[DECtalk] how to do gender change in Dectalk?

Dectalk at aol.com Dectalk at aol.com
Tue Jan 31 17:52:30 EST 2012


You know, after thinking about it, Ed is wrong, and I want to say why  
because if I don't, I'm the one that looks like the one who's wrong.
 
Lets talk about Dectalk Reader 1 and how people should know by the name  
that it can't sing.  I'm gonna bring up Ancilla, which was a voice mail  
program that ran in Windows 3.1.  And if you think that's too old for  anyone to 
remember, un, I'm writing about it, so I remember.  It came with  a speech 
engine and it happened to be Dectalk.  And the surprise feature  was, it 
could sing.
 
Does any Dectalk product mention singing?  Not that I know of, not  until 
you install it.  So why on God's green Earth should anyone know by  the name 
alone that Dectalk Reader 1 won't sing?  As long as it's Dectalk,  I think 
anyone would rightfully assume that it will sing.  So I think the  name 
misleads people.
 
Now, why are you blaming Microsoft when I know for a fact that they are not 
 to blame for why it won't sing.  And how do I know this?  There is a  
device company called Talking Box and they use Dectalk.  Their Dectalk  won't 
sing and I had to know why just because I wanted to know.  I got to  talk to 
an engineer at Talking Box and was totally fascinated with what he told  me.  
There is a command that they can encode that restricts the  singing.  And 
being that I know this, I know that Talking Box could either  tell you the 
code, or tell you who to contact to get the code.  I would  help track it but 
um, I was fired for speaking the truth.
 
And shall we bring up Stacy, the only person that you know that has  the 
codes that you need.  The one person that had the brains enough to walk  away 
because all you guys do is make up stories.  Actually I have no idea  why 
she walked away, but from everything I know, I don't blame her and she  
actually has my respect.
 
So cut the crap.  If I had the go ahead I could track down the needed  
codes because I know where to start looking.  And actually I think you do  to 
but you're to worried about your pension from Fonix.  I know about the  
contract, I know about a lot of stuff, a lot of red tape that keeps this SAPI  
from being what it could be.  That's why it's garbage, because Corine  Bickley 
signed an insane contract with Fonix and never did get what she paid  for.  
So you are all stuck with what you have to work with because no one  has any 
guts.
 
And no, I never met Dennis Klatt, I never said I did.  But I know him  
through his work which was a head of it's time.  I'm not the only one that  
sings with Dectalk.  If you search on youtube, you will find a number of  people 
who sang the National Anthem among other things.,  Dennis Klatt made  that 
happen.  Dennis had the desire to give the possibility of singing  never 
knowing how far it could go.  Still, he put out that  possibility.  And yeah, 
I'm the most known synthetic singer, but I'm not  the only synthetic singer.  
And it shouldn't have to end over a source  code.  Dennis wanted to give 
everyone the option to sing, so he made it  part of Dectalk. 
 
So by releasing a version that can't sing, you are giving up on every  
person that wants to sing.  Is that really what Dennis Klatt would  do?  A guy 
that made his own Daughter smile by having Dectalk sing to her  on her 
birthday?  You can actually live with not having this sing?
 
That's why I say and repeat, Dennis would roll over in his grave.   This is 
not what Dennis would do.  His work speaks for him.
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 
In a message dated 1/30/2012 1:53:46 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
beroberts at hughes.net writes:

I agree  that the product is releaseable and a dictionary should be 
included. The  samples definitely sound better now. I can understand 85-90 percent 
of  the words.
Blake

 
____________________________________
 From: dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com  
[mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com] On Behalf Of  Dectalk at aol.com
Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 1:39  PM
To: dectalk at bluegrasspals.com
Subject: Re: [DECtalk]  how to do gender change in Dectalk?



Still, there should be a dictionary included to change how words are  
pronounced.
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 
In a message dated 1/30/2012 1:31:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
bmisch2002 at gmail.com writes:

i  heard these samples on klango a month ago and they sounded better than 
that  DECtalk sample that was out early last year.   


