Covox Voice Master User Manual

USER MANUAL

FOR APPLE

II+,

IIe,

IIc

SOFTWARE VERSION

4.0

(II+

requires

64K and paddle adapter)

SUPPORTS SOUND MASTER (II+ and

IIe)

Includes

SPEECH RECORDING AND PLAYBACK

SPEECH WORD RECOGNITION

APPLICATION EXAMPLES ON DISK

PROGRAM LIST EXAMPLES WITH

VOICE CONTROL OF EXTERNAL SWITCHES

WITH AMPLITUDE EDITOR

1987

COVOX, Inc.

675 Conger Street

Eugene, Oregon 97402

First Printing November,

1986

Second Printing August, 1987

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION...............................l

.........................

SPEECH PLAYBACK.. .3

BACKUP.....................................6

CALIBRATION AND MICROPHONE TECHNIQUE.......7

EARPHONE..................................lO

RECORDING.................................lO

-AMPLITUDE

EDITOR..........................ll

...

Editing with Sound Master..............12

...

Editing without Sound Master...........l4

...................

CONCEPTS IN RECOGNITION 15

RECOGNITION

PROGRAMMING...................16

...

Error Criteria, Threshold, and Hints...lg

...

Template Making......

..................

DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS ON

DISK............22

SELECTED PROGRAMMING EXAMPLES.............24

...

Talking

Numbers........................25

...

Two Approaches to Talking Keyboard.

....

...

The Cash Register Vocabulary

...........

...

Language

Translator....................28

EXTERNAL SENSING AND CONTROL..............28

...

Output Control

.........................3

...

Inputs

.................................3

APPENDICES

COMMAND SUMMARY

........................3

2. COMMENTS ON MEMORY

USE.................35

3. IMPORTANT MEMORY LOCATIONS

.............

4. ORGANIZATION OF VOCABULARY..

...........

5. SPEECH PLAYBACK-ONLY PROGRAMS...

.......

......

Playback under DOS 3.3..............39

......

Playback under P~oDOS...............~~

PHONETIC ALPHABET AND NUMBERS..........40

CALIBRATE AND GAIN CONSIDERATIONS......40

QUICK REFERENCE FOR CABLE CONNECTIONS

The main captive cable from your Voice Master plugs into the joystick port.

(For Apple

II+, an optional joy stick adapter is needed.) The headset has two mini stereo-type jacks on the end of one cable. The red one goes to MIKE, the black one to EAR (if used), both located next to each other on the Voice Master unit. That1 s it!

All sound output normally comes from the internal speaker of the Apple II+/II~/II~. The additional cable is for operating the earphone on the headset. For Apple

IIc, connect one end of the mini stereo plug to the jack

located to the

foward left side of the computer.

The other end goes to

the EAR

IN jack of the Voice Master, located opposite the headset input jacks.

(An

external mini speaker can

also be plugged into the IIc external audio port for

improved sound quality.) For Apple

IIe and II+, a Covox Sound Master board is

'required. Connect the cord to the jack on the Sound Master, the other end to

EAR

IN on the Voice Master.

LIMITED WARRANTY STATEMENT

COVOX, Inc. guarantees the VOICE MASTER to be free from defective materials and

workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase. COVOX,

InC.

will replace defective parts and make repairs under this warranty when the

defect occurs under normal use, provided the unit is returned to the factory via prepaid transportation. The warranty provides that examination of the returned product must disclose a manufacturing defect to be judged by COVOX,. Inc. The warranty does not extend to any product which has been subject to

misuse, neglect, accident, improper installation, or where the panel legends or

other markings have been removed or defaced, and is given in lieu of any other

warranty implied or expressed, and will not cover any consequential damages.

Information in this manual and associated software are provided on an llas isn basis. No warranty, either expressed or implied, is made by COVOX, Inc. pertaining to suitability for any specific application or commercial use. It is the purchasers responsibility to make appropriate evaluations for such

purposes. COVOX, Inc. disclaims liability for direct, indirect, or incidental

damages arising from the use of this product, including but not being limited to interruption of service, loss of business or potential profits, legal actions, or other consequential damages.

