Lyebird: Clone Your Voice • Hacker News Board

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#41

Post by derekja » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 8:45 PM UTC

happycry wrote: post #7

prophesi wrote: post #2

Before Lyrebird was bought by Descript, this was a simple API endpoint. You could generate short MP3's of your digital voice reading any text of your choosing, for free. I used it extensively in one of my projects, only to find everything broken after leaving it alone for a few months. All of that to say, are there any alternatives out there HN knows of? This isn't an attack on Descript, either. The Lyrebird purchase…

Hey, founder of Resemble ( https://resemble.ai ) here. We're building a custom voice cloning service with APIs and controllability. Shoot me a message if you want to build a voice from raw MP3s.

That's great! I'm glad to see any competition in the space. When I first tried Lyrebird a year or 18 months ago the quality wasn't great. It was OK and I could hear a resemblance to the voice it was meant to create, but there were hisses and fuzzy sections and it just wasn't long term listenable. Recently the examples I've heard from Descript have sounded really crisp. Keep on the path you're on! I like your business model better, but from the examples on your website the voices are still not quite as refined. Now what I'd really like is a local means of generating great TTS of my own voice, but that's a different offering.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#42

Post by andygcook » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 9:05 PM UTC

kundan2510 wrote: post #39

andygcook wrote: post #34

I signed up for Descript and did the Overdub training a few weeks ago. It's impressive, albeit not a perfect match for my actual voice. You train the voice by reading 30 minutes of Wizard of Oz using a high quality microphone. I used a Yeti in a closet at my house. I do plan to record the additional hour of supplemental reading which might help make it more authentic. (Side note - I didn't know Dorothy's shoes were a…

How does it compare with the training data you submitted to create your overdub voice? Sometimes, the voice sounds different because of the recording conditions, room tone, etc. and overdub voice copies these environmental factors as well.

Here's a sample clip of the training audio: https://web.descript.com/afdff9c8-17d0-41bb-84ec-77709120709...

I recorded on a high quality microphone in a small closest with a foam mattress pad and blankets surrounding me. It was pretty soundproof. Upon re-listening to the audio, it does sound a little tinny, which likely has to do with the microphone settings.

I think the issue with the monotone is that my reading voice is different from my talking voice. When I'm freely talking, I'm more dramatic. When I'm reading, I'm less so because the only time I read out loud nowadays is to children before bedtime.

I do plan to resubmit the training script with a different style, but recording the full audio was admittedly tiring so I haven't sent that in yet. I'm sure with some experiment I could get it closer to reality.

I did get some helpful advice from someone on the Descript team on how to use punctuation and misspellings to fix some of the intonation. Overall, it's really impressive technology and I can think of a few different uses for my business for my own voice.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#43

Post by andygcook » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 9:07 PM UTC

jeremyw wrote: post #40

andygcook wrote: post #34

I signed up for Descript and did the Overdub training a few weeks ago. It's impressive, albeit not a perfect match for my actual voice. You train the voice by reading 30 minutes of Wizard of Oz using a high quality microphone. I used a Yeti in a closet at my house. I do plan to record the additional hour of supplemental reading which might help make it more authentic. (Side note - I didn't know Dorothy's shoes were a…

Thanks for the sample. There's a flatness to the audio in recreation, but the major difference is lack of inflection. I imagine the latter might be tunable in a future incarnation.

You can record your voice in different styles, which I think would help with inflection. I haven't had enough time to really experiment with it yet. The starting point is definitely an impressive effort on the Overdub/Descript team's side.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#44

Post by keenmaster » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 9:08 PM UTC

shannifin wrote: post #5

I have not yet had any serious use cases with this tech, but I've enjoyed playing around with it and I love its possibilities. (A while back, as an experiment, I recorded samples with a variety of silly character voices and fake accents; when the end result merged them into one, it sounded hilarious.)

