Journal Article

·2008

Normally phonated speech recovery from whispers by MELP

H. İrem Türkmen YTU , M. Elif Karslıgil YTU

Abstract

In our study, mixed excitation linear prediction (MELP) based system that reconstructs speech from whisper while preserving the individuality of a speaker's speech is developed. The proposed system can be used as speech prosthesis. To reconstruct speech from whisper, pitch generation by using the perceived pitch relationship with formant frequencies, formant and voicing modification steps were processed. To design and test the proposed system 20 speaker's whispered speech were recorded. In the analyzing phase the acoustic differences observed between normal and whispered speech were discussed. Acoustic parameters of the whispered speech modified in order to obtain a synthetic speech that is closer to normal speech and as the last part enhanced speech is synthesized by MELP.

Keywords

Voice Formant Speech recognition Computer science Vocal tract Acoustics Speech processing Speech production Vowel Physics

Subject Areas

Speech Recognition and Synthesis ·Artificial Intelligence ·Physical Sciences
Voice and Speech Disorders ·Physiology ·Health Sciences
Speech and Audio Processing ·Signal Processing ·Physical Sciences