Control of environmental factors by means of voice could expose the user to some risk. Word recognition remains an unreliable technology due to uncontrollable variations in the way that normal speech is produced in an uncertain and noisy acoustic environment. Covox, Inc. specifically disclaims liability as stated in the preceding paragraph when applied to word recognition.

PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS

The software supplied with VOICE MASTER is copyrighted. It may not be copied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any readable medium or code for other than personal use without prior written permission of COVOX, Inc.

The hardware/software system comprising the COVOX VOICE MASTER is subject to

existing patent applications. Unauthorized duplication for

commercial purposes

or to otherwise avoid payment of appropriate royalties or license fees will be

deemed to be a violation of proprietary rights under patent and trademark laws.

The names COVOX, VOICE MASTER, and VOICE HARP, and the COVOX are registered trademarks and are the

propEfrty of COVOX, Inc.

RESTRICTIONS ON SOFTWARE USE

Software may generally not be used in programs which are sold or otherwise distributed in violation of copyright laws. There is one exception. Speech that has been produced with Voice Master software may be put into other programs along with playback software, without royalty charges provided

(1)

software is not for commercial sale, and

(2)

the source of the speech must be given on the disk jacket, instruction book, and in the disk program itself in sufficient detail

to permit a user to acquire a Voice Master. Those wishing to

use

recognition software and/or edited playback software in programs for Sale

are advised to contact Covox, Inc. for licensing information.

INTRODUCTION

If you are new to Voice Master, you may wish to experiment with some of the many demonstration programs contained on the Voice Master disk, such as a talking calculator, blackjack game, and others. If this interests you, then turn to the section on

wDEMONSTRATION PROGRAMSw before reading the first parts of this manual (but after finishing this INTRODUCTION). You will be guided from there. The Voice Master disk will auto-load to "MENUw for the demonstration programs--simply put the disk in disk drive number

and turn on the computer. Then make selections from "MENUw. But if you want to follow the procedure in this manual, you will be asked at times to load in essential Voice Master programs in a way that the auto-load function on the Voice Master disk

will not do. In this case, select from

"MENUw the "RETURN TO BASICN option. We chose to organize the manual with demonstration programs given later on so that the manual itself would continue to serve as a reasonably compact programmers1 reference guide. We expect that the serious

programmer will make backup disks that do not contain all of the demonstration programs (if any of them).

The DOS on the Voice Master disk is version

3.3.

However, utilities not

required for Voice Master programs have been removed in order to make

sufficient room on the single disk to hold important applications examples. Utilities not supplied may be found on the disk that you originally received with your computer.

If your interest is in the music capabilities of Voice Master, a different manual than this one applies. Music programs are not software related to those described in this manual. Software relating to speech on the Voice Master disk is very extensive. In fact, it is so extensive that we were forced to put

music software on the reverse side of the disk. It can be loaded directly from the reverse side (with BLOAD), or you can follow instructions on

"MENUM from

the speech side of the disk.

The Voice Master disk contains essential utility software as well as a

number of demonstration programs. We presume that the reader is familiar with

the BASIC programming language. But it is not presumed that knowledge of this language is extensive. Thus a more or less detailed discussion of

demonstration programs is not presented at the outset. Rather, we want to give essential Voice Master programming information as rapidly and thoroughly as possible in the first part of this manual. The demonstration programs and other less impelling topics can then be covered.

Voice Master has three main functions, speech recording and playback, word

recognition, and music writing from voice input. This last topic is covered in

separate manual and will. not be cotbidered further here. Speech recording and playback can be had in combination with word recognition so as to implement a two way dialog with the computer.

speech recording can also be modified with forms of editing to improve quality and intelligibility on playback (or to create sounds not like those recorded).

Voice Master may find its greatest use in recording speech for later playback. Voice Master hardware is not required for playback from pre-recorded vocabularies. High quality speech can be realized with various forms of editing.

There are different

variations of the Covox speech

editor. The one

contained on the Voice

Master disk is an amplitude

editor.

