Why Clone your voice?
People with ALS/MND (pALS) may experience changes in their speech due to dysarthria (i.e. weakness or spasticity of the muscles required to produce speech). As speech becomes difficult or impossible to understand, many turn to text-to-speech (TTS) apps or speech-generating devices (SGDs) to maintain communication. Voice cloning allows you to retain your unique vocal identity even when using these technologies.
What Is a Cloned Voice?
A cloned voice is an ultra-realistic, AI-generated voice that sounds like you. It’s created from recordings of your speech and then used to speak new messages you type (or input using an alternative access method such as eye tracking), as well as previously-stored phrases on your SGD or TTS app.
An AI company called Eleven Labs offers free professional voice cloning services to individuals diagnosed with ALS or other conditions affecting speech, through partnerships with nonprofit organizations.
Voice Cloning vs. Voice Banking
Unlike voice banking, which is another process for creating a voice that approximates your own, voice cloning captures your natural prosody (the variations in pitch, pace, loudness, and pauses) that make your voice uniquely yours. This means a cloned voice can more accurately reflect your speaking style and personality and impart emotional content into your message.
How to Create Your Own Cloned Voice
Step 1: Capture Your Voice
You must submit recordings of your voice to create a voice clone. You can either:
- Record your current speech, or
- Harvesting previous recordings of your speech.
Watch the video, “How to Capture Your Voice for Voice Cloning,” on the Amy and pALS home page for step-by-step directions on how to record your current speech or harvest previous recordings. The video also features narration by my own cloned voice to provide you with an example of the realism of a cloned voice.
Step 2: Apply for Eleven Lab’s Impact Program to Obtain an Eleven Labs Pro Account and Create Your Voice Clone.
If you have ALS, follow these video instructions provided by Bridging Voice.
- Optional: Want help editing your recordings before you upload? After you have received the Welcome email from the Eleven Lab’s Impact Program you can request free assistance to remove background noise and improve the quality of your recordings before you upload them. To take advantage of this free volunteer service, submit this form .
Step 3: Integrate your Cloned Voice with your Text-to-Speech app or Speech Generating device.
The 3rd Video on this page provides instructions for integrating your cloned voice into most of the popular TTS apps or speech generating devices.
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