One accent 'to fit all' in most countries is asking for trouble, especially as they get far more genuine sounding. Forgiving a slightly mechanical voice for not sounding like the speaker isn't from 'your neck of the woods' is one thing but I bet we will soon hear complaints that these realistic voices are 'not from around here'. I am certain the Scots would prefer a Scottish accent, but Apple better do at least a west and east coast option if not a highland one also... and so on! So my bet is, sooner or later we will be able to choose regional dialects.
If the technology gets very good it might even be able to mimic certain individuals instead of just regions, such as your choice of movie star.
If the technology gets very good it might even be able to mimic certain individuals instead of just regions, such as your choice of movie star.
I must read up more but I confess I thought they still used real people's voices which entailed many hours of grueling recording not synthesized voices. But yes, one day, no doubt that will be the case. Just as one day I am convinced the Avatar type movie technology will get so good they will be able to make James Dean or Humphrey Bogart movies again and we won't be able to tell the difference.
If they poured all their development time and money into making one really good American voice for english-speaking markets I doubt anyone would care all that much.
It really gets on my nerves when reviewers review or demo siri! DO YOUR RESEARCH! When an accent/dialect is first selected it is presented as a low quality "Compact voice" at first to save space on the phone. When a dialect is chosen, left alone, connected to wifi power the HD version of said dialect will be downloaded automatically in the background. That's why the Japanese & Australian voices sound terrible in the SoundCloud window above. Siri doesn't sound that terrible when fully downloaded.
If they poured all their development time and money into making one really good American voice for english-speaking markets I doubt anyone would care all that much.
Australian accents always sound wrong when reproduced in foreign t.v. shows or films (and by Siri). Usually its too harsh or exagerated. Maybe that's the way we sound to non-Australians. This is why I prefer the UK English voices.
I actually didn't even realise Australians spoke with an accent until I went overseas. :-)
No, you've got that wrong. *We* don't speak with accents, *they* do.
I agree about foreign shows. If the role is played by an Australian, I think they're often told to "ocker it up". If they're not Australian, then usually it sounds like Dick Van Dyke's cockney. Even worse are the people who can't tell the difference between Australian and New Zealand accents, and get the vowels wrong.
To me, the accents on the Australian Siri voices didn't sound too bad, but the overall quality (or natural-ness, I suppose) seemed a lot worse than on the UK voices.
I agree about foreign shows. If the role is played by an Australian, I think they're often told to "ocker it up". If they're not Australian, then usually it sounds like Dick Van Dyke's cockney.
I think that's probably a universal rule for acting any accent. British English as spoken by a native actor acting in a US TV show or movie normally sounds like a caricature of the language, and an American actor (or Australian, though you guys seem to be better at it generally) attempting the same will usually be even worse.
Comments
One accent 'to fit all' in most countries is asking for trouble, especially as they get far more genuine sounding. Forgiving a slightly mechanical voice for not sounding like the speaker isn't from 'your neck of the woods' is one thing but I bet we will soon hear complaints that these realistic voices are 'not from around here'. I am certain the Scots would prefer a Scottish accent, but Apple better do at least a west and east coast option if not a highland one also... and so on! So my bet is, sooner or later we will be able to choose regional dialects.
If the technology gets very good it might even be able to mimic certain individuals instead of just regions, such as your choice of movie star.
I must read up more but I confess I thought they still used real people's voices which entailed many hours of grueling recording not synthesized voices. But yes, one day, no doubt that will be the case. Just as one day I am convinced the Avatar type movie technology will get so good they will be able to make James Dean or Humphrey Bogart movies again and we won't be able to tell the difference.
If they poured all their development time and money into making one really good American voice for english-speaking markets I doubt anyone would care all that much.
That would have my vote.
[VIDEO]http://www.thelistingengine.com/thelistingengine/Walter.m4a[/VIDEO]
I agree about foreign shows. If the role is played by an Australian, I think they're often told to "ocker it up". If they're not Australian, then usually it sounds like Dick Van Dyke's cockney. Even worse are the people who can't tell the difference between Australian and New Zealand accents, and get the vowels wrong.
To me, the accents on the Australian Siri voices didn't sound too bad, but the overall quality (or natural-ness, I suppose) seemed a lot worse than on the UK voices.
I agree about foreign shows. If the role is played by an Australian, I think they're often told to "ocker it up". If they're not Australian, then usually it sounds like Dick Van Dyke's cockney.
I think that's probably a universal rule for acting any accent. British English as spoken by a native actor acting in a US TV show or movie normally sounds like a caricature of the language, and an American actor (or Australian, though you guys seem to be better at it generally) attempting the same will usually be even worse.
Please please please Apple, a Sirified Joanna Lumley!