237 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
237 lines
7.3 KiB
Markdown
# Simple TTS
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A simple machine learning text-to-speech program for your terminal. Hear text read aloud by realistic voices; from a file or your clipboard.
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## Motivation
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Text-to-speech is not always supported in many digital platforms out there. The quality is also not consistent.
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Having **Simple TTS** run on the terminal and locally on my machine provides a cozy and private environment I feel safe to use.
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This is especially useful for the days when I don't have the mental energy to go through the many written communication or resources I have to, and a little push is needed.
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## Features
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1. Terminal-first user experience
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1. Many realistic voices available
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1. Use any length of text
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1. Saved raw audio files in sensible chunks
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1. Use copied text as input
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1. Utilize different GPUs as accelerator — Intel architecture supported!
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## Requirements
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**Simple TTS** is in early development, and not packaged or distributed yet for any particular operating system. Please read on to see the tested environment under which I am developing & using it:
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1. This is currently only tested working on Debian or Ubuntu-based distros.
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1. GPU accelerators make the program run faster, but you need to have updated drivers for your device that `PyTorch` requires. However, it will still run fine on CPUs, just slower (up to 2x longer or more).
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1. The following are required packages aside from the python dependencies. `espeak-ng` is used under the hood as a fallback engine for English languages, and `libvlc` is used as the default audio player for the generated audio.
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```bash
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sudo apt update
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sudo apt install vlc espeak-ng
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```
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> [!Note]
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> Installing `vlc` via flatpak or snap will not work, as the code need access to `libvlc`.
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## Setup
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Clone repo and go into the directory
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```bash
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git clone https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts
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cd simple-tts
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```
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Create new [Python virtual environment](https://realpython.com/python-virtual-environments-a-primer/). Here I use [`conda`](https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/user-guide/install/), but [venv](https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html) is also good.
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```bash
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conda create -n tts
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### (optional) for Intel XPU specific device usage:
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conda create -n tts --clone llm-pt26
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```
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> [!Note]
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> Optional for using Intel XPUs, you need to set up [ipex-llm environment with pytorch 2.6](https://git.ayo.run/ayo/ipex-llm/src/branch/main/docs/mddocs/Quickstart/install_pytorch26_gpu.md). Also, see [Intel XPU environmental variables"](#intel-xpu-environmental-variables) section below.
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Activate the environment and install the dependencies
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```bash
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conda activate tts
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pip install -r requirements.txt
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```
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### Language-specific setup
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There are language-specific python dependencies.
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For example, if you will use Chinese voices (see [voices usage](#voices)), please install the requirements `requirements-zh.txt` ... supporting more languages is still a work in progress.
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```bash
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# Before using zh-* prefixed voices...
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pip install -r requirements-zh.txt
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## then you can use voices for Chinese texts:
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python tts.py -v zf_xiaoni "事实胜于雄辩"
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## Before using jp-* prefixed voices...
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pip install -r requirements-jp.txt
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## then you can use voices for Japanese texts:
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python tts.py -v jf_alpha "言い習わし"
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```
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Please also read the requirements text file for the language you want to use, as there may be additional instructions there. For example, using Japanese you may want to choose a dictionary and initialize a configuration file.
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| Language | lang_code | voice prefix | requirements file |
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| -------- | --------- | ------------ | ------------------- |
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| Chinese | 'z' | 'zh' | requirements-zh.txt |
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| Japanese | 'j' | 'jp' | requirements-jp.txt |
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> [!Note]
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> You can read more about using different voices in the [Voices](#voices) secton.
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### Intel XPU environmental variables (Optional)
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For XPUs, we need to set some environmental variables. I have added a `env.sh` script which will activate the conda environment `tts` and set the environmental variables.
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```bash
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. env.sh
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```
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## Usage
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Go into the directory and activate the environment:
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```bash
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cd simple-tts
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conda activate tts
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```
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If using Intel XPUs, set the env variables
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```bash
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. env.sh
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```
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Running the program without arguments will use the demo text `tongue-twister.txt` with the default voice.
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```bash
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python tts.py # will use default arguments
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```
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### Providing text inputs
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You can pass a string as first argument:
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```bash
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python tts.py "Hello world!" # will be read by the default voice
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```
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To run the program with an input file, use flag `--input_file`.
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```bash
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python tts.py --input_file demo/tongue-twister.txt
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# or shorter...
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python tts.py -i demo/tongue-twister.txt
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```
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You can also use the text stored in your clipboard (i.e., copied text). Select a text from anywhere (e.g., your web browser), copy it with `<ctrl>+C` or the context menu, then use the flag `--clipboard`:
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```bash
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python tts.py --clipboard
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# or shorter...
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python tts.py -c
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```
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### Labeling your outputs
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You can indicate a title to be used as label (i.e., file name prefix and directory name) to the generated outputs using `--title`
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```bash
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# This will put the generated files in ./outputs/simple-greeting/
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --title "simple-greeting"
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ls ./outputs/simple-greeting
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# or shorter
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python tts.py "Hello there! and Hi!" -t "simple-greetings"
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ls ./outputs/simple-greetings
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```
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### Voices
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Optionally, you can indicate a voice you want to use with the `--voice` flag. See [all voices available](https://huggingface.co/hexgrad/Kokoro-82M/blob/main/VOICES.md).
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```bash
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python tts.py --voice am_michael
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# or shorter...
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python tts.py -v am_michael
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```
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There are four shortcuts available to the best voices: `pro`, `hot`, `asmr`, `brit` (i.e., best trained voices), and `pro` is the default if no value is given
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```bash
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --voice pro # af_heart
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --voice hot # af_bella
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --voice asmr # af_nicole
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --voice brit # bf_emma
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```
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### Disable audio player
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You can disable the built-in audio player with `--skip_play` if you choose to play the audio files generated with your preferred player.
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```bash
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --voice asmr --skip_play
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# or shorter...
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python tts.py "Hello there!" --voice asmr -s
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```
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### Advanced usages
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The `--verbose` flag can be used to show more informative messages.
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```bash
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python tts.py --verbose
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```
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The `--device` or `-d` flag can be used to set the desired device (i.e., processor) to use:
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```bash
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python tts.py --device cpu # will use the cpu
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python tts.py --device cuda # will use the NVIDIA GPU
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python tts.py --device xpu # will use the Intel GPU
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```
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## Demo Outputs
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### Voice: pro (ah_heart)
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https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts/src/branch/main/demo/tongue-twister-af_heart-0.wav
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https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts/src/branch/main/demo/tongue-twister-af_heart-1.wav
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https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts/src/branch/main/demo/tongue-twister-af_heart-2.wav
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### Voice: asmr (ah_nicole)
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https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts/src/branch/main/demo/tongue-twister-af_nicole-0.wav
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https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts/src/branch/main/demo/tongue-twister-af_nicole-1.wav
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https://git.ayo.run/ayo/simple-tts/src/branch/main/demo/tongue-twister-af_nicole-2.wav
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### Screenshot
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