Software Automatic Mouth

Software Automatic Mouth
	Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Type	Speech synthesis

A demo of SAM on the C64

Software Automatic Mouth, or S.A.M. (sometimes abbreviated as SAM), is a speech synthesis program developed by Mark Barton and sold by Don't Ask Software. The program was released for the Atari 8-bit computers, Apple II, and Commodore 64. Released in 1982, it was one of the first commercial all-software voice-synthesis programs.^{[citation needed]}

Don't Ask Software also sold PokerSAM, a poker game with speech,^[2] and also licensed out the S.A.M. engine for use with other games, such as Tales of the Arabian Nights for the Commodore 64.

Technology

The Apple version uses an included expansion card which contains an 8-bit

SID audio chip's 4-bit volume DAC, reducing its quality significantly vs the Apple and Atari versions.^{[citation needed]} When producing speech, the Commodore 64 version blanks the screen as the program accesses memory, although a "light" mode can be activated that leaves the screen active, producing a "gravelly" voice. Active sprites also cause a deterioration in the quality of voice output.^[3]

Legacy

S.A.M. was used as the basis for the original MacInTalk speech synthesis software.^[1]

The technology was recreated for the voice of the character of "SAM" in the software Chipspeech.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b It Sure Is Great To Get Out Of That Bag!, Author: Andy Hertzfeld, Date: January 1984, Folklore.org
^ "PokerSAM". Atari Mania.
^ Conway, Barbara (2 June 1984). "SAM speaks out". Personal Computer News. p. 36. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
^ link

External links

Speech Synthesizers for Atari and Apple magazine review
Spelling.SAM an Atari BASIC spelling program
SAM manual reproduction of the Atari version manual
Analysis of SAM translated version to C and executable for Windows
Run SAM in the Browser translated version to native JavaScript
[1] SAM as JAVA class file for the JVM
2020 Interview with Mark Barton about S.A.M.

[intodemo-1] It Sure Is Great To Get Out Of That Bag!, Author: Andy Hertzfeld, Date: January 1984, Folklore.org

[2] "PokerSAM". Atari Mania.

[personalcomputernews19840602_sam-3] Conway, Barbara (2 June 1984). "SAM speaks out". Personal Computer News. p. 36. Retrieved 20 December 2024.

[4] ^ link

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