Balabolka Command Line Utility

The utility differs from the desktop application in that it contains no graphical user interface and works only from the command line. This is useful to integrate the Text-To-Speech process to other applications, for example.

Benefits of the command line utility: No installation required. Compact. Flexible and easy to use. Low system requirements. Microsoft Speech API 4 and 5 support.

Download Balabolka (Command Line Utility)

The utility handles various command line parameters to be able to read text aloud or save as an audio file. The command line options use the syntax "balcon [options ...]", all parameters must be separated by a space. Options can appear in any order on the command line so long as they are paired with their related parameters. All parameters are not case sensitive. Use the "balcon -?" command line to get help on the command line syntax and parameters.

-l

Prints the list of available voices.

-g

Prints the list of available audio output devices.

-f file_name

Sets the name of the input text file. The command line may contain few options -f. If the input data is a subtitle file, the content of the file will be converted to speech based on time intervals. The subtitle format will be determined by the extension of the file name or by the option --sub-format.

-fl file_name

Sets the name of the text file with the list of input files (one file name per line). The command line may contain few options -fl.

-w wave_file

Sets the name of the output file in WAV format. If the option is specified, an audio file will be created. Otherwise, text will be read aloud.

-n voice_name

Sets the voice name (the part of the name will be enough). If the option is not specified, the voice, defined by the option -id, or the default voice of Windows will be used.

-id integer

Sets Language ID for the voice. Language ID is the language code assigned by Microsoft (for example, "1033" or "0x0409" for "English - United States"). The program will choose the first voice with specified Language ID from the list of voices. If the option is not specified, the voice, defined by the option -n, or the default voice of Windows will be used.

-m

Prints the parameters of the voice.

-b integer

Sets the audio output device by its index. The index of the default audio device is 0.

-r text

Sets the audio output device by its name.

-c

Gets the text input from the clipboard.

-t text_line

Gets the text input from the command line.

-i

Gets the text input from STDIN.

-o

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: writes sound data to STDOUT.
If the option is specified, the option -w is ignored.

-s integer

SAPI 4: sets the speed in a range of 0 to 100 (no default value).
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the speed in a range of -10 to 10 (the default is 0).

-p integer

SAPI 4: sets the pitch in a range of 0 to 100 (no default value).
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the pitch in a range of -10 to 10 (the default is 0).

-v integer

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the volume in a range of 0 to 100 (the default is 100).

-e integer

Sets the length of pauses between sentences (in milliseconds). The default is 0.

-a integer

Sets the length of pauses between paragraphs (in milliseconds). The default is 0.

-d file_name

Uses a dictionary for pronunciation correction (*.BXD, *.REX or *.DIC). The command line may contain few options -d.

-k

Kills other copies of the application in the computer's memory.

-ka

Kills the active copy of the application in the computer's memory.

-pr

Make pause or resume reading aloud by the active copy of the application. The action is the same as for the context menu item "Pause"/"Resume".

-q

Adds the utility to a queue. The application will wait until other copies of the utility have finished.

-lrc

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: creates the LRC file (a file format that synchronizes text with an audio file), if the option -w or -o is specified.

-srt

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: creates the SRT file (SubRip text file format), if the option -w or -o is specified.

-vs file_name

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the name of output text file with visemes, if the option -w is specified. A viseme is the mouth shape that corresponds to a particular speech sound. SAPI supports the list of 21 visemes. This list is based on the original Disney visemes. The application will create the audio file and then read it aloud to get visemes and their timecodes.

-sub

Text will be processed as subtitles.
The option may be useful, when the options -i or -c are specified.

-tray

Shows the application's icon in the system tray. This allows to view the progress of the task. The context menu item "Stop" can be used to stop the process.

-ln integer

Selects a line from the text file by using of a line number. The line numbering starts at "1". The interval of numbers can be used for selecting of more than one line (for example, "26-34"). The command line may contain few options -ln.

-fr integer

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the output audio sampling frequency in kHz (8, 11, 12, 16, 22, 24, 32, 44, 48). If the option is not specified, the default value for the selected voice will be used.

-bt integer

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the output audio bit depth (8 or 16). If the option is not specified, the default value for the selected voice will be used.

-ch integer

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the output audio channel mode (1 or 2). If the option is not specified, the default value for the selected voice will be used.

-dp

Display progress information in a console window.

-cfg file_name

Sets the name of the configuration file with the command line options (a text file where each line contains one option). If the option is not specified, the file balcon.cfg in the same folder as the utility will be used.

-h

Prints the list of available command line options.

--encoding encoding or -enc encoding

Sets the input text encoding ("ansi", "utf8" or "unicode"). If the option is not specified, the utility will detect the text encoding.

--silence-begin integer or -sb integer

Sets the length of silence at the beginning of the audio file (in milliseconds). The default is 0.

--silence-end integer or -se integer

Sets the length of silence at the end of the audio file (in milliseconds). The default is 0.

--lrc-length integer

Sets the maximal length of text lines for the LRC file (in characters).

--lrc-fname file_name

Sets the name of the LRC file. The option may be useful, when the option -o is specified.

--lrc-enc encoding

Sets the encoding for the LRC file ("ansi", "utf8" or "unicode"). The default is "ansi".

--lrc-offset integer

Sets the time shift for the LRC file (in milliseconds).

--lrc-artist text

Sets the ID tag for the LRC file: artist.

--lrc-album text

Sets the ID tag for the LRC file: album.

--lrc-title text

Sets the ID tag for the LRC file: title.

--lrc-author text

Sets the ID tag for the LRC file: author.

--lrc-creator text

Sets the ID tag for the LRC file: creator of the LRC file.

