Talking software?

Does anyone know of any software that will speak what I type or something like that?

I want to record custom voice mail messages but I don't want my voice.

Maybe a program that can change the voice to a woman or a British accent....I type in what I want it to say and then I can choose what type of voice says it back.

Anyone know of something that will do that - freeware or not is ok?

My own Austin Powers imitation isn't very good.

If it is for anything other than pure fun, I would advise you to hire a professional human voice talent instead. The artificial voices, although greatly improved in recent years, still sound, well, artificial. Most of the time they sound somewhat spooky because they normally luck understanding of the human voice impression you want to show in your little speech.

Hiring a voice talent these days is really not that expensive. There is a fierce competition in the field, and prices dropped down dramatically. Besides, everything is done over the Internet these days, and you can easily have a (real) Australian accents, or British or anything else if you like, and it will not sound fake. Google for "voice over" or "voice on hold" or "message on hold", and you'll get dozens of companies, most of which will take your typed-in text from an e-mail, record it and send it back as MP3 or WAV or whatever you like.

Oh, BTW, the closest it gets to a real voice is AT&T Natural Voices (

) These guys have always been on the very top of the field, and they still are. Give them a try. It still sometimes sound silly but that, again, in my opinion the closest it gets to a real speech.

Check AT&T Labs

They have a very impressive online demo. Should be enough for you.

Roman Zhovtulya

Check this:

this:

I'm a British woman who used to be a disc jockey - if you're not looking for fantastic quality (I don't have any of my pro mikes anymore) I'll record you a .wav file for free. ;-)

Rachael

Really? Can you email me?

Thanks!

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