05-27-2020, 04:00 AM
(05-20-2020, 06:36 PM)Terry93D Wrote:(05-20-2020, 04:01 PM)peastman Wrote: I totally agree about neural networks. To see where this is going, look at the advances in voice synthesis. Until very recently, voice synthesizers worked the same way instrument libraries do today. They recorded lots of samples of someone speaking all the different phonemes, and then strung them together with plausible attempts at blending between them. It worked, but it didn't sound very natural. It produced the canonical "computer speaking" stilted expression. And each voice required a huge library of samples to sound good, and it was very labor intensive to produce them.
Not anymore. Modern voice synthesizers use neural networks. They work so much better than the old ones. You could easily be tricked into thinking you were hearing a real person.
I'm kind of amazed this hasn't already taken over music synthesis. The same architectures used for spoken voice should work just as well for other instruments with only minor modifications.
I really look forward to the day that you can scroll through your GPS's voices and select, say, Stephen Fry. Or if you have a book, you could scroll through voices and voila! instant audiobook w/ your narrator of choice.
We're getting there, it seems! Here's the late Alec Guinness reading Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu." It's definitely got its imperfections but is no less impressive for them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU-Iwj4P...=emb_title
