Audio Bible kit

Sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I have a friend who is in dialysis three times a week for many hours. He was really excited about his new Iphone so I worked up an audio bible for him. Here's how to do it. (PC only)

You'll need:
1. Text of a bible- I used the ESV- you can obtain it by downloading the free program e-sword (Link is on this page).
2. 2nd Speech center. It is NOT a free program, but worth every penny.
3. A "voice" installed to read the speech using 2nd Speech center. I use several of the voices available- they do have a cost (Such as Cepstral Lawrence), but again, it is worth it.
4. SAPI- this is the engine that drives the text-to-speech. You can download it here.

Install everything.

How to create the audio bible:
1. Using e-sword select the book/chapter that you want.
2. Copy the text- in e-sword you can select the range of verses that you want. Select the verses that you want and copy. You also can select the format the text will be in; i.e., with verse numbers, straight text, etc.
3. (Optional- use your word processor and paste the text into a new file. Save it)
4. 2nd Speech Center will automatically pop a window up asking if you want to paste the copied text into a new file. Select New.
5. Use the settings in 2nd Speech center to save the file as an mp3 or format that you want to use- I use the mp3 so that I can download it to my Iphone.
6. Click "read to mp3."
7. Then download the mp3 to your device.

Tips:
1. You will have to teach 2nd speech center how to pronounce some of the words/names.
2. I've discovered that Cepstral Lawrence, a British accent voice, has a hard time with some simple word such as "lives." Is this pronounced as "he lives" or a possessive as in "their lives." Also, if you opt for verse numbers in the text such as 1:1 it will read aloud "1 to 1."
3. To "teach" the pronunciation go to 2nd Speech center, select options, pronunciation, and in the right hand side type the word to read and a phonetic equivalent below it, then test it. You'll have to experiment here. If you can live with what is already there, then don't bother.

Enjoy driving, hiking, jogging while listening. There are things you pick up when the text is read that you don't notice when you're reading. This process sounds (!) elaborate but it really is easy. I just let things run in the background while I do other work and finished the entire bible porting the text to mp3 over two or three days.

Another advantage of e-sword is that there are several different versions available so you can listen as you please. Also, though I used Lawrence a lot, for Ruth and Ester I used a female voice. More voices are at this link.