ISCA Archive Interspeech 2010
ISCA Archive Interspeech 2010

A modified parameterization of the Fujisaki model

Robert Schubert, Oliver Jokisch, Diane Hirschfeld

Fujisaki’s command-response model has proven suitable for analysis and synthesis of intonation contours in several languages. Although widely used in synthesis, it is subject to certain limitations, including mathematical over-determinacy, and insufficiency for some naturally occurring forms. We propose an alternative parameterization which separates declination and phrasal height, thereby making mathematical properties of phrase control symmetric to accent control. The modification improves the model’s utility for analysis, predictive synthesis, and rule-based synthesis, esp. when command dependent attenuation factors are used. An evaluation of the modified F0 generation on a speech corpus, based on experiments with the DRESS synthesizer, shows lower RMSE values and similar correlations between natural contours and their synthesized counterparts.