-1

sophisticated (optional) version called nSpeech Construction Setn allows **cut and pasten operations with

time

slices

in the millisecond range.

Audio output capability of the Apple

limited. The internal speaker

capable only of being toggled by a constant voltage such that the driving signal consists of a rectangular wave of constant amplitude. Surprisingly intelligible speech can be produced. With full editing using the "Speech Construction Set1*,

becomes difficult to believe that the audio system

not high quality. Even with the limited amplitude editing capability provided on the Voice Master disk, where

t*tricks!* are used to fool the ear, good results

are obtained.

Speech quality can be further improved if a range of amplitude values

imposed.

low cost plug-in card called *!Sound Masterw provides for

amplitude levels.

also permits a broad range of musical expression to be

enjoyed, similar to that available from music

"chipsl1 that are standard in

certair, other low cost personal computers. Note, however, that Sound Master

not applicable to the Apple IIc because no expansion ports are provided.

Recorded speech for later playback retains amplitude information whether

or not the Sound Master

present.

the responsibility of the user to

install the correct software. The word recognition function

independent of

Sound Master.

Voice Master software utilizes DOS

3.3.

There

one playback (only)

program that can function with

ProDOS. Conversion of this particular program

RoDOS form can be accomplished with,the conversion routine on the ProDOS

systems disk. An Appendix provides further information.

In preparing a general manual for the Apple

family, we have had to

contend with systems variations and models

II+, IIe, and IIc, with and without

extended memories (for 11+ and

IIe) and with and without Sound Master. Each

variation requires somewhat different Voice Master software.

have tried to

explain this profusion of systmes in simple

terms.

The foregoing discussion reveals the rationale for the organization of this manual--first speech playback, then speech recording (including attaching the Voice Master and microphone "techniqueN), then editing (amplitude type), and then word recognition. Finally, demonstration programs are described. Appendices present memory locations and other details.

Note a nbonusn: Demonstration programs and/or vocabularies not described in this manual may be included on the Voice Master disk. This extra software

will

usually be found on the back sid-of the disk.

Use

the normal CATALOG

command to determine disk contents. Examples: Numbers vocabularies in German and Chinese.

SPEECH PLAYBACK

This section explains how to load essential machine language programs directly, without the auto-load function. (Auto-load requires that you turn on the computer system with the disk installed. You are presented with

llMENU1*

from which a selection can be made.)

But first, we urge that you lock the keyboard to capital

letters.

Because Apple

system have several model numbers and configurations,

four different programs are provided on the Voice Master disk.

All

four

support functions of recording, playback, and word recognition. (Six more are

for playback only as described in an Appendix.)

All

4 load as:

BLOAD PARTAxx BLOAD PARTBxx

CALL 35072

where 35072

$8900 (Hex) and where llxxW values are:

for 64K systems without Sound Master

(nothing) for 64K systems with Sound Master

EX for 128K systems without Sound Master

E for 128K systems with Sound Master

The Voice Master disk contains several pre-recorded word vocabularies which are used with the various demonstration programs. One of these vocabularies (for a talking calculator) has spoken numbers and symbols. Select this vocabulary with a keyboard loading

comnand as:

where

implied that there may be another vocabulary for the same words,

but in a different language. Note the ampersand

ll&ll.

Voice Master commands

have been

ltwedgedW into Applesoft BASIC and all such commands begin with this

symbol.

Pre-recorded vocabulary

loaded into the lower 64K memory bank

the

version of Voice Master software that you choose to employ

for a 64K system,

whether or not your actual system has extended memory.

vocabulary

automatically loads to the upper 64K

memory bank if the version of Voice Master

software allows for extended memory, irregardless of memory

size

when the

original vocabulary was created.

Also remember that a Voice ~astlr command with llLW

meaningless to Applesoft BASIC unless this BASIC has been augmented with Voice Master software.

the userls

responsibility to install software that does or does not

presume that the Sound Master

a resent.

