[Emacspeak] Fwd: API design for espeak voice selection in emacspeak

[Krzysztof Drewniak <krzysdrewniak@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Forwarding the discussion to the list so it gets archived properly (I wasn't wanting to clog the list but it's pretty low traffic anyway so)

- Krzysztof

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: T.V Raman <raman@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, Feb 12, 2022, 20:48
Subject: API design for espeak voice selection in emacspeak
To: <krzysdrewniak@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: <raman@xxxxxxxxxxx>

I'd go with (1) so that we dont end up with engine-specific calls on
the emacspeak end.

Also -- please resend this message to the Emacspeak list so it is in
the archives, and let's discuss  it on the list -- rather than by
private email.

Thanks again for taking the initiative on this.

Krzysztof Drewniak writes:
 > Dr. Raman,
 >
 > I've done some work on allowing users to switch the synthesizer voice in
 > the espeak server. The server itself has been updated to keep track of the
 > synthesizer voice associated with each language and to switch to that voice
 > either on language change or when the user selects a new voice for the
 > language they're currently using.
 >
 > For testing, I added a select_voice name [lang] command to the server.
 > However, I'm not sure how the ability to make this selection should be
 > exposed to users.
 >
 > The first thing I'll note is that, while there's some support for setting
 > the voice using SSML tags, this can't easily be used to access, for
 > example, the mbrola voices. Therefore, the emacspeak concept of voices
 > doesn't map cleanly to the selection of the synthesizer voice, and so I
 > expect that espeak-voices.el will handle parameters such as pitch and
 > volume but leave the selection of the actual voice to the server.
 >
 > This leaves two options for API changes that I can think of, and I'd like
 > your input on which would be less disruptive for the ecosystem (or if there
 > are other approaches you think would work better):
 >
 > 1. Adding an optional extra parameter to the language selection APIs that
 > carries the desired voice name.
 > 2. Adding a select_voice-like API to emacspeak that would expose "choose
 > the voice the synthesizer uses" and that is unimplemented on non-espeak
 > servers.
 >
 > I'm personally leaning towards the latter, but I remember you had some
 > objections when it was first proposed.
 >
 > - Krzysztof

--

Thanks,

--Raman(I Search, I Find, I Misplace, I Research)
â?? Id: kg:/m/0285kf1  ð?¦®

--

Thanks,

--Raman(I Search, I Find, I Misplace, I Research)
â?? Id: kg:/m/0285kf1  ð?¦®