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Speak & Spell Hacking For Fun And Profit
Bowie J. Poag writes "Pete Casper has created a number of truly bizarre Speak & Spell hacks, and case mods (!) suitable for live performances. The highly modified Speak & Spell can be controlled either by the membrane keypad or using an Atari joystick of all things. Tons of photographs and MP3 samples included.. I want one. Now."
Anyone remember how freaky those things sounded?
I remember as a kid being scared of it because of that crazy deep rumbling synthesized voice....
*shudders*
Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
>Tons of hotographs
Now Slashdot is only linking to images captured in the infrared spectrum? Great, now I'm going to have to spend the dough to update to the PowerBook with the face-burning screen, in addition to the penis-scorching base.
Marc Siry || interactive media professional, motorcycle enthusiast ||
"Tons of hotographs." Looks like the /. editors could use a Speak & Spell. ;)
What's a 'hotograph'? Is that like a 'icture'?
I had a Speak n' Spell when I was young. It eventually got whacked a few too many times and its database somehow scrambled:
SnS: Now spell: "Erkngwhkfzgnkil".
Me:[A] [P] [P] [L] [E] [Enter]
SnS: Incorrect. Please try again.
Me:[M] [O] [N] [K] [E] [Y] [Enter]
SnS: Incorrect. Please try again.
Me:[S] [T] [U] [P] [I] [D] [Enter]
SnS: Incorrect. The correct spelling of "Erkngwhkfzgnkil" is: S A U C E R.
It was great! Sadly, it sounds nothing like the "Random Noise" or "Glitch" mp3s. I'm disappointed.
People who use this line are worried that their peers see them as slackers. They make an extra effort to let everyone know just how busy they are. You all know who you are. Now, I'm going to go spend some more of the extra time on my hands replying to /. posts.
How are you going to keep them down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus?
...wow (and their was much rejoicing).
come on fhqwhgads
Tons of hotographs and MP3 samples included..
My browser doesn't seem to have hotograph viewer support. Is that one of those new 3-D hologram thingies?
Slashdot: come for the pedantry, stay for the condescension.
He has the schematics of what he put into the thing, and lots of pictures of the thing, but allas, no step by step hacking process, guess if people want there own they can figure it out.
-- Any comments seen here are not mine, but a mixture of alchohol and lack of sleep.
The sounds are very odd/distorted/creepy to me (especially in the rythmic loops). Maybe this is actually an attempt to be contacted by aliens...I mean hey, E.T. had one of those....
home of the original cupholder
tcpa SUX!!!!
Can we MAME this one?
Do I need an original Speak & Spell to apply the mod patch?
Will the Speak & Spell manufacturer put a stop and desist order for mod chips?
Will we? Will we?
How long until we kill this invention?
This space for rent.
Just for those of you who are not old enough or, like me, not American enough to immediately understand what exactly is an Speak and Spell device which that guy modded, here some clarification (ripped from the first or second google hit):
Plenty of toys become hits, but only a select few make history. One of the finest examples in the historical arena is Speak & Spell. Not only did this toy educate its users, it spoke to them using brand-new computer technology. Simply put, this toy managed to pack a computer's worth of top-flight technology into a plastic shell that was small enough to conveniently fit in a backpack. As a result, it became a favorite with kids and one of the most successful educational toys of all time.
Texas Instruments, a company best known at the time for its calculators, introduced Speak & Spell in 1978. This electronic marvel was design to teach its users spelling skills with vocalized lessons. What made this toy impressive was that it pulled this off without using a tape recorder or other conventional recording device. Speak & Spell created convincing speech sounds through a method called digital speech synthesis. In other words, it used computerized circuits to create a replica of the human vocal tract that would synthetically "speak" words aloud when prompted. This was the first use of this kind of technology, making Speak & Spell a toy for the history books.
Speak & Spell offered five different spelling games to occupy the user. For the most part, these games revolved around Speak & Spell's saying a word aloud for the user to spell. This was accomplished by punching in the proper combination of letters on the toy's alphabetical keypad. As each letter was pressed, Speak & Spell would say it aloud so the l'il speller could hear his choice. Other buttons allowed the user to hear a word repeated, retype the answer before entering it, or even receive a clue.
Another nice thing about Speak & Spell was that its electronic brain could be expanded to keep up with its users as they grew older. Speak & Spell pulled this off through new learning modules--little cartridges inserted in the back of the machine that could add new words to the games to increase the level of learning up to an 8th grade level.
