Software Automatic Mouth
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 Atari cover for Software Automatic Mouth | |
| Original author(s) | Mark Barton[1] |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Don’t Ask Software |
| Initial release | 1982 |
| Platform | Apple II, Lisa, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64. |
| Type | Speech synthesis |
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 family, 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 DAC, although pirates created a modified version of S.A.M. which can instead use the computer's one-bit audio output (with the addition of much distortion) if the card is not present.[citation needed] The Atari version makes use of the embedded POKEY audio chip. Speech playback on the Atari normally disables interrupt requests and shuts down the ANTIC chip during vocal output. The audible output is extremely distorted speech when graphic and text display is turned on. The Commodore 64 makes use of the 64's embedded SID audio chip's 4-bit volume DAC, reducing its quality significantly vs the Apple and Atari versions.[citation needed]
Legacy
S.A.M. was later used as the basis for the original MacInTalk,[1] as well as Narrator.device in AmigaOS on the Commodore Amiga.[citation needed]
The technology was recreated for the voice of the character of "SAM" in the software Chipspeech.[3]
SAM was used to form the voices of characters in the Indie game FAITH.[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.
- ^ link
- ^ https://airdorf.itch.io/faith
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