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Transformation of formants for voice conversion using artificial neural networks
Research Area: Uncategorized Year: 1995
Type of Publication: Article Keywords: Voice conversion; Speaker characteristics; Formants; Multilayer feedforward neural network
Authors: M. Narendranath, Hema A. Murthy, S. Rajendran, B. Yegnanarayana  
   
Note:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V1C-3Y5FPXD-K/2/648b32c321cd6b9c34325c7016657e7d
Abstract:
In this paper we propose a scheme for developing a voice conversion system that converts the speech signal uttered by a source speaker to a speech signal having the voice characteristics of the target speaker. In particular, we address the issue of transformation of the vocal tract system features from one speaker to another. Formants are used to represent the vocal tract system features and a formant vocoder is used for synthesis. The scheme consists of a formant analysis phase, followed by a learning phase in which the implicit formant transformation is captured by a neural network. The transformed formants together with the pitch contour modified to suit the average pitch of the target speaker are used to synthesize speech with the desired vocal tract system characteristics.
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