Speak & Spell's unique combination of technology and fun made it an instant hit with kids. Its popularity with its target audience was given a further boost when a certain adorable alien used it to help him "phone home" in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. Both parents and educators appreciated its value as a teaching tool, and their combined seals of approval made Speak & Spell a common sight in homes and schools alike. Its popularity also led to sequel electronic games for other areas of learning like Speak & Math and Speak & Read.
Speak & Spells are not made today, but their popularity continues to live on. It has become a popular possession for Generation X adults who want to relive their youth, and musicians often sample Speak & Spell's vocal sounds to create trippy yet oddly familiar effects in their music. Having already outlived its own shelf life, there is no doubt that Speak & Spell will long occupy a place in the hearts of the grownups it once educated.
my
of course, I didn't use it so much for spelling as I did to get it to pronounce dirty words :) This synth hack seems far more practical!
Look on his second page of pictures, he has a few pictures of his cats, no hacked gadgets in sight, one is left to assume that he us useing this device to either torture the cat's ears or is useing mind controle from it to controle his cats.
-- Any comments seen here are not mine, but a mixture of alchohol and lack of sleep.
I played with one of these when I was a girl. Later as an adult I heard a Steven Hawking lecture and my first thought was, "Oh My God, it's my first spelling teacher."
I keep waiting for him to in the middle of some physics lecture or interview say, "spell Schwarzschild radius."
There is a Speak & Spell simulator for Windows here if any of you want to relive those great S&S memories. :-P USA and British versions are available.
.. then they'll have a beowulf cluster of case modded speak and spells. I hope I'm just being facetious but as someone else pointed out, they do seem to have a lot of time on their hands.
Didn't E.T. already do this twenty-some-odd years ago?
Today it was announced that a new toy product was lauched on to the market.
"Speak and Tinnitus" is an updated version of the popular 1980's toy "Speak and Spell". Unlike the original which taugh kids how to spell. The new varsion gives children the condition known as Tinnitus, also known as ringing in the ears....
Shut up, Steve Jobs.
....but wow. I thought Bowie dead. Deader than JFK, as some would say.
I was thinking the other day that there weren't enough bad techno songs out there yet...
finally i know how alec empire made his hypermodern jazz - lp ;)
need an appartment or house in bavaria?
....you could have told me would be avaiable to me in the future ten years ago, a speak and spell I WANT, would blow my mind the most....
"The saddest words of mice and men, are not those which were, but should have been."
Anyone want to submit a joint patent application for the hotograph? With a snazzy name like that, I bet we could sneak a real whizbanger past the patent inspectors. "Device and Method for Producing Intense Gonadal Discomfort" or something like that.
Long ago, I came across Carrion Sound, which has been tweaking toys and instruments of today and yesterday into noise masterpieces. Mp3 examples are there, too. A bit more on the artistic-side, but many of his examples are quite impressive. And although many-a Speak-and-Spell were destroyed in this man's work, he destroyed many, many, many, many other things, too.
Anyone who can turn a Pikachu doll into something even more disturbing should get a medal.
-agent oranje.
Common in the electronic music community - very fun stuff... Google for "circuit bending" and check out some of the sites.
The new aphex twin album to me. :P
IANATE (I am not a trained ear), but...
Here's my take on the tracks presented:
1. Slow Melodic - Between the deep "bong" noises (bong noises, indeed), you can hear the faint cry of an abused robotic child. They have tortured the soul of this Speak N Spell.
2. Rhythmic Loops - This is almost too short to care.
3. Loop N Pitch - This has an enjoyable mid-eighties video game flare to it. If I didn't know better, I'd think that this came from a mutilated Atari.
4. Slow Loop N Pitch - It's the same as #3.
5. Rythmic Loop 4 - Is neither. It sounds like an abused telegraph.
6. Glitch Pitch - probably the most interesting of the collection, I'd imagine that this is similar to a robotic death.
7. Rythmic Loop 1 - This track has the annoying qualities of an alarm clock coupled with the repetative nature of your boss. Not recommended for those with heart conditions.
8. Random Noise - Sounds EXACTLY like the intro to Metroid Prime. It's scary.
9. Glitch - Sucks. Nuff said.
10, Rythmic Loop 2 - is the closest thing to outputting something worthy. This has coffee edge with 9-volt-battery-on-toungue power.
11. Loop w / Randomize - I think this is the sound my bathtub makes when emptied.
12. Distortion - SATAN has possessed the Speak N Spell. It's actually pronouncing things - but in this case, at best, it sounds like a smoker that has a tube cut in their throats.
