The nine built-in voices of DECtalk Software are distinguished from one
another by a large set of speaker-definition options. Note that there is a tenth
voice, called Val. Val is initalizes with the same voice as Paul, but can be used
to save voice changes. Unlike the nine built-in voices that can be modified but
not saved, Val can be used to store voice changes during a DECtalk Software
session.
Speakers can differ in sex, age, head size and shape, larynx size and
behavior, pitch range, pitch and timing habits, dialect, and emotional state. DECtalk
Software cannot approximate all of these options. Therefore, the range of
distinguishable voices is limited, even though DECtalk Software has many
speaker-definition options that can be modified.
The Design Voice [:dv] command introduces the speaker-definition options and
parameters that can be entered as a string or one at a time.
The following sections discuss speech production, acoustics, and perception.
Some of the information is relatively technical, but the examples should make it
possible for all developers to modify any option effectively and listen to the
results.
