Can I use VC and Eventghost to voice control my music software?

[mikehende]

Hey guys, I am looking for a way to voice control my music player's basic functions. I use a software called OTSAV DJ which is a hybrid of a Radio automation software and DJ software. I use it to simply play back my fav playlists just anyone would do with itunes, MediaMoneky e.t.c

I had gotten help for a couple of guys from the Evenghost forum who wrote a script for this enabling me to use the Snapstream remote to contol OTSAV main controls [Play, Next track e.t.c]. Now I wish to control my music player via voice commands via Android, can VC do this in any way please? If not, anything else which might work?

[jitterjames]

Basic control of almost any program is usually possible using keyboard emulation.

Essentially you issue a voice command and VoxCommando pushes a keyboard button for you.

Of course this only works if it's possible to get the level of control you are seeking using the keyboard. That will depend on the program and on what level of control you are after.

[jitterjames]

Even better. I looked at your script that you posted at eventGhost and it appears that the software can be controlled by simple URL commands.

I can probably knock something out for you pretty quickly.

[mikehende]

Thanks but I wouldn't need some sort of app for the android phone?

What I was thinking which led me back to this forum was seeing that one can use VC to control itunes, mediamonkley "and more". What is unclear to is if VC can control those app's with voice commands from an android. If it can then I see no reason why it won't work with my media player.

[jitterjames]

sure:

 http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=VoxWav

[mikehende]

Thanks, will look indepth into the link soon as I get the chance, get back to you.

[mikehende]

Ok looking at the voxwav app, seems similar to the app I had tried last year which works over wifi and same functions.

So 2 questions for clarity please.

1] The key function I must have work efficiently with my music software is a specific tune search function, has anyone here tried it and can give feedback?

2] Would I need to get voxwav, VC and also EG all working together to get what I need out of my OTSAV DJ player or would I need to use only VC and voxwav?

[jitterjames]

1 - I don't know if this is possible with OTSAV. The script you posted on the EventGhost forum which I was able to find did not implement any such functionality. Please send us the script you have for EventGhost which does this.

2 - You probably don't need EventGhost. But I'd like an answer to 1 before I fully commit to that.

[mikehende]

The guy who had originally written the script for me he could not implement the search function to search for specific tunes in the Media Library so he only did the regular Play, stop e.t.c functions. That doesn't mean someone else can't do it.

There is another software app which can do the search with OTSAV without EG so I know it's definitely possible but with that software when I speak a tune it automatically clears the playlist. The search function searches the HDD and loads and plays the tunes so I would need to continuously keep commanding the tunes one by one, that was the issue with that app.

Also one Jarvis coder was able to write a script to to search and play from the library [playlist] too but I had many problems with the phone app's functions not being consistent at all therefore I had to abandon it.

[jitterjames]

Also one Jarvis coder was able to write a script to to search and play from the library [playlist] too but I had many problems with the phone app's functions not being consistent at all therefore I had to abandon it.

What do you mean "search and play from the library [playlist]"

What phone app?  What was not consistent?

Can you please give me a bit more of an idea of what you are trying to accomplish?  What is the usage scenario?  What type of command would you like to say and what would you expect to happen.

I doubt that anyone here has ever used OtsAV (including me) so please try not to make any assumptions about our knowledge of that program or how it works.

Where are your songs located.  How many are there?  Why are you using voice commands?  Why does it need to run on Android?  How loud is the environment you are in / the music you are playing?

[mikehende]

Oh sorry, I didn't want to give too many details about the other softwares if that would be breaking any rules here but since you asked, here's the skinny on everything then.

OTSAV DJ is the best automated mp3 player on the planet, at least for me, there is a free trial here is anyone would like to try it out: http://www.otsav.com/download-otsav-free-trial/

I have been using it for around 15 years and have always been looking for way to remotely control it and closest I have ever gotten was using the Snapstream handheld remote to control the basic play functions. The main function I was always after is to speak a command "play x song" from the playlist or ""play x song by x artist" e.t.c. My mp3 collection of 15k tunes physically resides on my laptop's internal hard drive but I need to search for and play a tune either from my playlist or even better from the music library within the OTSAV software.

My scenario is having a playlist played back with shuffle and crossfading while I am relaxing or going about my household chores but mainly when hanging out with my family/friends. Whenever I wish to hear any specific tune I would like to speak the name of the tune from wherever I may be sitting and have the song played back or speak "play next song" or "volume up/down" so I won't have to physically walk to my laptop and search and load a tune.

