Microsoft Cognitive Services: Azure Custom Text to Speech from Pluralsight

You don't have to be a math whiz to use machine learning to convert text to a natural-sounding voice. Using Azure Cognitive Services' text to speech service, developers can build features that convert text to speech by simply invoking an API method!

Artificial intelligence has come a long way. Machine learning is being applied across many different verticals. Traditionally, machine learning has been reserved only for statisticians, mathematicians, and scientists. Azure Cognitive Services is a suite of services that allow normal human beings to leverage AI to solve complex problems. One of those problems is building speech patterns that don't sound like a monotonic robot.

The text to speech service is a service inside of Azure Cognitive Services allows developers to use human-like voices across a wide variety of contexts such as audiobooks, video games, accessibility features and more.

In this course, Azure Cognitive Services: Custom Text to Speech, you will learn how to leverage this powerful service to convert text to speech with human-sounding voices.

You will learn how to get started with text to speech by setting up an account, use the REST API to invoke API calls to interact with text to speech, convert text to speech and then see a real example of a great use case for this technology.

When you are finished with this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to integrate a text to speech feature in a wide range of programming languages using a natural human voice but generated with artificial intelligence!

What's inside

Syllabus

Course Overview

Understanding Azure Speech Services: Text-to-Speech

Setting up Speech Services Accounts

Understanding SSML

Getting Started with the REST API

Converting Text to Speech

Creating a Custom Voice Font

Converting a Blog Article to Speech

Good to know

Know what's good

, what to watch for

, and possible dealbreakers

Focuses exclusively on Azure Cognitive Services and text to speech, leaving out other machine learning topics

Emphasizes using API methods to build features, which is a practical approach

Offers hands-on labs and interactive materials, such as converting text to speech

Suitable for beginners, as it introduces basic concepts of text to speech

Useful for developers looking to create realistic-sounding voices for their applications

Provides a comprehensive overview of text to speech and its use cases

Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in Microsoft Cognitive Services: Azure Custom Text to Speech with these activities:

Review of Text-to-Speech Concepts

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Reviewing the fundamentals will give you a strong foundation to build on throughout the course.

Browse courses on Text-to-Speech

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Read through course materials on text-to-speech basics and concepts

Azure Cognitive Services Tutorial

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Following along with this tutorial will help you become familiar with the Azure Cognitive Services platform.

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Find and start the Azure Cognitive Services Tutorial
Work through the tutorial, completing all exercises and examples

Speech and Language Processing

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This book provides a comprehensive overview of speech and language processing, including text-to-speech.

View Speech and Language Processing An Introduction... on Amazon

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Read the chapters on text-to-speech and related topics

Five other activities

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Azure REST API Exercises

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Completing these exercises will improve your proficiency with the Azure REST API.

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Find and download the Azure REST API exercises
Complete the exercises, testing your understanding of the API

Text-to-Speech Project

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This project will allow you to apply your knowledge to a real-world scenario.

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Design a text-to-speech application
Develop the application using the Azure Cognitive Services Text-to-Speech API
Test and refine the application
Deploy the application

Azure Cognitive Services Workshop

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Attending this workshop will provide you with in-depth knowledge of Azure Cognitive Services, including text-to-speech.

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Find and register for an Azure Cognitive Services workshop
Attend the workshop and participate in all activities

Mentor Junior Developers

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Mentoring others will enhance your understanding of text-to-speech and related concepts.

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Identify junior developers who could benefit from your guidance in text-to-speech
Develop a mentoring plan that covers key concepts and skills
Meet regularly with your mentees to provide support and guidance

Contribute to an Open-Source Text-to-Speech Project

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Contributing to open-source projects will expose you to advanced techniques and best practices in text-to-speech.

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Identify an open-source text-to-speech project that aligns with your interests
Review the project's documentation and codebase
Identify areas where you can contribute your skills and knowledge
Develop and submit a pull request with your contributions

Career center

Learners who complete Microsoft Cognitive Services: Azure Custom Text to Speech will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Technical Writer

Technical Writers create and develop technical documentation. Speech synthesis is used in many technical products and is sometimes used to create documentation. This course may help build a foundation for this career field by teaching you the principles of speech synthesis and how to use it. This may help you succeed as a Technical Writer.