Speech output

routed through the

internal speaker for non-Sound Master software versions, whether or not the

Sound Master

present.

the software version for Sound Master

installed

but no physical Sound Master

plugged into one of the slots (specifically

named if not the default slot number

4), then no sound will be produced at all.

You can use Sound Master when

plugged into a slot other than number 4

with the keyboard command

-3-

where n

the slot number (in the range 1-7). The default value (i.e., that

presumed if no &SLOT

specified)

slot number

The current slot number

can be determined by peeking memory location

35075. If software has been

installed which does not use the Sound Master, this location

will

contain the

number 255. The

&SLOT command

not applicable to Apple IIc. (The &SLOT command can be a BASIC statement. This suggests the possibility of using two or more Sound Masters with different audio circuits so that speech can be caused to be produced at different locations.)

Next get ready to hear sounds from the computer's built-in speaker or on

earphones or on a speaker that

plugged into the Sound Master. (Additional

information on the headset

given later in this manual.)

Apple IIc,

suggested that you use earphones or an external speaker because the one in the computer

very small with only marginal performance for speech.

Now type

and you

will

hear the spoken word ".fivew from the vocabulary called "ENGLISHu.

the same for other numbers and symbols in the vocabulary. There are 17,

numbered

0 to 16. If you SPEAK 20, or any other number above 16 (but

less

than

64).

you

will

hear a tone beep. This indicates that a word for that index

number was not recorded. The range of indices

0-63 and playback can

any order.

Now type

&SPEED

&SPEAK 5

and you

will

hear "fivew slowed down. The sampling

rate

during playback

has

been slowed. The range of &SPEED values

0-10 and 6

the default value

(which

exists

in the absence of a specific &SPEED command). The &SPEED index,

like all other Voice Master commands, can be computed. This means that

symbol or string with a value specified elsewhere can be used instead of an actual number. This ability to compute

the same as for normal Applesoft

commands.

&SAMPLE command controls the sampling rate during recording, and

also has a range of values 0-10. The &SPEED during playback must be the

same as the &SAMPLE

dwing recording if the reproduced sound

to be at a

normal rate.

Before proceeding, return &SPEED to the normal (default) value by typing

&SPEED 6. Then type

and then &SPEAK 5. The word comes back with lower volume-but only if you have a Sound Master in place and have specified the correct slot number if other than the

(Not applicable for Apple IIc.) The volume range

0-15 with 15 bei~g the maximum value, and also the default value. Return to the default condition by typing &VOLUME 15.

If you next type &RESET, your vocabulary

erased. But the machine

language program remains. You can reload a different vocabulary

and your words

will

be the same, but in a different language. (You don't actually have to &RESET because loading in a different vocabulary with the &FIND command does this automatically.) Note:

&RESET has more specific

significance in recording.

also specifies where in memory the vocabulary

stored. This

will

be discussed in greater detail in the section on

"RECORDING".

Let us next

write

a simple program that speaks out all of the words in the

vocabulary. including some tone beeps. We

will

have the program load in the

vocabulary as well. For now, presume that Voice Master software (parts

and

has been loaded by keyboard command. We

will

shortly show how this too can

be loaded in with BASIC statements so that a single

RUN

command can do

everything.

10 &FINDWENGLISH"

20 FOR J=0 TO 18 30 &PAUSE 4 40 &SPEAK J 50 NEXT J 60 END

The &PAUSE command

essentially a time-wasting FOR-NEXT loop, and in

fact can easily be replaced with such a loop. The index number after &PAUSE

the number of one-tenth second delay increments. For example, &PAUSE 10 gives a one second delay.

word vocabulary

placed

in main memory beginning at a particular page

number.

page

a block of memory 256 bytes long (with a starting address

given by the upper 8 bits of the 16 bit address). There are a total of 256

pages of memory in the lower bank of memory

(256*256=65536 bytes) and another

256 pages in the upper bank for Apple

IIc and memory augmented IIe. (Memory augmented versions of Apple 11+ beyond 64K may not perform properly with Voice Master.)

