THE CTA MAN

[CURRENTZ_09]

EVERY WONDER WHO IS THAT MYSTERY GUY THAT ANNOUNCES EVERY STOP FOR THE CTA SYSTEM? SO DO I, WAT DO U THINK ABOUT THE GUY AND ALSO THOSE FAMOUS BELLS THAT RING WHEN THE DOOR CLOSES "DING DONG"

[dauber]

The Voice That Moves Millions

[jajuan]

As I recall, the gentleman in question lives in Michigan and after the CTA had him do the stop announcement voiceovers, they've been able to program his voice to different updated announcements through a voiceover computer program so that he wouldn't have to keep recording different announcements for the numerous changes in CTA service that have occurred since the 2002 interview linked above, including the Feb. 7th reductions.

[sw4400]

EVERY WONDER WHO IS THAT MYSTERY GUY THAT ANNOUNCES EVERY STOP FOR THE CTA SYSTEM? SO DO I, WAT DO U THINK ABOUT THE GUY AND ALSO THOSE FAMOUS BELLS THAT RING WHEN THE DOOR CLOSES "DING DONG"

I was waiting for someone to say something, but since nobody has, I shall... please stop "shouting"!

[Busjack]

As I recall, the gentleman in question lives in Michigan and after the CTA had him do the stop announcement voiceovers, they've been able to program his voice to different updated announcement...

Dauber's link confirms what I thought, that he lives in Wisconsin, SAME AS THE SHOUTER. That came up with the "Clyboorne" controversy.

[rmadisonwi]

As I recall, the gentleman in question lives in Michigan and after the CTA had him do the stop announcement voiceovers, they've been able to program his voice to different updated announcements through a voiceover computer program so that he wouldn't have to keep recording different announcements for the numerous changes in CTA service that have occurred since the 2002 interview linked above, including the Feb. 7th reductions.

Last I heard, he still does regular recordings for special announcements.

CTA can cut up his recordings and mix-and-match words and phrases to make other announcements, but it's pretty obvious which ones are of the "mix-n-match" variety, and which ones are new recordings.

[Scionic]

Last I heard, he still does regular recordings for special announcements.

CTA can cut up his recordings and mix-and-match words and phrases to make other announcements, but it's pretty obvious which ones are of the "mix-n-match" variety, and which ones are new recordings.

Aye - have you seen/heard the video clip of Roger Ebert's "new voice"? They cut up his past words and put them together into a text-to-speech program. That's supposedly state of the art, and it still sounds pretty robotic. The technology isn't quite there yet. They just send the one-off announcements to that voice actor, and he throws it together in his home studio and e-mails it into the CTA. No big deal.

[dauber]

Yeah, Mr. CTA does sound too human for it to be a chop job.

BTW -- someone once commented that when I heard "doors open on the _____" announcements on the Blue Line and the "left" / "right" part was missing (as in, say, "Doors open on the at Jackson") that there was a piece of programming that got fragged that tells the machine to drop in "left" or "right." However, the recordings sound analog to me -- because sometimes the guy's voice is a bit lower. (I have perfect pitch -- trust me on this. No baseball jokes, please.) And it's impossible for a digital recording to just happen to be playing slightly slower and lower-pitched unless the programming actually gives the playback a command that specifically tells it to play slower and lower. Or is it that the recordings themselves are indeed analog, but it's computer programming that triggers the analog recordings??

[jajuan]

I was waiting for someone to say something, but since nobody has, I shall... please stop "shouting"!

We all get what you're referencing but it's might not have been as much an issue for everybody else. After all we are discussing transit not trying to be grammar or typing police. :lol:

[Busjack]

Yeah, Mr. CTA does sound too human for it to be a chop job.

BTW -- someone once commented that when I heard "doors open on the _____" announcements on the Blue Line and the "left" / "right" part was missing (as in, say, "Doors open on the at Jackson") that there was a piece of programming that got fragged that tells the machine to drop in "left" or "right." However, the recordings sound analog to me -- because sometimes the guy's voice is a bit lower. (I have perfect pitch -- trust me on this. No baseball jokes, please.) And it's impossible for a digital recording to just happen to be playing slightly slower and lower-pitched unless the programming actually gives the playback a command that specifically tells it to play slower and lower. Or is it that the recordings themselves are indeed analog, but it's computer programming that triggers the analog recordings??

I really doubt that anything is analog recorded these days, especially something programmed for a gps device. They may have digitally recorded different intonations as spoken by Mr. CTA.

What you might have been thinking is that the sounds were digitally synthesized, which apparently is not the case. (Digital synthesizing is a computer taking some text and substituting digital sounds for it.) The difference between this and Roger Ebert is that the lab tried to put together Ebert's words from old recordings, while Mr. CTA at least voiced some phrases into a recorder.

The article to which you provided the link seems to be a comprehensive review of the process, especially the part that says " "They would say, `Can you put a little more smile in it?' or `Make it slower, or faster.'" The phrases were chopped into digital audio slices so they could be programmed into the CTA's computerized system."

[dauber]

No, the inflection is exactly the same; it just sounds like for the entire trip sometimes, it's a tape that's playing back too slowly, including the notes in the chimes. I know the voice is not synthesized, too.

[Busjack]

No, the inflection is exactly the same; it just sounds like for the entire trip sometimes, it's a tape that's playing back too slowly, including the notes in the chimes. I know the voice is not synthesized, too.

My [former] computer did that on occasion, but that was basically a sign that the hard drive was going out.

[Scionic]

Okay, for starters, the CTA man is NOT synthesized. He's a human being who Id imagine is on contract with the CTA to fire off new recordings if necessary. It's not like it would be a big deal for him. The CTA sends an email saying "record this please", and he goes "okay", records it, and emails back an MP3.

As for the pitch differences, I've noticed it too. It's kind of an odd sensation, hearing the ding-dong pitched just a little bit too low and just a bit too slowly. It sounds much more terminal when it's pitched down. More of a BONG... BONNNG than a ding-dong. I don't know how the announcement rigs work, but they are almost certainly 100% digital. The pitch differences come about when the recordings are played at the wrong sample rates. Sample rates, if you're unaware, is the number of times the computer samples the sound. The higher the sample rate, the clearer the sound. Your cell phone works around 8kHz, CDs run at 44.1kHz. For instance, a WAV file recorded at 22.1kHz played back at 18kHz will sound pitched down, similar to playing a tape too slowly. I had similar problems with an old DAT recorder of mine, I'd record at 48kHz and then playback at 44.1kHz, and get crazy results.