Sound Typist
A downloadable keyboard utility for Windows
This app adds responsive audio feedback to your keystrokes, for a better typing experience.
Choose from 20 different sets of sounds to make your keystrokes have the desired audio/emotional impact, including:
- Typewriter/mechanical keyboard sounds for a crisper, more responsive typing experience
- Applause or clapping sounds as you type, for motivation and support
- Monstrous growling keystroke sounds to help you express your rage
- Cute squeaking sounds to make you smile
- Melodic or dissonant keystrokes on Marimbas, Vibraphones, or Grand Piano to give your typing some atmosphere
- Gory blood-splatter sounds for typing/coding up a massacre
- Firework sounds for celebratory typing
- Burping keystrokes, obviously a core requirement of any typing program
The app minimizes to the system tray (lower right part of your screen). Click the Sound Typist icon in the system tray to change sounds, adjust volume, or exit the app.
Bluetooth Headphone/Keyboard Lag: Most Bluetooth headphones/earbuds and Bluetooth keyboards have latency/lag that may make the keystroke sounds feel less responsive. This is compounded if you're using both Bluetooth keyboards AND true wireless Bluetooth earbuds because of Bluetooth latency. Depending on your sensitivity, this may or may not matter. Recommendation: use wired speakers, wired headphones, wired keyboards, or low latency Bluetooth headphones (with apt-x low latency, or "gaming mode").
Installation Note: You may need to right-click the setup.exe and use the "Run as Administrator" option to install. If you are still having issues, try changing the "Reputation-based protection" settings in Windows to turn off "Check apps and files" and "Potentially unwanted app blocking". This is a random file off the internet after all.
Portable Version: You can now download the portable version that doesn't use an installer. Run SoundTypist.exe to start Sound Typist. You can minimize the window to the system tray. Keep in mind that if you use the "Start at login" option, then it will not work if you move the folder's location.
Those who are interested in adding their own sounds can search the comments for tips on how to do it yourself by modifying the configuration file. It is a completely unsupported and undocumented feature, so do not expect me to answer any further questions about it.
Purchase
In order to download this keyboard utility you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $4.20 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Sound Typist - Beta v0.9.0Oct 23, 2018
Comments
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You can get very addicted to this very quickly.
I've been using this for a long time, and I just realized I should probably write a review. This program is simultaneously the bane of my existence (I almost always leave it running on my laptop, and during class I'll often start typing- not notice that it's running out loud because i'm so used to it, only to realize my frantic note taking is extremely distracting to those around me) and my savior (it makes it so much easier for me to be able to type. The instant feedback of knowing I actually hit a button is such a good accessibility feature that it's kind of messed up that this program isn't built into windows.)
I love this extremely lightweight program and I love that it hides in my taskbar for easy access at any given time.
Hey I got this a while back in the bundle for Ukraine and I gotta thank you. My uni essays would not have been finished without the bell typewriter motivating me to finish a paragraph to hear that satisfying ding! 10/10
This is one of the dumbest things I've ever seen, and I love it. For some reason, my wife loves it too. I think it's because when I'm working on my computer she can still feel that I'm present because of the typing noise, even if I'm zoned in on working on things.
Cheaper than a mechanical keyboard, too!
Hi! I'm not sure if you're still responding to the comments, but I was wondering if there's any way to change how the code functions so that instead of going to the next "progression" when the enter key is hit, it instead goes to the next "progression" after any key press? I was trying to write a cheeky little addition to the audiosets to add a song that would play over the course of several keypresses but I couldn't quite figure out if there's an actual way to do that.
There's no way to do that currently - the progressions are hardcoded to the enter/return key. But I'll keep this in mind for the next release.
I hadn't given much thought about what seemed to be more of a gadget than anything else, but the Bell typewriter set really gave me a smile.
thank you once again for making this. having these extra clicky sounds brightens every day.
using the bell typwriter. pressing enter is so satisfying
The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable on Windows 11 with the v1.0.0 sadly :'(
Could it be an bigger underlying issue with your storage device or system (please see here)? Or a glitch in the downloading? Did you extract the zip to a folder before running it?
Try (re)downloading, unzipping, and running the portable non-installer version to see if it works. Make sure the .NET framework 4.7.1 is installed (should be already installed, but you can try downloading/installing it again here).
If it is still happening or you need further assistance, then please send me all info that you think could be helpful, including what exactly you have tried, screenshots of the error message, anything peculiar with your system setup, etc.
I must say, I've had this turned on on the "melodic marimba" sound since March of last year and not only do I love it, I've also completely 'forgot' it was part of my daily experience until I thought about it again. The sounds have become natural which is probably a huge plus lol.
Very evocative + super effective. Nice to be able to indulge in some ASMR while still getting work done.
Typing without it seems... like something I won't be doing much of anymore.
Thank you for the free serotonin that is this app. I'm literally never going to uninstall lmao.