The command

defines the

location of a vocabulary when the

vocabulary

originally created

where index n

the starting page number.

can be in the range 16-114 with

the 64K memory version, or

16-176 with extended memory. The default value

(when &RESET

not specifically given when a vocabulary

produced)

n=64.

This puts the starting address at 69*256=16384. The first few hundred bytes contain individual word memory

limits

and other data. The nominal rate of memory

useage

about 1000 bytes for each full second of speech. Short words

may require less than 1000 bytes, and long words or phrases may require more.

"base addressw

defined here as the address in memory where vocabulary

information begins (16384 for the default case).

All

parameters and word

boundary

limits

are specified in terms of this base address. Switching a given

base address from low to high 64K banks (for n in the range 16-114)

automatic according to the particular Voice Master program that resides in main memory. But other changes as, for example, moving speech from page'number 60 to page number 70, are not possible without a special (user written) program

that avoids overwriting parts of the vocabulary as memory locations are shifted..

We have now defined the following "wedged-inn Voice Master commands:

&FIND &SPEAK &VOLUME &PAUSE &SPEED &SLOT &RESET

These act like ordinary BASIC commands. But the computer

will

not

recognize them unless the proper Voice Master machine language program resides

in the computerv

main memory.

And that's really all there

to playback from pre-recorded vocabularies

(edited or not edited) except for information on how to load parts

and B

from a BASIC program. (There

another playback program which does not

contain wedges. This

discussed in an Appendix.)

stated, you cannot use Voice Master commands in a program unless Voice

Master software has first been loaded. You should not attempt to load, save,

list,

RUN

a program that contains Voice Master commands without this software in memory. Thus, your BASIC program must load in Voice Master software before

encounters any Voice Master commands, that

is,

after

statement number 70 in the following example:

...

50 PRINT D$"BLOAD PARTA" 60 PRINT D$"BLOAD PARTBvv

70 CALL 35072

When running a BASIC program, you can stop the progr'am with the CONTROL/C

key at any time and change playback characteristics such as &SPEED

&VOLUME

with keyboard commands (or equivalent

POKEvs to memory locations as discussed

an Appendix). Then type CONT to continue.

When playback

in progress, you can press the space bar in order

restart playback from the beginning. This can help to evaluate the beginning parts of a recording.

also serves to produce novel stuttering sounds.

BACKUP

The Voice Master disk jacket

not notched, or if

is,

the notch

covered. Without a notch,

not possible to write anything to the disk.

write

protected for the benefit of the user, and not because copying

discouraged. To the contrary,

suggested that you make at

least

one copy.

You could of course make or open a notch and then record

the Voice Master

disk. This wonvt do much good because there

very little empty space on the

disk. Also, you could lose the disk by accident and than be forced

wait for

a replacement.

BASIC programs copy easily with LOAD-SAVE sequences (load from the Voice

Master. disk and save to a formatted disk). Vocabularies can be loaded from a

-6-

disk with &FIND and saved to another disk with &PUT, and similarly for recognition with

LTFIND and LTPUT. (These additional save and load commands

are explained in later sections of this manual.) Copying machine language

programs

not quite so straightforward but can be done with some third party

software. Voice Master programs with wedges are in two parts. The

"Av

parts

are loaded directly from disk. But the

*Bn parts share memory addresses with

read-only memory which requires a separate loading step.

backup of the entire disk can be made with an Apple utility called

"FIDm. Third party software

also available. After loading, follow

instructions for a one or two disk system.

Disk space

limited on the Voice Master disk. You

will

probably want to

make some special disk backup copies containing only a small part of what

the disk. The easiest way to do this

to delete programs and files from a

full backup copy.

useful disk must contain the elements of DOS (not cataloged and not easily deleted from the disk) and both parts of one of the two-part

(A,B) Voice Master programs (or perhaps the playback-only program).

In order to calibrate, you can use the wedged-in

&CALIB command (described

later) or the separate

ffBARw program. If the playback-only program

the one

that you intend to use, then calibration

not a factor.

catalog of programs on the Voice Master disk can be examined on the

video display in the usual manner.