See salaries and explore the career path for Technical Writer

Human-Computer Interaction Designer

Human-Computer Interaction Designers create and design interfaces between humans and computers. Speech synthesis is used in many human-computer interfaces. This course may help build a foundation for this career field by teaching you the principles of speech synthesis and how to use it.

See salaries and explore the career path for Human-Computer Interaction Designer

Product Manager

Product Managers develop, launch, and market digital products. Speech synthesis is used in many digital products. This course may help build a foundation for this career field by teaching you the principles of speech synthesis and how to use it. This may help you succeed as a Product Manager.

See salaries and explore the career path for Product Manager

User Experience Designer

User Experience Designers create and design digital products and experiences. Speech synthesis is used in many digital products and experiences. This course may help build a foundation for this career field by teaching you the principles of speech synthesis and how to use it.

See salaries and explore the career path for User Experience Designer

Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Artificial Intelligence Engineers research, develop, and implement AI solutions. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence. This course teaches students about a specific type of machine learning model and its implementation. This course may be helpful for building a foundation towards a career as an Artificial Intelligence Engineer.

See salaries and explore the career path for Artificial Intelligence Engineer

Natural Language Processing Engineer

Natural Language Processing Engineers develop and build systems that allow computers to understand human language. Speech synthesis is a part of natural language processing. This course may provide an introduction to speech synthesis and how it works. This may be helpful for getting started in this career field.

See salaries and explore the career path for Natural Language Processing Engineer

Computer Scientist

Computer Scientists research and develop new computing technologies. Machine learning is a rapidly developing field of computer science. This course teaches students about a specific type of machine learning model and its implementation. This course may be helpful for building a foundation towards a career as a Computer Scientist.

See salaries and explore the career path for Computer Scientist

Computational Linguist

Computational Linguists research and develop computational models of natural language. They typically use artificial intelligence to achieve this goal. Speech synthesis plays a role in computational linguistics. This course may provide an introduction to speech synthesis and how it works. This may be helpful for getting started in this career field.

See salaries and explore the career path for Computational Linguist

Acoustical Engineer

Acoustical Engineers design, build, and test sound systems. Speech synthesis is used in many sound systems. This course can help build a foundation for a career in acoustical engineering by teaching the theory and methods of speech synthesis.

See salaries and explore the career path for Acoustical Engineer

Audio Engineer

Audio Engineers design, build, and maintain audio systems. Speech synthesis systems often use audio technology. This course teaches students how convert text to speech using machine learning, which is a key technology in modern audio engineering. This course can help you get started with a career in audio engineering by showing you one of the important technologies used for creating audio experiences.

See salaries and explore the career path for Audio Engineer

Data Scientist

Data Scientists analyze and interpret data. This course teaches students how to use machine learning models to convert text to speech and how those models work. The knowledge of machine learning and the ability to interpret and analyze data are both important to careers as Data Scientists.

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Software Developer

Software Developers build computer programs. This course teaches students to build computer programs that can convert text to speech using machine learning models. This is a specific type of software development, but it is highly valuable and may lead to many opportunities as a Software Developer.

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Speech Recognition Engineer

Speech Recognition Engineers develop and build systems that allow devices to hear and understand spoken words. They may work on developing hardware or software for this purpose. This course helps build a foundation in speech synthesis, which is how computers produce speech. This is a related field to speech recognition. This course has the potential to provide a strong foundation for branching into speech recognition.

See salaries and explore the career path for Speech Recognition Engineer

Machine Learning Engineer

Machine Learning Engineers build, deploy, and maintain machine learning models. Speech synthesis is a type of machine learning model. This course teaches students how to convert text to speech using this type of AI model. While it does not cover all aspects of machine learning engineering, it does cover a relevant and specific type of ML model commonly used by ML Engineers.

See salaries and explore the career path for Machine Learning Engineer

Speech Synthesizer Engineer

Speech Synthesizer Engineers develop and create speech synthesizer systems. Those systems typically rely on machine learning models that convert text to speech. This course offers an introduction to the models and methods used for speech synthesis. While this course may not be a comprehensive guide to becoming a speech synthesizer engineer, the knowledge gained may still help you build a strong foundation in speech synthesis technology, which is a core skill for this career field.

See salaries and explore the career path for Speech Synthesizer Engineer