My end analysis:
WHAT DID THESE TOYS EVER DO TO YOU, MAN?!? Poor things.
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
He circumventing a digital device! How long until the company claims a DMCA infringement?
Seriously though, if the copyrights are still held, we are getting to ap oint when even doing hacks on devices we own will get us in jail. Hmmm, time to turn my gamebot into a robot controller, oh wait... nevermind
Hey, this is my sig, if you don't like it, STOP READING MY POSTS!
S...H...I...
awww... look at 'im.
Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...
*ziiip* Can you spell copyright infringement?
Alien Devices
Anti-theory
Both sites are way cooler than the story's link and have sound samples and howto guides on circuit bending. Enjoy!
Wrong. The correct spelling of photograph is p-h-o-t-o-g-r-a-p-h.
Now spell...
A pizza of radius z and thickness a has a volume of pi z z a
Bizzare, Live Performances, Membranes, Joysticks and ... Hoto Graphs?
And the inventors name is what? Pete Casper?
I don't know, but this sounds pretty gay to me.
...now Casper Electronics is going to get sued by Texas Instruments under the DMCA!
Don't click on it, fools. Always read your status bar.
Is it network compatable so I can interlink them for Surrond sound?
NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
Perhaps I am too much of a bottom-feeder to recognize the value in this, but does anyone think that those MP3s sound like complete shit? I was expecting to hear the thing rapping the Random House Children's Dictionary, and instead it sounds like a SnS having a seizure. Hell, I used to do *that* when I was a kid by hitting the damn thing really hard.
_sig_ is away
I'd send you the plug-in, but I downloaded it off of KaZaA and ended up getting that damned RIAA worm. ;-)
-Cybrex
Boundless Expansion, Self-Transformation, Dynamic Optimism, Intelligent Technology, Spontaneous Order- BEST DO IT SO!
You don't think hacking a 30 year old electronic toy to make "music" is News for Nerds?
He hacked one in the movie E.T. the Extraterestrial in 1982 in order to call home. I took the E.T. ride at Universal a few weeks ago where there were some S&S.
He's got the Loop 'n Pitch, now if he can just get the "Loop 'n Bitch", I can replace 98% of the people in my life with a Speak & Spell!
Alito: A vote for Alito is a punch in the eye to put that bitch back in her place!
...that all the speak & spells on ebay with a 'buy it now' option have all _just_ been bought in the last few minutes?
Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
Can't really look too much at the linked site right now (no sound on the computer i'm at at the moment), but if this interests you:
You may also be interested in the hacking Charlie Clouser (you'd know him from Nine Inch Nails) did to his speak and spell (see partway down the page).
Irritable, left-wing and possibly humorous bumper stickers and t-shirts
Especially funny since he actually pronounced it that way until we corrected him. Never let a child use one of these things unsupervised!
-WS
An operating system should be like a light switch... simple, effective, easy to use, and designed for everyone.
Didn't ET hack a speak 'n spell to phone home? Good thing the DMCA wasn't around then. He might be sitting in prison now for the mods.
Vote for Pedro
Somebody call Trent Reznor!
I don't mean to downplay the effort that goes into something like this but am I the only one that thinks the results sound like, well, crap?
Sure, sure it's kinda cool that it can be done but let's be honest, does this really mean that it should be done?
Also, "Random Noise" sounds suspiciously like he dumped the ROM contents straight to the DAC. Some 20 years ago, I did exactly that with my Trash80 Color Computer, with similar results.
Spell nostalgia.
Turn in your pocket protector and get a haircut.
Veteran, Bermuda Triangle Expeditionary Force, 1992-1951
It's from Japan. It's similar to a photograph, only you read it from right to left.
"Derp de derp."
Why havent they been slashdotted yet? They have downloadable snippets and they're still up? Damn.
...to buy an unmodified Speak & Spell for our Taco friend.
Way back in 1980 I interviewed with Texas Instruments. One interviewer had been involved in testing the Speak and Spell. He told me during testing they used lots of dirty words, and everyone hoped the test code never leaked to the public.
You can/could buy an IC from National Semiconductor that would do the same type of speech synthesis as the Speak 'n Spell did...
If only I could remember the part number. Oh well. I'm sure some smart cookie here will look it up and save the day!
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
I could have sworn I heard some of those loops on Amnesiac somewhere.
I want a hack that converts the speak and spell to an interstellar communicator that talks to brown, sexless, slimy but cuddly aliens.
Go to my web page. I wanked a S&S and got several minutes of that kind of trippy stuff. I recorded it to hard drive using a nice DAC. It's in my "Work" page. In my "Links" page you'll find links to a couple more web sites that do stuff like this.