CALIBRATION

AND

MICROPHONE TECHNIQUE

Getting speech into the computer for recording or word recognition

normally depends on proper operation of a voice operated switch, sometimes referred to as

llVOXw.

command to record should not normally cause recording to start until a reasonably loud signal

measured. And when the speech

sample ends, a short period of low amplitude levels indicates that the recording process should end. (An Appendix presents a more detailed explanation of

VOX

operation.)

speech

in a noisy background, then recording starts as soon as the command to record occurs and does not end until the buffer has been filled (which takes about 8 second's for recording and 2

seconds for recognition).

filled buffer can return an error signal and

require that you re-enter your speech.

In a noisy environment, one should

first

attempt to adjust gain, voice

loudness, and microphone placement in an effort to make the

VOX

operate

properly.

this

not possible, then start talking the moment that the

recording (or recognizing) command

given and press any key the moment you

stop speaking.

Normally, however, thig won't be required.

To manually stop the recording or playback process (including recording when inputting speech for word recognition or in order to create a recognition template), press any key (except the space bar during playback). This puts an error code number 251 into memory location 25 in page zero. (Other conditions

associated with inputting speech place characteristic numbers in this same location as

will

later be described.)

If the computer

waiting for input and

not noisy and you wish to

do something without worrying about the computer sensing a sound, put

"holdn. Use Control

for the

64K

version (CTL and

"Av

keys pressed together),

or the Open-Apple key for the

128K version. In order to go back to the active

mode, press the same

key(s) again.

time-out function exists

in programs involving speech input when the

VOX

operating and waiting

for

meaningful input. After a certain length of

time,

the wait

terminated and the program returns to the pre-input command state.

Time-out duration

set in memory location number 31 (page zero). Change

time-out with POKE

31,n where n determines the number of approximately

half-second increments (10 for

seconds,

etc.,

but not more than 255). When a

time-out occurs, memory location number

(page zero) contains the number 250.

The default value for

60. (The exact time-out varies with the sampling

rate.)

When the computer

waiting for speech input, a question mark

(?)

appears

the

lower

right hand corner. This mark

steady

the absence of sounds,

but

jitters

about during speech input. Clicks and other short and/or weak sounds may show a brief flicker, but may not start the recording process. If the system

operating properly, then at the end of a speech sample, the

should become stable, and a very short

time

thereafter the program should leave

the input state. Pressing any key when the screen display shows

in the upper

right corner puts the number 251

into

memory location 25. The particular key

that was pressed can be determined

a BASIC program with the statement GET

A$.

There

red

monitor

light on the Voice Master itself. This should flicker during speech peaks to indicate an adequate speech level. But in the absence of speech, or for low level sounds,

should not glow at all.

Proper operation of the

VOX

requires that the Voice Master be calibrated.

Once this

done,

may not have to be repeated. But

should be checked

occasionally in case inadvertent jarring, temperature effects, or aging have

changed the effective setting. There are

two

different ways

calibrate, one

with a machine language program called

"BARw, and another with a wedged-in

command

&CALIB. (One of the options on

**MENU**

CALIBRATION, which selects

the wedged command.

"BARw can be loaded directly as

will

be described, or

can be selected from, the

"DEMOv

program, which

in turn selected from the

main '*MENUw.) In either case, a suitable microphone

plugged into the Voice

Master jack labeled

"MIKEN

and the Voice Master itself

plugged into the

joystick port. Voice Master comes with an electret microphone havingtwo (not

three) connecting

wires,

and a suitable biasing voltage

also applied. An

alternative

low

medium impedance dynamic microphone, provided sound

level

high enough.

sounds can come from a radio or tape deck. (The

Voice master microphone

combined with an earphone as a headset. The

microphone .plug

normally red

color. On some units, this was reversed,

with red on the earphone. If

doubt. reverse the plugs. No harm results.

