Question

I have been trying, in vain, to make a program that reads text out loud using the web application found here (http://www.ispeech.org/text.to.speech.demo.php). It is a demo text-to-speech program, that works very well, and is relatively fast. What I am trying to do is make a Python program that would input text to the application, then output the result. The result, in this case, would be sound. Is there any way in Python to do this, like, say, a library? And if not, is it possible to do this through any other means? I have looked into the iSpeech API (found here), but the only problem with it is that there is a limited number of free uses (I believe that it is 200). While this program is only meant to be used a couple of times, I would rather it be able to use the service more then 200 times. Also, if this solution is impractical, could anyone direct me towards another alternative?

@ AKX I am currently using eSpeak, and it works well. It just, well, doesn’t sound too good, and it is hard to tell at times what is being said.

Answer 1

OK. I found a way to do it, seems to work fine. Thanks to everyone who helped! Here is the code I’m using:

from urllib import quote_plus

def speak(text): 
    import pydshow 
    words = text.split() 
    temp = [] 
    stuff = [] 
    while words: 
        temp.append(words.pop(0)) 
        if len(temp) == 24: 
            stuff.append(' '.join(temp)) 
            temp = [] 
    stuff.append(' '.join(temp)) 
    for i in stuff: 
        pydshow.PlayFileWait('http://api.ispeech.org/api/rest?apikey=8d1e2e5d3909929860aede288d6b974e&format=mp3&action=convert&voice=ukenglishmale&text='+quote_plus(i))

if __name__ == '__main__':
       speak('Hello. This is a text-to speech test.')

I find this ideal because it DOES use the API, but it uses the API key that is used for the demo program. Therefore, it never runs out. The key is 8d1e2e5d3909929860aede288d6b974e.

You can actually test this at work without the program, by typing the following into your address bar:

http://api.ispeech.org/api/rest?apikey=8d1e2e5d3909929860aede288d6b974e&format=mp3&action=convert&voice=ukenglishmale&text=

Followed by the text you want to speak. You can also adjust the language, by changing, in this case, the ukenglishmale to something else that iSpeech offers. For example, ukenglishfemale. This will speak the same text, but in a feminine voice.

NOTE: Pydshow is my wrapper around DirectShow. You can use yours instead.