Cloning your voice to TTS reader software so that your kids or loved ones can read/listen using your voice.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#45

Post by Riccardo_G » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 10:09 PM UTC

prophesi wrote: post #2

Before Lyrebird was bought by Descript, this was a simple API endpoint. You could generate short MP3's of your digital voice reading any text of your choosing, for free. I used it extensively in one of my projects, only to find everything broken after leaving it alone for a few months. All of that to say, are there any alternatives out there HN knows of? This isn't an attack on Descript, either. The Lyrebird purchase…

Hey Prophesi, on Replica (https://replicastudios.com/) you can generate voices from our stock library for free, and of course you can create your own Replica voice too.

If you have more audio data you would want to upload to improve the quality of the voice, you can also get in contact with the team and they will help you out!

You can also access your own voice via the API as well as other stock voices.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#46

Post by Riccardo_G » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 10:16 PM UTC

shannifin wrote: post #5

I have not yet had any serious use cases with this tech, but I've enjoyed playing around with it and I love its possibilities. (A while back, as an experiment, I recorded samples with a variety of silly character voices and fake accents; when the end result merged them into one, it sounded hilarious.)

Hi Shannifin, at Replica (https://replicastudios.com/) we have a lot of serious use cases from our customers and increasingly more uses as the tech has been improving and the product becomes easier to use!

Currently we have seen users develop pretty much anything such as: games from indie to AAA, animations and other creative clips, audio books and spoken stories of all types, enterprise coaching videos, ads, and much more!

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#47

Post by prophesi » Wed, Sep 09, 2020, 10:43 PM UTC

kundan2510 wrote: post #17

prophesi wrote: post #2

Before Lyrebird was bought by Descript, this was a simple API endpoint. You could generate short MP3's of your digital voice reading any text of your choosing, for free. I used it extensively in one of my projects, only to find everything broken after leaving it alone for a few months. All of that to say, are there any alternatives out there HN knows of? This isn't an attack on Descript, either. The Lyrebird purchase…

Hey! Lyrebird founder here! The simple API endpoint is work in progress. Please fill this form to get an early access: https://descript.typeform.com/to/Phn5zATR

Thanks kundan2510! I sent in a submission. Your API endpoint worked really well for me in the past, so your service will certainly take precedence.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#48

Post by failrate » Thu, Sep 10, 2020, 1:31 AM UTC

echelon wrote: post #19

ValentineC wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neat stuff! What would it take to get Morgan Freeman's voice onto it?

Thanks! I made one attempt at Morgan Freeman but I didn't have enough sample data. He narrated a few audio books, but they've either got background music that ruins the training or he collaborated with other speakers. What data I gathered I obtained from interviews on YouTube. Unfortunately they're all so short that it's a lot of work to extract meaningful training data. I really want his voice. I'll definitely get b…

You really just need to get it to say "Morgan Freeman" over and over again.

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#49

Post by shannifin » Thu, Sep 10, 2020, 1:39 AM UTC

keenmaster wrote: post #44

shannifin wrote: post #5

I have not yet had any serious use cases with this tech, but I've enjoyed playing around with it and I love its possibilities. (A while back, as an experiment, I recorded samples with a variety of silly character voices and fake accents; when the end result merged them into one, it sounded hilarious.)

Cloning your voice to TTS reader software so that your kids or loved ones can read/listen using your voice.

That would be awesome

Re: Lyebird: Clone Your Voice

#50

Post by shannifin » Thu, Sep 10, 2020, 1:44 AM UTC

singhrac wrote: post #32

shannifin wrote: post #5

I have not yet had any serious use cases with this tech, but I've enjoyed playing around with it and I love its possibilities. (A while back, as an experiment, I recorded samples with a variety of silly character voices and fake accents; when the end result merged them into one, it sounded hilarious.)

Voice acting for ... games, audiobooks, etc?

I think the tech still needs a bit more polish to replace great voice acting, but it's definitely an exciting possibility! (Although I've definitely heard some voice acting and audiobook narration (libravox) that's pretty bad and this tech already beats!)