On Jan 30, 2012, at 12:28 PM, _Dectalk at aol.com_ (mailto:Dectalk at aol.com)  
wrote:



After posting the link I tried it myself.  I think these files  were 
updated because I'm now understanding them at 100 percent.   However, "New" still 
sounds like "Moo", but this is releasable.  I  actually like it now.  Wow!  
I never thought you guys would pull  it off!  I hope you fix "New", and the 
"H" in "Hurricane" is too  long, but this is damn good now.
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 
In a message dated 1/30/2012 12:15:09 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, 
_Dectalk at aol.com_ (mailto:Dectalk at aol.com)  writes:

Let me share the link to the unreleased demos that I'm talking  about.  And 
actually the word "New" sounds like "Moo".
 
To hear samples of all the voices, just change the name at the end  of the 
link.
_http://davesvideoservicesco.startlogic.com/dennis/_ 
(http://davesvideoservicesco.startlogic.com/dennis/) 
 
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 
In a message dated 1/30/2012 11:49:56 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
_bmisch2002 at gmail.com_ (mailto:bmisch2002 at gmail.com)   writes:

that ductal demo sounds like 4.61 or something close to  it.   


On Jan 30, 2012, at 11:08 AM, _Dectalk at aol.com_ (mailto:Dectalk at aol.com)  
wrote:



Fine, release it, whatever.  The latest MP3 recordings of  Dectalk Reader 1 
have pops in most of the voices, and the weather  report in the demo is 
only like 80 percent  understandable.   So fine, I'll say it's the best thing I 
 ever heard in my life if that's what you want.  It's a lie, but  gm 
starting to feel like the truth doesn't exist any more.
 
"Four score and 7 years ago our Father's brought forth a new  nation", or 
whatever that line is.  The word "New" is  annoyingly pronounced.  I have no 
clue what is wrong with it,  it sounds like [nuwuwuw], rather than  [nuw].  
I'm not sure, it's just annoying.  My  point is, if you are not offering an 
online demo, or  anything that people can't try, and if those two demos are 
the  only thing that people hear, and if it won't even have a dictionary  
that people can edit how it says words, then, then, then.   Oh good grief. 
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 
In a message dated 1/30/2012 10:31:01 A.M. Eastern Standard  Time, 
_edbruckert at gmail.com_ (mailto:edbruckert at gmail.com)   writes:

additional  information, I forgot to mention that sometime in the late 80s  
when Dennis added a female data set to DECtalk the sex option  change from 
a scaling function to simply selecting a male or  female phonetic base, but 
in no way can I remember when that  occurred.  
As a general comment I alone did  the four point X versions of DECtalk as 
Dennis was born at that  point, so I know them intimately, but even years ago 
people would  prefer different versions and trying to make one sound 
exactly  like the other was exceedingly difficult and a lot of it occurred  
because of changes in the overall coding that were done not  because we wanted to 
but because we had to meet evolving  programming standards to keep it 
running on various tools because  if we didn't sell DECtalk we simply went home 
and unfortunately  economics force the focus away from the screen reader 
environment.  I did not like this change but DECtalk more than once was in  
survival mode, I am using the latest version and to say it's on  understandable 
is an exaggeration,
preferring a different version is very understandable. I have  no problems 
with people saying what I want but understand this is  anything but easy 
with limited funds, I donate my time but other  people cannot and the fact that 
I'm going blind and I am not a  Windows or SAPI programmer there are limits 
to what can be done.  But I think junk is an unfair exaggeration.

On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 9:14 PM, Jake  McMahan <_mcmahan.jake at gmail.com_ 
(mailto:mcmahan.jake at gmail.com) >  wrote:


 
I have to say, I love the  sound of dectalk reader one.  I really want this 
version  badly.  I don't care if it will sing, and I don't care  about 
anything else.  I love it the way it is.  To me,  it's not garbage, it's a 
version of dectalk that I personally  like.  I want this version, again.

 



From: _Dectalk at aol.com_ (mailto:Dectalk at aol.com)   
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 9:09 PM
To: _dectalk at bluegrasspals.com_ (mailto:dectalk at bluegrasspals.com)  
 
 
Subject: Re: [DECtalk] how to do gender change in  Dectalk?




