Control Language for Experimental Speech Synthesis

Abstract

A language has been designed for the description of utterances to be synthesized through computer control of analog models of speech mechanism or through digital-computer simulation. A compiler for the language translates an utterance description into the time-ordered sequence of events that must occur in the model. Some of these events direct the generation of control signals for the parameters of the model. Other events control the timing of pitch pulses. The language and its compiler are designed for on-line use of a computer in experimental speech synthesis, and they permit the experimenter to specify an utterance, observe it, and adjust parameters for further trials until the desired synthesis is realized. The language and its compiler are described in the talk, and several examples are given to illustrate its use. [Work supported in part by the U. S. Army Signal Corps, the U. S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U. S. Office of Naval Research; in part by the .National Science Foundation (grant G-16526), the National Institutes of Health, U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (grants MH104737-03 and NB-04332-01), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (grant NsG-496); and in part by the U. S. Air Force (ESD) under contract AF19(628)3325.]