Can it phone home if I attach some twine and a couple tin-cans to it?
-Super Kermit
-Christopher Wu
http://www.christopherwu.net/
1) hack speak & and sell for fun
2) ???
3) profit!!
Silly me and my lousy mechanical engineering degree. I was thinking to myself, "why does this guy have diagrams of deformation and motion on his website about the Speeak&Spell?" Oh, you mean he forgot the P on Photograph? Gotta get outta school for a while...
MMORPG fan-boy? Prove your worth
SASS
:)
Speak & Spell simulator. It's pretty cool, was based on the UK model so it has a noticably 'brit' accent
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
A medal? How about a gunshot to the head?
There's nothing worse than pikachu. Except maybe... no. Nothing.
I've been using on for making music. If you want to, you can check it out at my home page.
I'm a little shocked this kind of thing is considered news. That aside, there are certainly better sites to bring up the topic.
I've never heard it referred to as "hacking" (though I suppose it's quite appropriate) or case modding, but circuit bending toy keyboards has been commonplace for years, particularly in experimental music. Noteworthy circuit-benders include Not Breathing, Skincage, Dead Voices On Air, Chris and Cosey, and manymanymany others. I'm even picking up the tools to start doing it, likely for tweaking the hell out of a speak and music.
Anyway. For people more interested in the nitty-gritty elements of this, rather than this lacking article, check out the following:
http://www.anti-theory.com/soundart/circuitbend - reed ghazala's excellent circuit-bending tutorials.
http://www.anti-theory.com/mainpage - anti-theory workshops.
http://www.oddmusic.com - lots of bizarre and exotic instruments, plus a special gallery of circuit-bent toys. most instruments have sound samples available.
http://www.acmeengineering.net/obnoxicator.html - well, it's not a toy keyboard..but who could resist a modified megaphone outfitted with fx pedals? loooove the obnoxicator.
http://www.carrionsound.com - dave wright/not breathing's site o' circuit bending goodness. plenty of sounds, pictures, and other happy things.
A little more meat next time, eh guys?
Can anybody out there shed any light on this, or is it just some urban legend?
Now I must go and buy CDs.
Q. Reed Ghazala. Speak 'n Spells, Math 'n Spells, crazy instruments designed to mimic all possible insect sounds... and so much more. The man is a genius and only charges Bench Rate to build one for you (or, at least he used to)! He's from Ohio! He's had his works in the Whitney in NYC!
http://www.oddmusic.com/illogic/
Charmed, I'm sure.
Great. If Thom Yorke got his hands on those MP3s, we can expect "Kid B" to consist of nothing but modified Speak&Spell sounds.
So there's these odd bleeps and hisses, and everybody really likes it? Well then there must be a ton of Aphex Twin fans here.
Our lord and master that is Alec Empire (Atari Teenage Riot fame) made a nice release a few years ago on the Digital Hardcore label. This involved butchering a gameboy and seeing what sound he could get it to make. If only more gameboy games sounded like some of the stuff created there.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
This guy has been doing these mods for a few years now. He has lots of nice pics on his site. http://www.carrionsound.com/mod.htm No, it aint my site.
I guess he is going to do Speak & Math next! Woohoo! I thought I was the only kid on the planet who ever had one of these. Plus, it sucked more simply because it had a membrane keypad rather than the nice push-button-type-thingies. These things so infiltrated my inner being that I sometimes still quote S&S: "You are RIGHT! Next, try..."
What great memories, I think!
They seem to make enough of this crazy noise on their own without the help of a Speak and Spell.
I have friends that have been modding speak & spells for quite a few years now. Basically the same stuff, some more advanced.
I mean eh... this is obviously R2D2 screaming "Let me the hell out of this machine!".
FRA: STFU GTFO
From "schematic.htm":
And so on..
I stole this sig from someone cleverer than me.
I'm taking bets on how long before the DMCA is invoked against him!
...on their "Computer World" album. The tones heard at the start of "Home Computer" are from the TI Speak & Spell game.
Chip H.
There is an album by Experimental Audio Research (Sonic Book in his post-Spacemen 3 days) that came out in 2000, called Data Rape - composed and performed entirely on circuit-bent Speak and Spells. I had the chance to see Mr. Boom on his tour in Pittsburgh that year, but didn't stay through too much of the performance, unfortunately. As I recall, the machines were modified by somebody else and not by Sonic Boom (anybody have that information?).
.sig it up, fuckers!
tcpa SUX!!!!