New Text to Speech Voices “Alto Classic” and “Squeak Classic”

ProjectFactory

hotcrystal wrote:
I’m annoyed that the ST seems to not really care about this type of thing despite community backlash. Yes, it’s outside their control, but can’t they contact AWS about it?

They could, but two things:
1. Whether the voices return or not is Amazon's decision (just because ST asked them nicely doesn't mean they're gonna do it)
2. Scratch probably has more important priorities on their to-do list (such as fixing search); emailing Amazon to bring back voices (something that isn't likely) is probably low on that list.

Also king of the page woohoo!

Last edited by ProjectFactory (Feb. 10, 2025 01:34:40)

ProjectFactory

numberortext wrote:
Did Amazon really change the voices? Is there any evidence for this claim other than “I think they did because they own the TTS”? (keep in mind, usually amazon lets the user choose from a list of voices larger than the two* options available in scratch, and it includes the voice that used to be scratch alto. the whole alto/tenor thing is entirely Scratch's invention.)
*squeak and giant are edits of alto and tenor

I'd presume a lot of people are blaming Amazon for the change because it would seem strange for Scratch themselves to change the TTS voices people are so used to. But yeah at the same time it would be incredibly stupid for Amazon to just change the TTS voices that are already widely in use.

hotcrystal

Bump!

Combofried

It would be a good idea to have a separate of old and new voices. Here is one of mine:

Alto
Alto (new)
Tenor
Squeak
Squeak (new)
Giant
Kitten
Kitten (new)

Or this one:
English
English (new)

Last edited by Combofried (Feb. 26, 2025 01:32:04)

Combofried

numberortext wrote:
Did Amazon really change the voices? Is there any evidence for this claim other than “I think they did because they own the TTS”? (keep in mind, usually amazon lets the user choose from a list of voices larger than the two* options available in scratch, and it includes the voice that used to be scratch alto. the whole alto/tenor thing is entirely Scratch's invention.)
*squeak and giant are edits of alto and tenor

Yes, they changed it to the “Joanna” voice.

Last edited by Combofried (Feb. 26, 2025 01:38:21)

Combofried

So, old voices uses the “Salli” voice, while the new voices uses the “Joanna” voice.

Last edited by Combofried (Feb. 26, 2025 01:39:50)

ayub_thenumberfan68

The korean voice has changed as well! WHAT A SHAME NOW I CAN'T USE THE OLD 41.125 VOICE!! (removed by moderator - please keep it polite)

Last edited by Paddle2See (March 19, 2025 06:29:46)

SpectrumPenguin

@ayub_thenumberfan68 That's not usually what you say…

michaeljackson1365

numberortext wrote:
*squeak and giant are edits of alto and tenor

kitten is technically an edit of alto except (obv)

Bent_Paper

say [what happened to the alto voice?]

ProjectFactory

Bent_Paper wrote:
what happened to the alto voice?

It got changed in an update. Also, you can just write your question in normal text instead of scratchblocks

medians

ProjectFactory wrote:
Bent_Paper wrote:
what happened to the alto voice?
It got changed in an update. Also, you can just write your question in normal text instead of scratchblocks

If you're wondering, this update was by Amazon, not Scratch itself.

wilsoncooper

Bump

hotcrystal

Bump. Bump? Bump!

op456

Maybe it's a good suggestion. But the issue is this is perhaps addressed to the wrong team; I don't think the ST can implement what appears to be a change from Amazon.

And, needless to say, any attempt to revert from Amazon would require considerable effort and be a tenuous answer to a minimal solution to add two more voices in this instance.

UGRstudios

man all my projects with the classic voices have been ruined this is diabolical

bman0603returns

I also forgot to mention “Kitten Classic”.

Minecraft0313

ihrhergwgqe

Last edited by Minecraft0313 (July 9, 2025 04:13:26)

Minecraft0313

wait what happened to the old tts sounds

BFDI1a-TakethePlunge

Minecraft0313 wrote:
wait what happened to the old tts sounds

scratch team use amazons text to speech, and amazon changed them

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