---
license: cc0-1.0
language:
- sq
base_model:
- rhasspy/piper-voices
library_name: piper
tags:
- text-to-speech
- tts
- onnx
- albanian
- shqip
---

# Albanian (sq) TTS Voice for Piper

This repository contains a high-quality Albanian (Shqip) Text-to-Speech (TTS) model in `.onnx` format. This model is optimized for [Piper](https://github.com/rhasspy/piper), a fast, local neural text-to-speech engine.

## Author
This model was developed/contributed by **Edon Sekiraqa**.  
If you find this model useful, feel free to give it a ⭐️ on Hugging Face!

## Model Details
- **Language:** Albanian (sq)
- **Locale:** sq_AL
- **Format:** ONNX
- **Library:** Piper
- **License:** Creative Commons (CC)
- **Base Model:** rhasspy/piper-voices

## Installation

To use this model, download both the `.onnx` file and the corresponding `.onnx.json` config file. Piper requires both files to be in the same directory to function correctly.

## Usage

### Command Line Interface (CLI)
After [installing Piper](https://github.com/rhasspy/piper#installation), you can generate audio using the following command:

```bash
echo "Përshëndetje, ky është një zë i krijuar me inteligjencë artificiale." | \
  ./piper --model your_model_name.onnx --output_file output.wav
```

Python API
You can also use this model within a Python environment:

Python

```bash
import subprocess

def synthesize_albanian(text, model_path, output_path):
    command = f"echo '{text}' | piper --model {model_path} --output_file {output_path}"
    subprocess.run(command, shell=True)

synthesize_albanian("Si jeni sot?", "sq_AL-model.onnx", "test.wav")
```

Features
Low Latency: Optimized for real-time synthesis even on low-end hardware (Raspberry Pi, etc.).
Small Footprint: The ONNX format ensures the model is compact and portable.
Natural Phonemes: Specifically tuned for Albanian phonology and characters like ë and ç.

Files
sq_AL-medium.onnx: The core model weights.

sq_AL-medium.onnx.json: Configuration, phoneme map, and synthesis settings.

Disclaimer: This model is provided "as-is". Please ensure you credit the original rhasspy/piper-voices project if you redistribute this work.