Having tried different ways and softwares and apps to speak a command from a distance away from my music equipment has been an ordeal with lots of headaches, trial and error and wasted money. I paid for a software called "Braina" which comes with an android app to remotely control Braina's music functions. Braina works good to control OTSAV but maybe the only issue with it is whenever I speak the name of a tune it will find and play the tune accurately but in the process it clears my existing playlist so I could not use it for that reason. I think the reason why this happens is because Braina is designed to search for play music from the hard drive and not the OTSAV playlist or library.

One of the developers from Jarvis coded a script for me to control OTSAV and utilize the search and play function which worked but the android app used to work with Jarvis would not work consistently. Sometime is would find the song and play it from my playlist or library then sometimes when I spoke the commands nothing at all happened.

I don't absolutely need to use my phone for the search and play or other functions just that using my phone always seemed to be the best option for this. Ideally I would like to simply speak the command from whenever I am but doing so would require an open mic system where crowd noise would be an issue. This is where I'm at always searching for something which might work "effectively".

[jitterjames]

We have no such rules here.  If someone appears to be here for the sole reason of spamming the forum then their account will be deleted but other than that, pretty much anything goes, within reason.  I don't have any problem talking about the "competition" because I don't believe there is any other program that can do what VoxCommando does anyway.

The short answer is that yes, I think VC can do exactly what you want.  There are a few factors which are hard to explain without spending a lot of time going into details and educating you about how different types of speech recognition work.  You are trying to automate a program that is a bit "obscure" and dated in my opinion, and that's probably partly why you've been having trouble finding a solution.  OtsWav isn't exactly set up to be automated in that way.  However VoxCommando is flexible enough that one could almost certainly adapt it to work the way you want.  This would take a fair amount of work though because one must get clever finding ways to work with the limited "API" that OtsAV offers.  The size of your library may be a bit of an issue.  Asking for songs by name AND artist creates even more strain on the system.

See: http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Large_music_libraries for some idea of what I'm talking about here.

I know, we all like to use the software we are familiar with, but I have to say, it seems like OtsAV is overkill for your usage scenario.  For managing and consuming one's personal music collection at home I think something like MediaMonkey would be much better and as a bonus it can be fully automated using VoxCommando and the existing MediaMonkey plugin.

I'm still a bit fuzzy about a couple of things.

1 - I notice on the Braina forums that you are asking about playing .ots files.  What are those?  Again, no familiarity with OtsAV here...  Here's what I found on that forum:

I want all .ots files in E:\Ots and also F:\HalloweenOts but I also have .ots files elsewhere on the hard drive that I want Braina to ignore.
and I don't want to use any .mp3 or .wav for this particular gig.

2 - Can you elaborate on what you mean by "playlist".  I know what the word means of course but specifically in this context.  Is it the "now playing" list, or some other list.  If it is the "now playing" then what do you want to do, change the playback order?  I mean, it's already set to play right?  And if it's not "now playing" then where does this other playlist exist?  Is there a file with a list of songs in it on your harddrive somewhere?  Are you saying you want to specify a single song that is in some playlist, or do you want to ask to have an entire playlist added to the now playing queue?

I need to search for and play a tune either from my playlist

[mikehende]

I can see you do a lot of research like me, I appreciate that.

I am not sure why you would say OTSAV is outdated? When compared to MM, WMP, itunes and all other mp3 players OTSAV is waaay more advanced. OTSAV is a "Radio station" type software so it has advanced automatic playback features but the main reason I use it is for precision volume levelling and perfect crossfading [just like any FM radio station] which the others cannot do or as well. I like MM but problem with it is some tunes have different volume levels and frequencies variations. Being a half Radio software, OTSAV has a built-in compressor limiter so I never have to adjust either volume or bass or any frequencies.

If playing music at low volumes with MM and the others you won't notice much of a difference but when playing at loud volumes and especially on heavy equipment, this definitely becomes an issue, needless to say when using heavy bass. So those are my reasons for using OTSAV over the others for automated playback. For remote functionality OTSAV has a RAC [Remote Access Server] which is what enables EG and other 3rd party softwares to work with it.

Regarding Braina and the ots files. I have certain files native to otsav on the hard drive so that is what I was trying to include but not necessary as I have those same files as regular mp3's on the hard drive too.

Reason why I say "play x song by x artist" as an option is because some tunes have the exact same names but I can get by without that command if VC can't do it although I don;t see why not since both Jarvis and Braina can do it? Also the size of the mp3 collection is not an issue with those two softwares.

By Playlist I mean that I have created many different playlists of my fav tunes from the software's music library [songs I have imported into the OTSAV's Media Library from the hard drive]. So depending on my mood I will load a particular playlist into the Playlist window and OTSAV will play and shuffle only from within that playlist of tunes. Now when I wish to hear a particular tune either from within the current playlist or from the media library I want to speak the name of the tune and either have it play right now or set as next in line to be played. So no, I do not wish to load any other playlist, only the requested tune.

