overview

klattsch began as a browser toy: type ARPABET phonemes and an old computer voice speaks them, or sings them if you give it notes. People made covers, original songs, game voices and sound effects with it, and the toy grew into an app.

The app adds text and piano-roll editing, a pitch editor for drawing intonation curves point by point or freehand, four switchable synthesis engines, MIDI import, multiple voice parts, backing tracks, direct control of the voice, and WAV and video export. It works offline on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. The browser version stays free.

The synthesis is a Klatt-style parallel-formant synthesizer, the family of the classic computer voices. klattsch contains no DECtalk code and does not try to sound human.

developer

Tony Gies

publisher

Crash United LLC

what it is

speech synthesizer, music tool, audio toy

platforms

web, Windows, macOS, Linux, Android

status

released, in active development

engine

MIT-licensed JavaScript package, with Rust and C# ports

features

• text and phonemes: ordinary text, ARPABET, or Japanese kana and romaji
• piano-roll editing with a pitch editor: curves point by point or freehand, with classic, connected, smooth or hard note transitions
• MIDI import: pick tracks, detect tempo, and turn a melody into an editable vocal line
• multiple voice parts, auditioned against an imported backing track
• direct voice control: formants, breathiness, effort, aspiration, frication, pitch movement
• lossless WAV export, and video export with a choice of visualizers
• four synthesis engines, selectable per part: the original Klatt cascade, theremez, rodetage and klattsch jr.

where to get it

The browser version is free. The app is one purchase for every platform, DRM-free, with free desktop demos on itch.io.

The Android app is also on Google Play as a free download with a 16-bar piano roll and a one-time pro unlock for longer compositions, multiple voice parts, extra engines and WAV export. Open the Play listing.

The same full package is also sold on the Humble Store, priced in local currency for European, UK, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand buyers.

media

Current first-party images at their original resolution. For a different crop, another format, an extra image or the full-resolution video file, ask for it.

copy-ready text

Starting points for listings, articles, show notes and event programs.

one sentence

klattsch is a retro speech synthesizer that talks and sings: type phonemes and a tiny computer voice from another time speaks them, or sings them.

boilerplate

klattsch is a retro speech synthesizer built on Klatt-style formant synthesis, the technique behind the classic computer voices. The free browser version lets anyone type phonemes and make the computer talk or sing. The full app for Windows, Linux, macOS and Android turns that voice into a composing tool with text and piano-roll editing, a pitch editor for singing, four synthesis engines, MIDI import, multiple voice parts, backing tracks, and WAV and video export. The synthesis engine is open source under the MIT license.

the video

take seventeen is a two-minute radio play by Tony Gies (Crash United). Every voice in it, including the narrator, is klattsch, and the music was made in Furnace.

contact

For review access, interviews, technical questions, more media, or a demonstration made for your coverage, email Tony Gies at Crash United. Include your outlet or channel, platform and deadline where useful.