[NTLK] I want to make my Newton sing Christmas Carols!

From: DJ Vollkasko (DJ_Vollkasko_at_gmx.net)
Date: Sun Dec 05 2004 - 07:57:36 PST


> From: DJ Vollkasko <DJ_Vollkasko_at_gmx.net>
> Subject: [NTLK] I want to make my Newton sing Christmas Carols!
> Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 22:38:14 +0100
>
> Dear fellow Newtonians,
>
> do any of you know about other Macintalk-songs than are available at
> either Charles Kelly's Macintalk Songs-Site
> http://aitech.ac.jp/~ckelly/songs/
> or the Christmas songs here
> http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~QK6T-KJT/song.html
> ?
>
> Specifically, I'm looking for nicely-done Christmas and winter songs
> for a little appearance I have on Saturday. Non-english versions of
> popular
> tunes much appreciated (like, Finnish, Danish, Swedish, German, French,
> Spanish, Italian, Greek...).
>
> Say, could a song be sung in complete out of a Newton eBook (using
> Speak
> Text functionality to call the Text-to-Speech engine), even if the song
> would stretch over several pages?

I chose this approach in the end:

1. Take all the .talk-files you can find of Christmas songs and stored
them on yer desktop (how to save them: See description on below
mentioned Wiki-page).
2. Open them with any text editor on any platform and copy & pasted
them into a open Newton Press document.
3. Create eBook and install on Newton. (You could send me a nice email
and *ask* for it. I would give it to you right away in exchange for a
new Newton book you make yourself for the community. Fair 'nuff, I
reckon.)

The next steps on the Newton assume the following installed and working
(again, check the Wiki-page for details):

- the eBook with the Christmas songs
- the brilliant HTMList by Steve Weyer
(http://home.comcast.net/~saweyer/newton/htmlist.htm)
- Newton Works (available from UNNA, of course)
- the Macintalk-stuff described on the SpeakText-Wiki-page (if your
Newt can already read stuff to you aloud, you got it in place).

4. Using the Routing menu in the eBook (tap the envelope-button),
define the page range of the first song (i.e. how long it is, say, page
1 to page 3).
5. Using the Routing menu again, copy the defined page range to Newton
Works.
6.1 Change to Newton Works, tap on the document's icon and rename the
document to the song's name.
6.2 Mark any surplus text at beginning and end of the actual song and
delete that (e.g. fragments of another songs that starts on the page
the current song end on). You can test the result now by selecting
Routing menu/Speak Text. Nice, no?
6.3 Using the File-button, create a new folder in Works called "XMas
Songs" and file document there.
7. Repeat 4.-6.3 until every song in the eBook has become it's own
Works document in the XMas Songs-folder.
8. Open the folder in overview mode, select the songs you want to play
in the order you want them to be played, tap Routing/Speak Text, and
headbang away to the hard-hitting riddims of Deck the Halls with Boughs
of Holly, Aber Heidschi Bummbeidschi Bumm Bumm and all dem odda faves.
Joy to de World, folks, nuddin' but pure Joy to the World fer de whole
fambly!

This is somewhat tedious, but works. There may be smarter and easier
ways to get the songs on the Newton, and I'd be happy to learn them
from you. This ain't gospel, but it worked for me. And yes, this is
2x00- and eMate-only, sorry.

> P.S.: No clue what I'm talking about? Well, you can sing - and so can
> your Newton! Check
> http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/index.php/MakeNewtonSpeakText for
> pointers .

Happy Jingly Bells to you,

D.

P.S.: As with any self-respection tip or fragment of knowledge that
might be valuable for others at some time, this will go up on the Wiki.
Much recommended for ya'll to do, too - any neat trick and how-to that
surfaces at NTLK should also be posted there.

-- 
This is the NewtonTalk list - http://www.newtontalk.net/ for all inquiries
Official Newton FAQ: http://www.chuma.org/newton/faq/
WikiWikiNewt for all kinds of articles: http://tools.unna.org/wikiwikinewt/


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