Hope I have accurately addressed every item you have mentioned but please feel free to ask anything at all, thanks.

[mikehende]

The short answer is that yes, I think VC can do exactly what you want. 

Ok, I am willing to try if it can be done with trial versions of VC and woxwav, can you link me to instructions for this to work with OTSAV please?

[jitterjames]

I can engineer a fully functional custom solution to work with OtsAV for you for only $350.  Canadian.

[mikehende]

Appreciate the offer but that's waaaay out of my budget but I can get it done from Braina's support for less and I have already paid for their license. Also as mentioned braina works fine, it's only the specific tune replacing the playlist issue I would need to pay for.

I was looking into if I could try VC and get this done myself or maybe with a little paid help.

[jitterjames]

No problem.

Yes you can learn to use VoxCommando and get it to work with OtsAV yourself but it won't be a plug and play solution.  You will have to invest a lot of time to figure it out on your own.  I did not think that this was what you were looking to do.

Or you can continue to use Braina.  I got the impression that was not working out for you but maybe there is something they can do to improve the experience.  After all their license costs more than 7 times as much as VoxCommando so that program must be WAY better than VC right?

You can evaluate and learn to use VC for free and everything you need is on this website.  If you get stuck along the way and have specific questions that are not already answered in the Wiki or on this Forum then we will be happy to help.

I'm happy either way.  Good luck with whatever you chose to do.

Regarding the fee for my time to develop a solution for you, this would be a one time fee and after that I would make the solution freely available to all so you if you find others who are also interested, you could share the cost with them.

[mikehende]

Thanks for understanding my situation, I am not cheap but just low budget. Yes you read my situation accurately, I  would definitely pay someone to do it for me if I could afford it since am not a coder.

I think I will try 2 things, to see how far I might get with VC and voxwav so I can see if it can work with the same speed and efficiency as Braina. Meantime asking around my circles to see if anyone would like to join in so we could split the fee, that's a great idea, thanks.

[jitterjames]

Let me know when you are up and running and I can give you the simple commands like play, pause, next, etc.

[mikehende]

Thank you. I wrote to braina support again this time trying to explain things better, let me see what they will say.

I am seeing this as a minor fix, braina only needs to point to OTSAV's media library instead of the hard drive, that is all but I am not a coder so I won't know how easy or difficult it would be.

[mikehende]

I installed VC but first doing some reading and research I found your video here:

Yes James that is close to my scenario only I would be sippin on a beer instead of OJ unless that was a screwdriver?
I guess you were using a mic on the laptop, I had looked into a lapel type mic which pins to your shirt but one would need to walk around with a mic receiver or battery pack.

The woman had asked you if you can search for specific songs and you had said it's "iffy"?

[jitterjames]

That video is almost ten years old!
 

Oh my god. Have I been doing this for almost a decade?

    

Things have changed a little bit since then...

[mikehende]

Well, that explains that. Nice background surroundings though. I has also looked at a video of you indoors speaking the phone commands, seems similar speed and effectiveness as braina.

[jitterjames]

It probably uses the same basic engine for recognition but the implementation is very very different.

[Kalle]

We have also tested a lot of microphones - our latest test is here if you search for a wireless wearable mic.


http://voxcommando.com/forum/index.php?topic=2811.msg24005#msg24005


@james: wow - round about 10 years are past very fast - We can repeat this scenario in a few weeks with all our new equipment - then you can see the progress of the last years. 


Kalle

[mikehende]

Thanks for the link and info Kalle, how effective is that mic system when you are among people and with the music playing loudly?

[jitterjames]

I don't think Kalle ever listens to very loud music.

In general, no matter what microphone you use if you have very loud music it is going to be an issue unless you use "audio ducking" and have the mic quite close to your mouth so that the sensitivity of the mic can be quite low.

With something like VoxWav or an Amulet remote you can get both of these features and the microphone is not always on so it's unlikely to give you a lot of false positives when you are not trying to issue voice commands.

[mikehende]

Makes sense. I had thought if one could use a code word to tell the system when to listen for your command and when to turn off then this might cut down on it picking up anything in the background?

Also before I experiment with VC and voxwav, can you confirm which player you use and if you are able to have a playlist run continuously and if you can call up a specific tune from your entire library and have it either play now or play next please?

[Kalle]

I think VoxWav is exactly for what you looking for.
VoxWav can ducking the music automatically and you have also the option in the „VoxWav Pro“ Version to select alternates or a specific command from a list - really easy to use.
James is absolute right, I didn’t hear music loudly.

[mikehende]

Cool thx, nothing ventured nothing gained, will give the free versions of VC and voxwav a shot with OTSAV first.