The earphone

will

in fact act like a dynamic microphone, but sound level

too

low to be useful in this application.)

first describe the use of "BAR1*. This program

independent of Voice

Master

programs and so

can be loaded directly after power up as

BLOAD BAR CALL 16405

Turn up the gaiil on Voice

Master

and talk into the microphone.

system

of dancing bars should appear. There are 16 of these representing a measure of

sound frequency content, plus two more bars on the right side of the display. The furthest

the right measures speech amplitude.

this

a bar

that indicates fundamental voice pitch. To the right of the amplitude bar

number that indicates the height of this bar. You can experiment with various

sounds. The bar graph system

used in part for word recognition.

Adjust the gain so that the average maximum level

about 16, which

where the amplitude bar changes from asterisks to plus signs. The red

indicator on Voice Master should glow at levels in the range of 16 or more. In the absence of speech the level as indicated on the display should be zero. If not, or if more than a soft sound

required in order to make the number

rise

above zero, then calibration

required. Calibration

sets

the

VOX

level. If

set

above zero, the

VOX

will

always be on. If too far below zero, a large

signal may be required in order to record speech and distortion can result.

Unplug the microphone so that input sound level

zero. The microphone

jack physically shorts the input to ground.

Use

a small screwdriver (or the 99toolw supplied with Voice Master) in the nCALIBRATE99 hole on Voice Master. Adjust for an index of zero just below where

nlll appears.

Now replace the microphone plug. Gain should be

set

for average maximum

of 16 for sounds such as

"ahf9 and the level should be 1 or 3 for nasal sounds

such as

"m".

Microphone placement

will

help to get proper values. Locate the

microphone not too far from your nose if nasal sounds need strengthening. If

external noise

a problem, talk closer to the microphone or talk louder and

reduce gain. Changing the calibration setting to reduce effects of noise

not the proper thing to do.

The second method for calibrating requires that one of the Voice Master

programs with wedges be in main memory. Then use the special wedged-in command

When this command

issued, the question mark in the lower right corner appears as in normal recording. But recording never takes place. Proper calibration has the question mark motionless in the absence of speech. When gain

set

for normal flickering of the indicator light on Voice Master during

average speech peaks, the

should remain motionless with no speech input, or

at most give only an occasional brief flicker. If

becomes too active, the

recording process

will

begin. This

a rapid method for calibrating which

will

usually be quite satisfactory. The command can in fact be put into

program as a program statement. There

will

be a time-out to continue the program with a duration depending on the value placed in memory location 31 as previously described. You can press any key to exit the

&CALIB command before

time-out occurs.

Another check on proper calibration

to record a word and then play

back to see if the word fills the

ti&

space without blanks or noise at the

ends, which indicates the

VOX

operates in the absence of speech. Also, weak

word parts should not be eliminated, which would indicate that the

VOX

too

insensitive to respond to weak but necessary speech sounds.

direct check on amplitude levels

had with the amplitude "EDITORn program described later. In a way, this program provides the final and most definitive evaluation of amplitudes. Experimenting with your recording technique

with the aid of llEDITOR1l

perhaps the best way to get the most from

the system.

EARPHONE

No specific information has yet been given on use of the headset provided

with Voice Master.

has an earphone as well as a microphone. The two plugs

are plugged into

ffMIKEtt (red plug) and ''EARw (black plug) on Voice Master. The microphone boom swings on a hinge at the earpiece. You can bend the boom, but don't twist

it.

Swing completely around for

left

or right side placement on

the head. The microphone under the foam piece should be pointing inward

(towards the mouth) in all positions.

in doubt, peel the foam back a

little

to show a screw, which

on the microphone side.

There are three ways to get audio output from Apple

systems. The

internal speaker, which

toggled with a square wave,

the first. The

second

from the audio output of Sound Master. The third, for the Apple

IIc

only,

from the external audio jack on the side of the keyboard. There

a jumper cable supplied with Voice Master which has miniature phone plugs at both ends. One end can be plugged into the Voice Master jack labeled EAR

IN.

