This new talking Synth box almost puts the Speak and Spell to shame, even with a MIDI retrofit kit. It utilizes a SpeakJet IC ( which always seems to be backordered ) for generating its Speech and Tone sounds. The IC is controlled by a Microcontroller that reads Joystick and Switch positions and translates them into serial commands that SpeakJet can understand. Media samples are on this page, unfortunately the videos are QuickTime, but they are worth waiting for just to see this thing in action. Very Scientific!
Here is the For Sale page on Analogue Haven ( Only $550! )
I like this a lot, it’s got a really nice look to it and i like the control names (such as the ‘random’ pot!!)…
Time to get that SPeakJet out of the storage box and onto the breadboard
Thanks for posting such inspiring links!
I have speakjets back in stock.
I noticed it contains two..
The boys that cooked up the speakerjet are from GREAT STATE OF ALABAMA! I have seen a PIC controller for this same chip for much less over at “bots are us”type websites. Pretty killer anyway!
Naw man, Midibox could come up with the same thing at 1/4 of the price.
I joke not! The module is still in dev stage because there isn’t an overwhelming use for it.
ALMOST puts the Speak & Spell to shame? I’d say the shaming is beyond description. That’s a great little toy.
I have been using the FLAME Midi-Talking Synth now for three days, and can tell you that it is an amazing speech and synth sound generating instrument. It is very different from a vocoder keyboard, therefore it is unique. -Peter from IT’S A SECRET
BTW – I made 12 recordings of the FLAME Midi-Talking Synth since 6-9-07, and have used the first recording as background music on the IT’S A SECRET music site. It is just me playing the talking synth live – no overdubs, with some reverb added. Go to itsasecretmusicdotcom to listen. Thank you! -Peter from IT’S A SECRET
Thanks for sharing that Peter, I’m gonna try listening sometime soon.
!!! Fun Toy
It seems kinda cool, but yeah, as a toy. Also it seems the thing can’t really be used to generate speech which was the purpose of the speakjet. I only saw one clip(flame website) where someone used it in conjunction with a keyboard, and they got it to say maybe two words, which probably took a long time to program.
Idea:
why not use the left two octaves of a midi controller to select the allophones and the rest of the keys to control pitch. This way you could press on the left hand KUH – MM – - HH – EE – RE and the pitch or melody you want the voice to conform to on the right hand. The left hand part would only be 5 or 6 key presses to create the simple phrase, also that could be sequenced leaving melody up to the right hand. It would only take a few minutes to learn how to play an allophone part with the left hand, whereas with this you would need to mess with a sequencer on each step of the way for hours to get it to actually say anything. For 500$ or whatever I would not want it to be that random. my speak and read is for that.
yeah man, I think eventually the midibox speakjet module could realize the potential of these ICs…. and like you said, for much cheaper, and probably much cooler. still would like to play with this though
sorry to post so many years later, but it seems there still isn’t any good on-the-fly way to generate speech and pitch without having to type it in. or at least no videos of anyone doing it live.