Tips for making text to speech audios

[Brand_X]

Something I've noticed about a lot of TTS files here is that the people who make them tend to be a bit lazy about how they construct their text files.

So, a couple of tips from me on how to do it right:

1. Pauses. Add pauses between not just sentences, but also between words. Adding a full stop will add a pause without having to set a duration. I've also found that TTS engine pause delays are very unreliable so the two manin ways I use to add pauses are to add a full stop, or press the Enter key to force a pause.

So instead of writing a long sentence all in one go, write it like this:

By adding a simple full stop. You have a slight pause.

And by adding a space

between parts of a sentence

you break up the robotic pattern

of

the speech engine.



2. Deliberate misspelling of words.

This is my favorite way of getting a speech engine to say words that are not in it's library or to pronounce them in a different way. For example, "boobies" can be written as "boo bees" to draw the word out longer. Think phonetically: If the word doesn't sound right, try spelling a different way or split it into parts.

This does not always work, there are a lot of simple words and exclamations I can't produce at all, but it's still a very useful and simple technique.

3. Check your work for bugs! Very often when you generate the MP3 or WAV file, words won't sound the same as in the TTS program. I don't know what causes this but you can iron out some of the bugs by splitting the file into parts and then pasting them together in an audio editing program such as Audacity.

BTW, a simple echo effect adds a lot to the ambiance of a hypno MP3.


I'm sure I've forgotten something important, but that'll do for now.[/i]

[lew897]

That's pretty basic stuff that Ive noticed that needs to be done for tts. But what Ive noticed and done so far in terms of files is that Ive had to do a lot more than just these three to make a good enough tts. At least for me anyway. The only thing I don't do is the word changing because it takes so long just for one word and when I do put it back in it sounds out of place. Also, Im no where near what I want my tts to sound like and I am still baffled and curious as to how to improve certain aspects of the tts. Ive had a few aha moments making files, but Im a little hesitant to say them because I feel like a magican giving away secrets. But I will say Im defiantly in favor of a small echo. I put the echo thresholds at both barely over or under .1. I do know what your saying about bad or subpar tts files, all of my original files were just basically a tts and upload. No editing what so ever. lol.

[Calimore]

Until a virus took out my desktop machine a couple of weeks back, I was having a lot of fun using the latest commercial engines and the various TTS voice models available from places like AT&T. It does seem that there is some value to using this technology.

However, as rapport is a key element to much hypnosis, I'm fairly certain it would take additional effort to gain the easy trust of many subjects using TTS alone, especially those new to the experience (unless they had a pathological link to disembodied voices of some type or another).

Once I have a better processor up and running again, I intend to use some of the smoother TTS voices for file effects and even the bodies of subliminal files. It is probably wise to invest time and money into this tech at this point, if one is so inclined. The technology has come a long way in a short time and is even likely to see even greater growth in the very near future.

[lew897]

The main reason I use the tts is because Im able to write whatever I want and get a voice that sounds better than mine on the best of days as well as I don't know anyone who would obsess over a file like I have and redo everything over and over again. Or in the end just ditch the whole project! As for people who don't like the sound of tts, that's their problem. I have tried to make mine as interesting as possible and still continue to try out ideas. In the end I might have to spend bucks for a tts but for now I am enjoying the program that's for free right now.