BTW "really easy to use", those words I am wary of 

[mikehende]

Ohh, I am seeing many tutorials, any specific one you can link me to which gives instructions specifically for setting up VC with a music player please?

[jitterjames]

Makes sense. I had thought if one could use a code word to tell the system when to listen for your command and when to turn off then this might cut down on it picking up anything in the background?

These are standard features, but it's not really enough to make using an open mic feasible in a loud environment, in my opinion.

Also before I experiment with VC and voxwav, can you confirm which player you use and if you are able to have a playlist run continuously and if you can call up a specific tune from your entire library and have it either play now or play next please?

I use MediaMonkey, but you can use iTunes, Kodi, JRiverMedia center.  Functionality will vary depending on the program.

MediaMonkey has an option to play a song next instead of now but it seems to queue the requested song at the end of the playlist, rather than the beginning.  I can take a look at the MediaMonkey plugin to see if this can be fixed because that's not really how it should work ideally.

Getting a song to play next on OtsWav is relatively straightforward assuming you know the ID number that OtsAV has assigned to that particular song.

[mikehende]

These are standard features, but it's not really enough to make using an open mic feasible in a loud environment, in my opinion.

Getting a song to play next on OtsWav is relatively straightforward assuming you know the ID number that OtsAV has assigned to that particular song.

I wouldn't attempt using an open mic like on a dance floor being in between people. My scenario is like that in your video outdoors in my yard only picture it with a few people sitting around us chatting and listening to music.

So any specific tutorial for me setting up VC with MM? I can try that first to learn the process then try with OTSAV.

[nime5ter]

The installation help page on the wiki provides links to setting up specific configurations, including MediaMonkey.

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation

There is no video tutorial specifically for the MediaMonkey configuration.

The video tutorials index of the wiki may still be helpful:
http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Video_Tutorials

[jitterjames]

VoxCommando is designed to work with MediaMonkey, not OtsAV.  So "learn the process then try with OTSAV" does not really make sense.

But using MediaMonkey is a good place to start if you want to get familiar with VC and test microphones etc.

[mikehende]

The installation help page on the wiki provides links to setting up specific configurations, including MediaMonkey.

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation

There is no video tutorial specifically for the MediaMonkey configuration.

The video tutorials index of the wiki may still be helpful:
http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Video_Tutorials

Thx. Hmnn, attempting this from this tutorial:

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation_MediaMonkey

With MM open as Administrator and clicking on "Gen MediaMonkey", nothing is happening? The other tool menu functions are working as can be seen.

[jitterjames]

It might just seem like nothing is happening if you do not have the history window open.

Also, did you scan (import) all your songs to MediaMonkey first?

[jitterjames]

Actually "play next" seems to work fine in MediaMonkey.  NOt sure what I was doing wrong before.

Here's a very quick demo of that behaviour:

https://youtu.be/bi7RGVb7hNc

[mikehende]

MM always has my library and a playlist loaded and ready when opened. I have to leave for work now so will need to continue with this later, get back to you, thx.

[mikehende]

Hey guys, is there something I can click on in the vox window to activate the Play, Next track e.t.c functions in MM please?

[jitterjames]

I'm guessing that the first image is from the Wiki and is not what yours looks like?

It looks like you did not follow the setup instructions in the link we sent you.
http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Default_VoxCommando_Configurations
You did not follow step 3.

What is odd is that you said you clicked "Gen MediaMonkey" but that doesn't seem possible because it looks like you selected the blank configuration so that menu option would not be visible to you.

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Default_VoxCommando_Configurations

You can click File > Apply Standard Configuration, then select English / MediaMonkey.zip (note that this will overwrite your current configuration, but in your case it does not matter).

[mikehende]

It looks like you did not follow the set instructions in the link we sent you.
http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Default_VoxCommando_Configurations
You did not follow step 3.

You can click File > Apply Standard Configuration, then select English / MediaMonkey.zip (note that this will overwrite your current configuration, but in your case it does not matter).

I seem to be missing something here, I don;t know what the step 3 is in that link. Applied the standard config as stated above. To test MM I am looking for a play button in VC and can;t find any and also spoke Music Play into my USB Mic but nothing. Sorry for the trouble but as mentioned I knew this won;t be easy for me.

I do understand now what you had said earlier though. VC is designer for MM but for OTSAV it will need specialized coding, makes sense.

[jitterjames]

Indeed.  It might not be possible to help you.

What are those images that you posted supposed to show?

[jitterjames]

Step 3 from these instructions:

http://voxcommando.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Installation_MediaMonkey

Start a fresh copy of VoxCommando and select one of the available MediaMonkey configurations when prompted.