A microcomputer-based system for high-speed processing of speech materials using pitch-synchronous LPC analysis and synthesis

This paper describes a microcomputer-based system that uses a high-speed digital signal processor (TMS-32030) for digitizing and encoding speech materials. The system uses pitch-synchronous LPC (covariance method), in conjunction with a laryngograph, to analyze previously recorded speech materials [M. J. Hunt and C. E. Harvenberg, Proceedings of the 12th International Congress on Acoustics, A4-2 (1986)]. The speech and laryngograph signals are digitized simultaneously, and speech parameters (F0, energy, formants, and bandwidths) are calculated in real time. The parameters are modified using an interactive editor, and real-time synthesis allows for auditory monitoring of the original and modified speech samples. The system is currently being used to process speech materials for a limited-vocabulary, word-concatenation synthesis system [Eady et al., Proc. ICASSP, 1473–1476 (1987)], and also in the development of a demisyllable-based text-to-speech device. [Work supported by National Research Council Canada and Science Council of British Columbia.]