Can you add the ability to set a hotkey for pause/resume?
omg I want this for Mac
4.20$
nice
can u add sans
what is sans?
They're a popular Undertale character whose "voice" sounds like this.
Amazing program, btw!
the program ALL writers need
Sound Typist is amazing... But I have a question about the "keyOverrides" var. I can't seem to set it up in a way for it to play a random sound as opposed to a singular set sound. Is this possible to do? Or not yet?
Anyone gotten an error after trying to do the custom sound trick?
I did exactly as the comments suggested, but come up with a long error that includes "After parsing a value an unexpected character was encountered..."
I literally copied and pasted existing code and then just changed the names of the sounds, so I'm not sure what's gone wrong here. Any help would be much appreciated since I'm no code monkey :P
does this work on windows 11
i am using windows 11 and it works for me
Works great for me.
~ Typed with Sound Typist on Win11
maby a weird question, but do you know how to change the icon on windows.
the standard way of rightcick>properties does not work
this is very cute hehe
This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen and I love it.
this makes typing so much more satisfying! cool addition to my typing experience that i didn't know i needed
really love this. would love a combination of the "clicky" and the "bell typwriter"
because while i prefer clicky. the enter key does not seem to make any sound at all
and the typwriter is a bit high toned for me
thank you so much for making this, it is great background noise, that keeps me focused
If you scan some of the earlier comments, there are notes on how you can customize the sound configuration file yourself, or add/replace the sounds. Changing the pitch range for keys is very simple too in the sound configuration file. This feature is not officially supported/documented though, so you'll need to do your own legwork on this.
How do I turn it off? I downloaded and selected start at login. Then I tried to open the application and it did not open. So then I tried to uninstall, but it didn't remove the files. Then I deleted them manually but I still get the sounds. Then I tried to reinstall, but it won't let me. I like the app, but now I have no control over when it's on!! Please help and thanks!!!
Sound Typist lives in the taskbar's system tray in Windows. Depending on your Windows settings, you may be hiding the system tray icons (Right click the taskbar, Taskbar Settings, and Select which icons appear in the taskbar). Make sure Sound Typist's system tray icon is visible if you want to access it, turn it on/off, change the sound/volume.
Right click it to show the popup menu. Click "Quit". To remove it from starting at login, toggle the "Start Sound Typist at Login".
There's no uninstaller, so to delete it manually, you'll need to find where the installer installs it, probably somewhere under "C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\
You an also grab the portable version, place that wherever you want, and turn on/off the start at login through that.
Thank you very much. This is helpful (or would have been) but I had already deleted the files that were installed. So I'm 'stuck' with the sounds even though I no longer have sound typist installed. When I try to reinstall, I get errors. Below is the initial error report in case that's helpful.
ERROR SUMMARY
Below is a summary of the errors, details of these errors are listed later in the log.
* Activation of C:\Users\(my username)\(...)SoundTypist.application resulted in exception. Following failure messages were detected:
+ Exception occurred during store operation.
+ The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80070020)
Also, in your README you state ' Settings are now saved to the registry rather than to a settings file, for compatibilty with the start at login option.'
Would this mean that the app edited my registry and so I need to find where and change it?
Try this:
1. Open up the Windows Task Manager (Ctrl-alt-delete -> Task Manager).
2. In the processes, find Sound Typist, right click -> End Task, and wait a moment for it to die.
3. Download and run the PORTABLE version.
4. With the systray icon (or if the orange app window comes up), toggle the Start Sound Typist at Login OFF, ON, OFF to make sure it turns it off.
5. Reboot, and it should no longer turn on.
Alternatively, the registry settings are here:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\SoundTypist\SoundTypist
- You'll want to set hidden to False so that it shows the orange app window, and startOnLogin to false also.
You shouldn't need to do this, but to manually remove it from starting at login, edit this registry:
Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- Delete the SoundTypist entry in that registry
Thank you for the detailed instructions. If I had been more patient, I could try them out. However, I ended up doing a system restore to a date prior to install. I will plan to install the portable version instead. Hopefully, this will be helpful to others in the future if they run into similar issues. Cheers!
This is going to sound absolutely crazy but I love the sound of keyboards and typewriters, it's a very good auditory stim for my ADHD.
To the extent that I even considered buying a mechanical keyboard to plug into my laptop.
This software is MUCH cheaper than that and now typing up stories and D&D campaign notes and essays and such is MUCH easier because my brain is constantly being rewarded with good stims!
I'm so extremely happy with this and would recommend it to anyone else with similar needs.
an absolute delight and i've also been messing around a bit with it in code, and i was wondering if you happen to know if its possible to add sounds to a combination of buttons, like Ctrl + S for example
I'm glad you're having fun with it! There's no way to set sounds to a combination of buttons (e.g. CTRL+S) by modifying the unsupported, undocumented AudioSets.json sound configuration file, but here's a potential solution you might want to explore for key combo stuff in general:
1. Download and install AutoHotKey: https://www.autohotkey.com/, which lets you define special actions and macros that happen for key combinations, or redefine keys. It's very powerful.