The

other end can go to the Sound Master on Models 11+ or

IIe,

if installed, or to

the external audio jack on Model

IIc. Then both miniature plugs on the headset

supplied with Voice Master can be plugged into the Voice Master.

no Sound

Master

installed on Models 11+ or IIe, then audio comes only from the

internal speaker.

user-made cable can connect the Voice Master to the audio

lead that normally goes to the internal speaker. Of course, a separate audio

power amplifier, or telephone connection, can be adapted to suit special needs.

RECORDING

With essential Voice Master software installed, have the microphone ready

and type

Upon pressing RETURN, speak a word or phrase. But don't stop prematurely

you don't want the recording to stop. You can then &LEARN 27, &LEARN

etc., in any order, using an index number in the range

0-63.

any time, you can check the quality of a recorded word with &SPEAK

etc.

not satisfactory, then simply re-&LEARN the designated indexed word.

The computer program automatically adjusts the memory to

fit

the repeated word.

you make a complete vocabulary, you can check

word by word, or write

a short FOR-NEXT loop to speak the words in sequence. You can also record in

sequence with a similar loop,

using

&PAUSE so you can catch

your breath between

recorded words. You might want

t~,

&SPEAK the word immediately after

&LEARN (ing

)

There are only three more wedged-in commands to worry about for use in

recording in addition to &LEARN. One saves the vocabulary to disk as:

which saves to disk number

as the default disk. To save to disk drive

number 2, then write &PUTwfilename,D2w.

(The same procedure applies

with &FIND

from a second disk drive.)

There are two more commands that affect the

way that words are recorded.

One of these

&SAMPLE, which controls the rate at which speech

sampled.

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Each word in a vocabulary can be recorded with a different &SAMPLE value, or

all can be the same.

a rate other than the default value

desired, then just before each word or group of words to be recorded at the desired rate. type as a keyboard command (or as a BASIC statement in a recording program):

where the index n

in the range 0-10 with 6 the default value. The values correspond to those used with &SPEED as previously described and as tabulated in an Appendix.

high sampling rate yields somewhat improved speech quality

as compared to the default value. But more memory

is.

then required to store

the speech.

rate lower than the default value results in more distortion,

but the memory that

required can be reduced.

technique that might be

tried to reduce distortion while not increasing memory needs

to speak a word

rapidly using a somewhat elevated sampling rate, and then reproduce

with a

lower &SPEED value than the &SAMPLE value.

Finally there

&RESET as has previously been described. Only one such

command

allowed per complete vocabulary.

vocabulary in main memory

deleted

this command

given:

where n in the range 16-114 (64K version) or 16-176 (128K version) specifies

the page number where the vocabulary begins--it

the BASE address previously

discussed. The default value, which applies if no

&RESET

specified,

&RESET 64. If the Voice Master program

meant for a 128K system, the &RESET

value

will

apply to the page number in the upper bank of 64K. But this same

vocabulary

loaded into the lower 64K bank if Voice Master software

for a

64K system.

described briefly in sections on playback, a recording with the

showing in the lower right corner can be put on hold with Control

(64K

version) or the Open Apple key (128K version). Recording can be terminated

with any key, the result being that 251

put into memory location 25.

time-out due to an excessively long duration input puts 250 into location 25 and the sounds preceding the time-out are not recorded. Recording in a noisy environment

will

usually cause the recording to start as soon as the command

&LEARN

executed, and

will

continue until the buffer

full. A satisfactory

recording can

still

be made

speech starts upon execution of &LEARN and a

terminating key

pressed as soon as the speech word

phrase has been

completed.

In the .section on playback,

was stated that &SPEAK(ing) a number that

was

never:recorded (with &LEARN) resilts in a tone beep. In addition, this condition places the number 249 into memory location 25. Other numbers are placed in \location

25 as a result of different conditions in recording and

recognition!. These are listed in the section on recognition.

AMPLITUDE EDITOR

The quality and intelligibility of recorded speech can be improved with the special program called "EDITORn. This program, written in BASIC. also loads in a short machine language routine,

"WORD EDIT 64Kw OR "WORD EDIT 128KW.

With the proper Voice Master program in memory, type

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+ 32 hidden pages

Covox Voice Master User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual