> >
>>>> > Mon, May 16, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Jayson Smith <ratguy at insightbb.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> Hi,
>>>> >>
>>>> >> I downloaded that but it doesn't seem to work for the Speak43 
>>>> >> window.
>>>> >> I
>>>> >> assume that means each version of DECtalk has its own dictionary
>>>> >> format.
>>>> >> To
>>>> >> me, that seems a bit weird and breaks forward and backward
>>>> compatibility.
>>>> >> But whatever.
>>>> >> Jayson
>>>> >>
>>>> >> ----- Original Message -----
>>>> >> From: "Alex H." <linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com>
>>>> >> To: "DECtalk Discussions" <dectalk at bluegrasspals.com>
>>>> >> Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2011 6:22 PM
>>>> >> Subject: Re: [DECtalk] User dictionaries for Speak windows
>>>> >>
>>>> >>
>>>> >> > Hi Jayson,
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > I know there's a utility to make user dictionaries for the DECTalk
>>>> >> > USB, and you can download the files on Access Solutions' website. 
>>>> >> > I
>>>> >> > don't know if they'd work on the demo Speak windows though.
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > Alex
>>>> >> >
>>>> >> > On 5/15/11, Jayson Smith <ratguy at insightbb.com> wrote:
>>>> >> >> Hi,
>>>> >> >>
>>>> >> >> Does anyone know how to create/generate/compile user dictionaries
>>>> >> >> for
>>>> >> the
>>>> >> >> Speak windows? I know back in the days of the DECtalk PC, it
>>>> >> >> shipped
>>>> >> with
>>>> >> >> software to take a properly-formatted text file and compile it
>>>> >> >> into
>>>> >> >> a
>>>> >> >> binary
>>>> >> >> dictionary file. I still have one of those files, and it doesn't
>>>> >> >> work
>>>> >> >> as
>>>> >> >> a
>>>> >> >> user dictionary in Speak43. Are there tools out there to generate
>>>> user
>>>> >> >> dictionaries, or are they pretty much just internal tools which
>>>> should
>>>> >> >> have
>>>> >> >> been distributed but weren't? Snoopi, Ed, Corine, can anyone help
>>>> >> >> here?
>>>> >> >> Thanks.
>>>> >> >>
>>>> >> >> _______________________________________________
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>>>> >> >>
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>>>> >> _______________________________________________
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>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>
>>
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