2. Create an AutoHotKey script that plays a sound file or beep when a specific multi-key combo is pressed. (See the SoundPlay command and SoundBeep).
You'd add something like this following line to your AutoHotKey script to make it do a low beep when ctrl+s is pressed:
~^s::SoundBeep,100,10
definitly looks worth playing around with, i'll check it out for sure!
I wana use this program so much but i just cant. My keybord is super loud alone. :/
I love this for the same reason I shopped for a laptop with the criteria including a keyboard that made a satisfying clicking sound with every key press.
App that works perfectly ! The sounds are very interesting ? Is there a way to uninstall it ?
Great! To uninstall, you'll have to uninstall it manually for now:
1. Make sure the "Start Sound Typist At Login" option is turned off.
2. Shut down Sound Typist by right clicking the Sound Typist systray icon (if it is started), and selecting Quit in the popup.
3. Then delete the app, which should be somewhere under "C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\".
4. Delete it from your start menu if it is there: "C:\Users\(your user name)\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Sound Typist".
Very good app, thanks for the effort!
this is great i've been enjoying it a lot :) may i ask where the sound effects are from? if they're game assets i would love to use them in my game
Garage Band, FreeSound, Soniss GDC Game Audio Bundle, and UniversalSoundFX,
This is awesome! Thanks for making this :)
I love this so much, I use it in my windows VM! Will it be ported to MacOS??
No MacOS port. That is a completely different technology.
It seems to work (as far as I assume) in Linux using a program called Wine that runs EXEs. Presumably would work on Mac in the same way.
I did try to run it with Wineskin Winery and creating a wrapper for it, but it only shows up in the system tray for about a second and then disappears
after doing another attempt, it's not launching at all because it needs dotnet 4.7.1 and winetricks is not behaving
Typing this comment using Sound Typist :)
I love it so much !!! The sounds are very satisfiying and some are hilarious xD (i love the cheering and clapping ones)
Thank you for this app :DD
Does this have a setting to only play the sounds during certain keystrokes, instead of all of them? I'm glad I got this, it sounds awesome and I'm eager to try, but I can already anticipate that it might be a bit of an overload for my brain.
I would like to have it play only for vowels (so about half of my typing, maybe less), or maybe, if even that was too much sound to deal with, maybe only on punctuation marks or only on capital letters or only on the return (yay, you finished a paragraph!).
Even better if there were a field I could type in the specific letters or combos it'd make noise for (e.g. maybe it's a VW kinda day, or maybe I'm trying to type something without the letter E, or maybe I just want booing sounds when I start to type the villain's name).
Officially, there's no way to do that. But unofficially, and completely unsupported, you could totally modify the AudioSets.json configuration file and have different sounds for different keys. See one of my responses in the previous comments for more info about doing that.
In the AudioSets.json file, look for "Bell Typewriter" and see how the specific key overrides are done for the Enter key. You could use that same means to override any other keyboard key. The names of the keys are listed here, but not all the rarer keys are available.
Just keep in mind that it is a completely unsupported and undocumented feature, and I'm not interested in spending time formally documenting the configuration file and answering further questions about it.
That's fair. Thank you for letting me know where I might start looking!
Thank you so much ! I have a lot of problem staying focus and sound when typing help me a lot.
Weird, weird question- will this support custom noises in the future?
You can actually add sound files yourself and add them to the configuration if you know or learn the simple JSON (Javascript object notation) format.
1. The sound configurations are stored in a text file called "AudioSets.json". I don't know where exactly windows will install Sound Typist on everyone's machine - you'll have to do a search for it. For me, the file is in this folder: C:\Users\andyman\AppData\Local\Apps\2.0\6QE5LO12.B0J\008MWQOZ.NEW\soun..tion_c6713391293800bd_0001.0000_8fb2cfcc9f0f3a91\Resources
For the portable version, it is the Resources folder.
2. Copy your audio files (.wav format) to the Sounds/Misc subfolder under the Resources folder. Make sure they're named very simply and have no spaces for funky punctuation in them. You can get lots of sounds at freesound.org. If you can edit audio files (i.e. using Audacity), make sure you remove any silence in the beginning of the audio file first to increase responsiveness.
3. Edit AudioSets.json in a text/code editor. You can copy one of the blocks of text in there for the existing sounds, and customize it with the filenames of your own sounds, and the name & title. You can also adjust the min/max volume and pitch for some random variation.
4. Quit and restart Sound Typist, and your sounds should show up in the choices. Alternatively, if you don't want to edit the AudioSets.json, you can simply replace any of the existing .wav files with your own .wav files.
omg. thank you for specifically saying how to add it. I do not know that code lol. But I can figure it out! :D
makes typing twice as fun, would definitely recommend
portable version + burping keystrokes + public access computer = win
hahahahahahaha