 
 


Um, Ed, excuse me but Blake and I both heard the latest MP3  samples of 
Dectalk Reader 1.  The speech is not  understandable.
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 
In a message dated 1/29/2012 8:59:14 P.M. Eastern Standard  Time, 
_musicalman1 at comcast.net_ (mailto:musicalman1 at comcast.net)  writes:

Well, I've stated this opinion time and  time again, and every time I do, 
people seem to think I'm nuts  or that I'm too conservative.
First off, people are nnot stupid. If  they call it Dectalk Reader, then 
who in their right mind will  think snoopi's instructions on making it sing, 
will work with  a reader of all things?
And, the Dectalk that Enable has, isn't  unusable. there are some on this 
list that like it for what it  is. I myself do not, but that's my opinion. 
One man's garbage  is another man's treasure...
This isn't the first time someone  released a Dectalk that wasn't a thing 
like what we all know.  Force did it, Fonix did it. But everyone still stuckw 
ith  Dectalk 4.3 and 4.4. So I don't see why Enable is going to  just ruin 
everything. If people don't like it, they will  simply not use it just like 
they did with everything else. I  do not agree with Enable's motives, but I 
will never tell them  their product is garbage. Let's say I tell someone on 
this  list their production is garbage. they worked for hours on it.  They 
will most likely be glad to have received the high  complement? Even if it's 
the worst piece of garbage you ever  heard. It's simply not anything close 
to constructive to say  it that way. So now Enable just releases what they 
have  because some people use it and they've fired those who told  them off. 
It's sad but true. They have their faults, we have  ours. If we don't like 
them, that's how it is. But I was  seriously hoping the Enable business was 
over with. They'd  either fix it or they wouldn't. *sigh*
I continue to hope that Dennis will like  what eventually becomes of 
Dectalk. Maybe enable will do  something for the better, or someone else will. But 
we have no  hopeful dectalk future, which is sad. I believe all of us,  
that being Enable and those of us who were very harsh on them,  had a part in 
that. I am so fed up with this argument between  us and Enable! Let's just 
not post anything  else degrading about them. Please? we've done that  enough!
 
----- Original Message ----- 

From:  _ebruckert  Bruckert_ (mailto:edbruckert at gmail.com)  
To: _DECtalk Discussions_ (mailto:dectalk at bluegrasspals.com)  
Sent: Sunday, January  29, 2012 9:30 AM
Subject: Re: [DECtalk]  how to do gender change in Dectalk?


I want to  clarify some things and some things that make me quite  upset. 
Making statements like Dennis would roll over in his  grave when you never 
even knew Dennis I find disrespectful.  Dennis was a person I always looked up 
to and tried to  emulate in my life. And he would never denigrate people 
the  way you seem inclined to do, especially when in plain  English you don't 
know what the hell you're talking about!!  the issue of singing in the SAPI 
version has nothing to do  with DECtalk if you want to get mad at somebody 
get mad at  Microsoft for creating a specification that doesn't allow  for 
commands to be passed to a synthesizer. The DECtalk  created could sing if you 
get get the damn commands to it.  In plain English I'm thoroughly disgusted 
with your  rants.  
The sex command was created for the  original DECtalk because we only had 
one acoustic database  so Dennis did the best he could trying to develop an  
algorithm to scale performance between a male and a female  which works to 
some extent but can't be perfect due to the  complexities involved in that 
it's not linear.
     




On Sun, Jan 29, 2012 at 8:45 AM,  <_Dectalk at aol.com_ 
(mailto:Dectalk at aol.com) > wrote:


Thank you!  I knew it was possible but I never  totally knew how.  I am 
trying to jump start my  business called "THE FLAME OF HOPE".  As most of you  
know I have over 1200 songs, and right now I'm trying to  put as many of 
them as I can to music.  Some I flat  out can't because when I first started I 
made really bad  errors such as not doing the entire song.  Part of it  was 
I started with easy sheet music which often only has  one verse.  But I'm 
doing new songs as well.
 
