Crafting Voice Descriptions

[Character/Role] + [Age/Demographics] + [Vocal Quality] + [Emotional State] + [Delivery Style]

Examples:
"Professional male CEO voice" + "confident and authoritative" + "measured pace"
"Wise elderly wizard" + "deep, mystical voice" + "speaks slowly" + "with gravitas"
"Excited teenage girl" + "high-pitched" + "lots of energy" + "speaking quickly"

import { MurmrClient, isSyncResponse, MurmrError } from '@murmr/sdk';

// Strategy 1: Retry with the same description (non-deterministic output)
async function designWithRetry(
  client: MurmrClient,
  description: string,
  maxAttempts = 3,
) {
  for (let attempt = 1; attempt <= maxAttempts; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await client.voices.design({
        input: "Testing this voice.",
        voice_description: description,
      });
    } catch (error) {
      if (attempt === maxAttempts) throw error;
      // Wait before retry (server may be under load)
      await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1000 * attempt));
    }
  }
}

// Strategy 2: Fall back to a saved voice if VoiceDesign fails
async function generateSpeech(
  client: MurmrClient,
  text: string,
  description: string,
  fallbackVoiceId: string,
) {
  try {
    // Try VoiceDesign first
    return await client.voices.design({ input: text, voice_description: description });
  } catch (error) {
    // Fall back to a known-good saved voice
    const result = await client.speech.create({
      input: text,
      voice: fallbackVoiceId,
      response_format: "mp3",
    });
    if (isSyncResponse(result)) {
      return Buffer.from(await result.arrayBuffer());
    }
    throw new Error("Fallback voice also failed");
  }
}

// Strategy 3: Refine vague descriptions programmatically
function refineDescription(userInput: string): string {
  const defaults = [];
  if (!/male|female|woman|man/i.test(userInput)) {
    defaults.push("female");
  }
  if (!/age|young|old|adult/i.test(userInput)) {
    defaults.push("adult");
  }
  if (!/tone|warm|bright|clear/i.test(userInput)) {
    defaults.push("warm tone");
  }
  return defaults.length > 0
    ? `${userInput}, ${defaults.join(", ")}`
    : userInput;
}