You can configure any number of talkers in the Talkers tab. See the section called “Configuring Synthesis Plugins (Talkers)”. When applications send text to KTTS, they may specify the attributes of a desired talker to speak the text. KTTS will pick the closest matching talker from among the talkers you have configured to satisfy the application's request. For example, an application might request the text be spoken by an English female voice. If you have configured a talker with English language and female gender, that talker will be used. If you have configured all English male talkers, one of those talkers will be used. If an application specifies no attributes, the default (topmost) talker listed in the Talkers tab is used.
When applications specify the attributes of the desired talker, they may indicate that certain attributes are "preferred" over other attributes. For example, an application may specify that it wishes that a female loud voice speak the text, and that the loud attribute is "preferred" over the female attribute. If you had a female soft talker and a male loud talker configured, KTTS will choose the male loud talker to do the speaking. Since language is a critical parameter in making speech understandable, it is always a "preferred" attribute.
Using the Select Talker screen, you may override application talker settings. The screen is displayed
when you click the button on the Jobs tab, or
when you click the Talker button on the Filter Configuration dialog for a Talker Chooser filter, or
when you click the Talker button on the Notifications tab.
The screen offers three methods to specify desired talker attributes:
Use the default talker (topmost in the Talkers tab). In other words, no talker attributes are specified.
Use the closest matching talker having one or more specified attributes.
Use the closest matching talker having all the attributes of a configured talker. If you don't delete or modify the talker's settings, KTTS will pick that specific talker. If you delete or modify the talker's settings, then KTTS will pick the closest matching talker having the talker's original attributes.
![]() | Choose the method for entering the desired talker attributes by clicking one of these radio buttons. |
![]() | Choose the attributes of the desired talker here. Leave an attribute blank if you do not care about that attribute. |
![]() | Check this box if you wish the attribute to be "preferred" over other attributes. You may check more than one box. |
![]() | Since language is a critical factor in making speech understandable, it is always a preferred attribute. It is rare that you will use this attribute. The only time you might specify the language attribute is when you know a specific application sends text in a language different from your desktop. |
![]() | This is a list of the talkers you currently have configured in KTTS. By choosing one of these, in effect, you are specifying all the attributes of that talker. If that talker is still configured when text is sent, you'll get an exact match and that talker will be chosen. However, if you later delete the talker, or modify its settings, it might not be the chosen talker anymore. The talker most closely matching the original attributes will be chosen. |
The Language attribute is special because text will probably be unintelligible if spoken by a talker that speaks a language different from the text. Therefore, language is automatically a "preferred" attribute. If you specify a language, it will override the chosen language, but if you leave it blank, the existing language setting will be used. If the application that sent the text to KTTS did not specify a language, KTTS assigns the language of the topmost talker you have configured in the Talkers tab. In other words, the topmost talker is assumed to speak the language of your desktop.
To clear all the attributes in the Use closest matching Talker having section, first click the Use default Talker radio button, then click the Use closest matching Talker having radio button.
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