The reason is, people now have avatars and easy to  use animation software. 
 So I'm marketing the free  4.40 Speak Window which is free for the asking, 
then I'm  selling my instructions on how to create voices and make  them 
sing.  
 
I bring this up because I have a question for all of  you.  Enable Rehab is 
getting ready to release  "DECTALK READER 1", and there might be an 
Earthquake on  that day because Dennis Klatt might roll over in his  grave.  This 
thing as far as I know won't sing.   The voices from the latest I have heard 
are still bad  quality because the voices pop in the MP3 recordings that  I 
have heart.  I don't think it will come with a  dictionary so people can 
edit how words are said.   And in my opinion, this thing is still garbage!  I  
got fired for saying that but big deal, I'm only saying  the truth!
 
Anyway, Enable Rehab won't take "Dectalk" out of the  name because they 
feel the name is a marketing tool.   I personally think it's fraud because it 
will be so  different from the Dectalk that we all know and love that  it 
really isn't Dectalk.  They're calling it "Reader  1" so people will know by 
the title that it will only  read.  (Sick)
 
Anyway, I'm upset because thanks to both E voice and  now the internet, I 
think I'm as associated with Dectalk  as much as Dennis Klatt.  This upcoming 
release is  making me sick because I'm afraid people might buy this  
Dectalk SAPI garbage and think my instructions will work  with it.  So I'm very 
upset that they are calling it  Dectalk anything.  They really need to remove  
"Dectalk" from the title because I view it as a deception  of the worse 
kind!
 
Here is my question.  I think a petition should  be started because this is 
just wrong!  BUT, I don't  know if the petition should be to just drop 
"Dectalk" from  the name, OR, to just scrap this garbage.  And, I  don't want to 
be the one to start the petition because I  don't know how.  But if a 
petition does get started,  it needs to go all over the internet and get back to  
Enable Rehab.
 
I just feel that by marking this garbage under  "Dectalk", they are taking 
advantage of both the blind and  the disabled communities because they know 
"Dectalk" will  bring in sales just because of the name.  And because  my 
name is known with Dectalk, I feel this soon to be  released garbage will 
effect my image and my  business.
 
 
SNOOPI BOTTEN 
 
 

 
In a message dated 1/28/2012 9:49:19 P.M. Eastern  Standard Time, 
_beroberts at hughes.net_ (mailto:beroberts at hughes.net)  writes:

Thanks Alex. That syntax works in both  DT 4.4 and 4.3. I did a quick test
with both  versions.  Note to Snoopi: the female versions of  Frank and 
Dennis
sound odd. I think breathiness will  need to be changed with the br command
for best  results.
Blake

-----Original  Message-----
From: _dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com_ 
(mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com) 
[mailto:_dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com_ 
(mailto:dectalk-bounces at bluegrasspals.com) ] On  Behalf Of Alex H.
Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012  9:06 PM
To: DECtalk Discussions
Subject: Re:  [DECtalk] how to do gender change in  Dectalk?

sorry, [:nf][:dv sx 0] should do  it.

On 1/28/12, Alex H. <_linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com_ 
(mailto:linuxx64.bashsh at gmail.com) >  wrote:
> [:sx 0]
>
> On 1/28/12, Blake  Roberts <_beroberts at hughes.net_ 
(mailto:beroberts at hughes.net) >  wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> Snoopi asked me  to pose a question to the listserv. He knows about  
>> the gender change command, sx. Does it work  in DT 4.4? If so, what is 
>> the correct  syntax?
>> Snoopi wants to program the song  Emotion by The Bee Gees using a 
>> breathy  female Frank or Dennis. I know that may sound funny, but  it 
>> is a serious thing. If anyone knows how  to change Frank or Dennis to 
>> female, please  share. I figure someone on here probably does.  
>> Alternatively, if anyone else wants to  program a female Frank or 
>> Dennis version of  the song, Snoopi is willing to do the mixing with  
>> music after fixing any phoneems that may be  incorrect. He is waiting 
>> for his  communication device to be repaired, so Snoopi will not  be 
>> able to program the song for about a  month.
>> Blake
>>  Blake
>>
>
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