Balabolka

Balabolka is a TTS (text-to-speech) application that makes use of the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI). The program’s interface is simple. Multiple texts can be imported to the window and users can switch between texts with the tabs. The rate and pitch of the speech can be manipulated with the sliders that are located above the text in the window. The voice can be changed, too. Balabolka makes use of the VBScript syntax. This is to correct pronunciations as the text is translated to speech.

The controls of the software are similar to the buttons of a media player. Users can paste text on the window and click on the ‘Read Aloud’ button that looks like a play button. The program will start reading the pasted text. The application can also be controlled by using the preset hotkeys. The synchronized text can be saved as mp3 tags in audio files. By doing this, when a file is played on a computer or multimedia player, the text also appears on the screen.

Balabolka is fully customizable and users can choose from different skins that come with the application. Users can also download additional voices with different accents from the program’s official website.