Voice Banking Question

[BillH]

They send you a list of sentences to record one by one. The sentences look like they are drawn from various stories, novels, etc. You record as many or as few per sitting as your voice can handle. Quiet room with your computer, good headset and mic, push the button and the program "says" the sentence to you... you push the record button and say the sentence back for the computer to record. I think it takes most folks a week or so to get through the list but you can upload each day's progress at the end of each session. Once the complete list is done, plus any "personal" sentences you might want to add, the lab constructs "your" voice in a file that various programs can use to synthesize speech. You will get an email with a link to download your file when they are finished.

May I suggest that while you have the headset out and you're in a routine of recording yourself, try to find some time to just record some files of yourself reading, singing, or just telling your loved ones what's on your heart... the computer voice is ok for "type to talk" daily things, but it will still be kinda robotic. Some personal sound files will be a real treasure in the future.

 

[fionae]

Please, Everyone...
If you have not done it, do it NOW!!!

Long before I ever joined the forum, and was in a long long
rather lacking diagnostic
process that was going nowhere fast, and I was continually
being "put on the back burner"
and NONE of the medical professionals thought
I had anything close to ALS...

I had repeatedly inquired of the medical professionals I was
seeing about getting bank voicing done...(I had read of the
extreme importance of it, written by people with ALS,
As one of the things if they cd go bk and do things over again, what
They wd have done differently...the pure regret they had in not
Doing it...)

I spoke of my concern to have it
done, asked who to see to have it done, how to go about it, and on and on...

I was repeatedly brushed off, being told there was no
need to do it...

THAT it wasn't known what was causing my voice
to be having these changes...

that it was an extremely expensive
process...

That it wouldn't be worth the money (which I do Not have) for
the results people receive from voice banking...

That people
are usually disappointed in the results, and end up using some other
automated voice system anyway because it is so much easier when
it comes time for that...

That it takes hours and hours and hours and people wish
for the results they received that they hadn't spent the time to go
through it...

And this and that and this and that...


My voice continued to degrade of course.
I still asked.


Then, not long after, as my voice was declining rapidly,
when I asked iwas told I didn't have enoug of a
Voice left for it to work.


What I wouldn't give for my loved ones to hear my
Voice.
I have had No speaking ability for months now.

I cannot tell you how extreme the devastation is
in so many many different ways not to have
the priceless gift of your own voice...it is a very real part
of who you are...the sound of it is You.

Even if it was just on some old tape random recordings.


But to be able to have banked my voice, even if
It sounded somewhat automated, to be able
To have my loved ones hear the things I always
Used to say to them, even in that banked voice...

I cannot even start to tell you what that would mean to me.



The emotional devastation is more than infinite.

It is a form of H*ll.
That's all I can say.

Please! Do it NOW!

Laura.

 

[BillH]

I have not been diagnosed but I went ahead and did it anyway. I had read the threads on banking and a couple posts from the CALS and PALS nearly broke my heart. Thank you Laura, it may even have been one of your posts on an older thread that got me moving to do it even without a diagnosis... I just couldn't bear thinking of my wife in that situation. We both watched a friend go through a fairly quick bulbar onset and back then he had no speech tools. That was in the '90's. Then my Mom in 2001. I heartily second Laura's post, please don't anyone wait, even while you're hoping you'll never need it.

 

[Buckhorn]

BillH - thank you for your comment ... "May I suggest that while you have the headset out and you're in a routine of recording yourself, try to find some time to just record some files of yourself reading, singing, or just telling your loved ones what's on your heart... the computer voice is ok for "type to talk" daily things, but it will still be kinda robotic. Some personal sound files will be a real treasure in the future". I definitely am going to ask that my husband do exactly that, and "I Love You" is going to be at the top of the list!! He has some funny / crazy little comments he has always said as well. I'm going to have to conjure up as many of those from memory as I can. Also, that is a great idea to have him record his voice while reading!

Laura, I am so sorry for your loss of speech. You state "I cannot tell you how extreme the devastation is
in so many many different ways not to have the priceless gift of your own voice...it is a very real part
of who you are...the sound of it is You." That is a very powerful & moving statement! I really can't imagine the torment that the loss of speech has had on you.! Speech is one of the special things that make us human! I am trying to get my husband going on this, but his next clinic appt. is not until April. He feels no sense of urgency. In the meantime, I am going to ask the speech therapist in the rehab. hospital where I work how to get started! I will heed your warning, and hopefully get my husband to comply!

 

[swalker]

Buckhorn,

You do not need to wait for a speech therapist to get started.

Go to https://www.modeltalker.org/. You can use the online recording or download the MTVR software to record locally.

Get a descent headset, such as this: Amazon.com: Sennheiser PC 8 USB - Stereo USB Headset for PC and MAC with In-line Volume and Mute Control: Electronics <commercial sales link deleted by moderator>

I really encourage everyone to get started on this today. It is not hard to set this up or to record the phrases. It takes some effort, but if the PALS can still speak, it is not hard.

Don't delay, even for a few weeks. Time is of the essence in this.

Steve

 

[Buckhorn]

Thanks Steve; I will look into it soon. I wasn't sure if I had to have a referral/script to get into the website. I guess it's free? I'll give the website a look.