[Microbit-Python] A sound related long shot...

[Nicholas H.Tollervey]

Hi Folks,

So I was thinking about the amazing example Larry posted yesterday of
the 20yo calculator turned into a multi-part sequencer with effects etc...

Could we do something just as amazing... would we even want to try..?

Then I remembered - as a child of the 1980s I had an original BBC B at
home and one of the most amazing feats Superior Software pulled off was
a 7.5k program called, simply, "Speech!". To give you an idea of what it
was like I found this on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8wyUsaDAyI

I think the Dalek like timbre of the voice gives it a certain "death to
all humans" charm, don't you think..? This article briefly explains how
it works:

http://bbc.nvg.org/doc/Speech.html

Given that we already can "do" music, I wonder if we can do a very
simple speech synthesiser such as the "Speech!" utility of yore. I know
that the BBC want kids to relate to their devices and making it able to
say Dalek-esque "EX TERM IN ATE" like vocalisations would knock people's
socks off.

It would also be yet another differentiator that puts MicroPython in a
positive light. I also imagine some rather interesting educational
resources being written to explain how it works.

So, thoughts..? Is this even possible..? I imagine a very simple API
such as this:

>>> import microbit
>>> microbit.say("Hello, World")
>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", pin=microbit.pin1)  # Lke music API

Perhaps specify pitch of voice using an arbitrary range from 0 (lowest)
- 9 (highest) with 4 being the default setting:

>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", pitch=9)  # Castrato
>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", pitch=0)  # Basso Profundo

A similar range may also work for speed of delivery of speech:

>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", speed=9)  # Presto!
>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", speed=0)  # Molto Lento

Combinations would be fun:

>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", speed=9, pitch=9)  # Chipmunks
>>> microbit.say("Hello, World", speed=0, pitch=0)  # Death of HAL9000

I realise all of the above is VERY SPECULATIVE and hand-wavy on my part.

Could this be done? Would we want to do it? What would need to happen if
it were possible?

Thoughts, constructive critique and ideas most welcome!

Best wishes,

Nicholas.

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