--lrc-sent

Inserts blank lines after sentences when creating the LRC file.

--lrc-para

Inserts blank lines after paragraphs when creating the LRC file.

--srt-length integer

Sets the maximal length of text lines for the SRT file (in characters).

--srt-fname file_name

Sets the name of the SRT file. The option may be useful, when the option -o is specified.

--srt-enc encoding

Sets the encoding for the SRT file ("ansi", "utf8" or "unicode"). The default is "ansi".

--raw

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: output is raw PCM; audio data does not contain the WAV header. The option is used together with the option -o.

--ignore-length or -il

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: omits the length of data in the WAV header. The option is used together with the option -o.

--sub-format text

Sets the format of subtitles ("srt", "lrc", "ssa", "ass", "smi" or "vtt"). If the option is not specified, the format will be determined through the file extension.

--sub-fit or -sf

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: automatically increases the speed to fit time intervals (when the program converts subtitles to audio file). The application increments the speech rate value step by step, checking whether the text fits within the given time interval or not.

--sub-fit-lib or -sfl

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: automatically increases the speed to fit time intervals (when the program converts subtitles to audio file). The SoundTouch library will be used for changing tempo.

--sub-max integer or -sm integer

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the maximal speed of speech in a range of -10 to 10 (when the program converts subtitles to audio file). If SoundTouch library is used, the range must be from 110% to 200%.

--delete-file or -df

Removes the text file, when job is done. The option is used together with the option -f.

--ignore-square-brackets or -isb

Ignore text in [square brackets].

--ignore-curly-brackets or -icb

Ignore text in {curly brackets}.

--ignore-angle-brackets or -iab

Ignore text in <angle brackets>.

--ignore-round-brackets or -irb

Ignore text in (round brackets).

--ignore-url or -iu

Ignore URLs.

--ignore-comments or -ic

Ignore comments in text. Single-line comments start with // and continue until the end of the line. Multiline comments start with /* and end with */.

--voice1-name voice_name

SAPI 4: not used.
SAPI 5 and Microsoft Speech Platform: sets the additional voice name to read foreign words in text (the part of the name will be enough). The option is used together with the option --voice1-langid. Other voices can be set by options --voice2-name, --voice3-name, etc.

--voice1-langid language_id

Sets the language ID for foreign words in text. The option is used together with the option --voice1-name. The command line may contain more than one option --voice1-langid. Also an option may contain a comma-separated list of IDs.

The list of supported language IDs is based on ISO 639-1 codes: am, ar, az, ba, bg, be, ca, cs, cu, cv, da, de, el, en, es, et, eu, fi, fil, fr, ja, he, hi, hr, hu, hy, it, gn, gu, ka, kk-Cyr, kk-Lat, kn, ko, ky, lo, lt, lv, mk, no, pl, pt, ro, ru, sk, sl, sr-Cyr, sr-Lat, sv, tg, th, tk, tr, tt, uk, zh.

--voice1-rate integer

Sets the rate for the additional voice in a range of -10 to 10 (the default is 0).

--voice1-pitch integer

Sets the pitch for the additional voice in a range of -10 to 10 (the default is 0).

--voice1-volume integer

Sets the volume for the additional voice in a range of 0 to 100 (the default is 100).

--voice1-roman

Use the default voice to read Roman numerals in text. If text with non-Latin characters contains Roman numerals, the application will not change a voice to read them.

--voice1-digit

Use the default voice to read numbers in text. If the option is not specified, the additional voice will read numbers near foreign words.

--voice1-length integer

Set the minimal length of foreign text parts that will be read by the additional voice (in characters).

Create the text file VOICE.TXT with the list of the installed voices:

balcon -l > voice.txt

View the specifications of the Microsoft Anna voice:

balcon -n "Microsoft Anna" -m

Convert text from BOOK.TXT to speech and save as BOOK.WAV:

balcon -f "d:\Text\book.txt" -w "d:\Sound\book.wav" -n Emma

Get text from the clipboard, apply rules for the pronunciation correction and read aloud:

balcon -n Callie -c -d "d:\rex\rules.rex" -d "d:\dic\rules.dic"

Read aloud text from the command line with specified rate and volume:

balcon -n Emily -t "The text will be read slowly." -s -5 -v 70

Kill other copies of the application in the computer's memory:

balcon -k

Convert text from STDIN to speech, save as BOOK.WAV and create BOOK.LRC:

balcon -w "d:\book.wav" -i -lrc --lrc-length 80 --lrc-title "The Lord of the Rings"

Read aloud English and Russian sentences by different voices:

balcon -f "d:\Text\book.txt" -n Kimberly --voice1-name Tatyana --voice1-langid ru

Convert subtitles to FILM.WAV:

balcon -f "d:\Text\film.srt" -w "d:\Sound\film.wav" -n Laura --sub-fit --sub-max 2

balcon -f "d:\Text\film.srt" -w "d:\Sound\film.wav" -n Laura --sub-fit-lib

The example of use together with LAME.EXE:

balcon -f d:\book.txt -n Heather -o --raw | lame -r -s 22.05 -m m -h - d:\book.mp3

The example of use together with OGGENC2.EXE:

balcon -f d:\book.txt -n Heather -o -il | oggenc2 --ignorelength - -o d:\book.ogg

The example of use together with WMAENCODE.EXE:

balcon -f d:\book.txt -n Heather -o -il | wmaencode - d:\book.wma --ignorelength

The command line options can be stored as a configuration file "balcon.cfg" in the same folder as the utility.

The sample configuration file:

The utility may combine options from the configuration file and the command line.

You are free to use and distribute software for noncommercial purposes. For commercial use or distribution, you need to get permission from the copyright holder.