Applying Pitch Target Model to Convert F0 Contour for Expressive Mandarin Speech Synthesis

In the paper, pitch target model is employed to represent and convert F0 contour for synthesizing an emotional Mandarin speech from a neutral speech. Compared with conventional F0 transforming methods, the proposed method converts F0 patterns described by pitch target parameters rather than F0 contours themselves, and uses Gaussian Mixture Model(GMM) and Classification and Regression Trees (CART) methods to build mapping functions for well-chosen pitch target parameters. Other prosodic parameters such as duration and intensity are also converted. Listening tests prove that these converted speeches express corresponding emotional states.