[OBSOLETE] Say - Speak Text - using multiple voices in sequence, filter by language, set default voice, ...

[mklement0]

[OBSOLETE - superseded by speak.awf]

 

Uses OS X’s TTS (text-to-speech) feature to speak text aloud.

 

It is especially useful if you handle many voices, possibly in multiple languages - note that OS X allows on-demand download of voices in other languages.

 

Examples

 

say                                   # Speak the default voice's demo text.

say I speak, therefore I am.          # Speak the specified text with the default voice.

 

  Selection by voice name

say @                                 # Show list of active voices on typing @; submit to speak demo text in all voices.

say @alex                             # Press Opt-Return to make Alex the default voice.

say @alex I'm Alex                    # Speak "I'm Alex" with voice Alex.

sayalex I'm Alex.                     # ditto

say I'm Alex @alex                    # ditto

say First Alex, then Jill. @alex,jill # Speak first as Alex, then as Jill.

 

  Selection by language

say #es                               # Show list of Spanish voices, regardless of regional accent; i.e., both 'es_ES' (Spain) and 'es_MX' (Mexico)

say y ahora en español #es            # Speak text with Spanish voices.

say Pottery #enie,enza                # Speak text with Irish and South African English voices.

 

Download

• Direct download link: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/10047483/Say%20-%20Speak%20Text.alfredworkflow
• Supports updating via Alleyoop.
• Also available via http://alfredworkflow.com.

 

Features

 

Aside from speaking text with the default voice, offers the following features:

• Voice selection, optionally with voice-name and target-language filtering.
• Ability to speak text in sequence with multiple voices.
• Rich, dynamic feedback (name of default voice, voice languages, demo text).
• Have selected voices speak their demo text.
• Makes Alfred redisplay with the same query for interactive experimentation.
• Make a new voice the default voice directly from Alfred.
• Option to open System Preferences to manage voices and TTS options.
• Option to use a hotkey to speak the selected text in any application using the default voice (while OS X has such a feature built in, using Alfred is preferable in that it also works with non-native applications).

Dependencies

• Developed and tested on OS X 10.8.3; possibly works on 10.7 and 10.6, too.

Usage

 

Note: The workflow uses the set of active voices, as defined in System Preferences.

Active voices are those selected for active use, and are typically a subset of the installed voices. Thus, if you want to make an installed voice available to the workflow, make sure it is checked when you go to System Preferences > Dictation & Speech, anchor Text to Speech, list System voice:, and select list item Customize....

 

Omitting text always speaks the demo text for each voice.

 

The workflow uses a single keyword, say:

 

Speak text with default voice

 

Simply specify the text to speak; e.g.

  say I speak, therefore I am.

• To speed things up, no voices are offered by default; type @ or # before or after the text to speak to show the list of active voices (see below).
• Using single and double quotes, even unbalanced, is supported.
• After submitting a command, Alfred redisplays with the same query to facilitate experimentation.

Speak text with voice selection / filtering

• Type @ or # before or after the text to speak to see the list of active voices.
• Type @{voiceNameOrPrefix} to filter the list of active voices by name; e.g.:
  @alex
  Optionally, you can append the name directly to the keyword (no space); e.g.:
  sayAlex
  Matching is case-sensitive; omit spaces for voice names with embedded spaces.
• Type #{langIdOrPrefix} to filter the list of active voices by language ID; e.g.:
  #en
  If you just type #, you’ll see the language identifier of each voice in parentheses.
  Matching is case-sensitive; you can omit the _ character, e.g., enus to match en_US.
• You can even use multiple, ,-separated specifiers; e.g.:
  @alex,jill

You only need to type as much of a name or language as is necessary to filter the list down to the desired result. You can also auto-complete based on the selected result, but this only works for single-token specifiers.

 

Whenever more than one voice matches, the first result item offers to speak the specified (or demo) with all matching voices, in sequence.

 

 

 

Make a voice the default voice

 

Whenever a specific voice is selected in the result list, simply hold down Option while pressing Return to make that voice the default voice.

A notification will indicate success.

 

Configuration

 

Typing just say, with no arguments, shows an additional command:

 

Manage Voices

 

Opens the System Preferences application’s Dictation & Speech pane where the set of active voices - including on-demand download of additional voices - and other TTS options can be managed.

 

Bonus track: CLI voice

 

The workflow folder contains a command-line utility named voice, which can be used stand-alone to provide much of the functionality the workflow offers, notably the ability to change the default voice and to speak text using multiple voices.
Invoke it with -h for help.

 

Changelog

• 0.1 (20 May 2013): initial release

Edited November 3, 2015 by mklement0