Text to speech for actors who run lines, learn parts and work with an ear prompter
Paste a scene and pick your part. Every other character is read to you in their own voice, and each of your lines becomes a silence sized to it, with a beep when it is your turn. Paste an event script instead and you get ear prompter tracks: your lines in one voice, the cues in another, a spoken count-in and one file per segment. Change a word later and only that sentence is made again.
Three recordings made with Script mode
Press play and follow the script. The line being read lights up, and when it is your line, the gap counts down. Click any line to jump to it.
You play Jonas. Maya is read to you, the stage directions in a second voice, and each of your lines is a silence sized to it, with a short beep when it is your turn.
Scene 3, the platform
Count-in321
Quick facts
- What it is
- Script mode, the third tab of the FreeTTS Studio. Paste a whole script and get audio with exact pauses, one file per track.
- Running lines
- Your scene partners are read to you, each in their own voice. Each of your lines becomes a silence sized to it: 100% to 200% of the time the voice needs to say it, plus up to 5 seconds, with a 0.15 second beep first.
- Learning a part
- Or your lines are read quietly, about 9 dB under the rest, so you can say them along.
- Ear prompter
- Your lines in one voice, cues in another. Before each track: silence, or a spoken 3, 2, 1, 5 to 1 or 10 to 1, one number a second. After it: nothing, a 1.5 second beep or a spoken “End”.
- Pauses
- After commas, sentences, paragraphs, cues and “Wait here” cues, each on its own slider. Write
(pause 2)anywhere for exactly 2 seconds. - Sounds
(beep)0.25 s,(beep 2)any length to 10 s,(ding)0.9 s,(click)0.06 s.- Fixing a word
- Only the sentence you changed is recorded again. Changing a pause, a sound or the order records nothing.
- Voices
- 22 steady English voices (US, UK, Australia, Canada) that say a sentence the same way every time.
- Files
- MP3 or WAV. One file per track, every track as MP3s in a ZIP, or one file with all the tracks.
- Price
- Pasting and timing a script is free. Making the recording is part of FreeTTS PRO, $19 a month.
Run lines with a scene partner who never gets tired
Actors have done this for years with a phone: record the other parts, leave a gap for yours, play it back. Script mode does the reading, the voices and the timing for you.
“I usually record the other person's lines and then leave a little gap for my line.”
Paste the scene
Write NAME: before each line, or paste a screenplay with the names above the lines. A line with no name is a stage direction, read in the cue voice. Scene headings, transitions and bracketed directions like (quietly) are skipped.
Pick your part
Choose your character under Your lines. Everyone else gets a voice of their own, and you can click any name to change it.
Choose how you rehearse
Leave a gap to run lines, Read quietly to learn them, Read aloud for an ear prompter. Switching between the three records nothing again.
Record and rehearse
Press Make recording. Play it in the Studio with each line lit up as it is read, or download the MP3 and take it anywhere.
Notes for running lines
- Start with Read quietly. Say your lines along with the recording for the first few passes, then switch to Leave a gap. Switching records nothing again.
- Give yourself room, then take it away. Put Room for each line at 150% while you are learning and bring it down toward 110% as the lines settle.
- Mark the beats. Write
(beat)where the script has one and it becomes an exact 1 second pause.(pause 2)gives you two. - Drop the beep for the last runs. The beep helps early on. Turning it off leaves only your cue line, the way it will be on the day.
- Slow your partners, not your gaps. The Characters speed slider slows everyone else by up to 30%. Your gaps are still sized to your own lines.
- Get a name said right. If a voice says a name wrong, add it under Say it right with how it should sound, like HAN lun. Your script stays as written.
Ear prompter tracks for a gala, a keynote or a trade show
The script plays in your ear, you speak a few words behind it, and nobody sees a teleprompter.
An ear prompter is a small earpiece that plays a recording of your script while you perform, and you repeat what you hear a few words behind it. Actors use them for trade show presentations, commercials and long narration on camera, as Chris Agos describes in EAR Prompters: The Basics For Actors. Presenters, corporate spokespeople and public speakers use them to stay word perfect without memorizing.
The usual way is to record the script yourself, with all its pauses and inflections, then play it back into the earpiece. Media coach Shannon O'Dowd suggests reading about 15 to 20 percent slower than you would perform it and speaking three to four words behind the recording (How to Use an Ear Prompter). Steve Tom puts it at two to three words behind (Ear Prompter).
Script mode makes that recording for you and keeps it exact. Your lines are read in one steady voice, the cues in a second voice so you never mix them up, and every pause is the length you set, every time you play it.
TRACK: WelcomeStarts track 1, a file of its own. Not read out.CUE: Show the title slide.Read in the cue voice, so it never sounds like your line.Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Riverside Spring Gala!Your line, in your voice.CUE: Wait for applause.A cue that only asks the room to react gets the Wait here pause after it, up to 10 seconds.TRACK: Paddle raiseTrack 2 starts with its own count-in.In a moment, (pause 1) I'll ask you to raise your paddle.Exactly 1 second, in the middle of the sentence.Hold it up high, like this. (beep)A 0.25 second beep: do the action now.
Your lines speed: 15% to 20% slower
Set the Your lines speed slider to −15% or −20%. The cues can stay at normal speed.
Wait here: up to 10 seconds
A cue like “Wait for applause” or “Hold for laughter” gets its own pause, separate from the pause after other cues.
A count-in before, a signal after
A spoken 3, 2, 1 (or 5 or 10 to 1) before each track, and a long beep or a spoken “End” after it.
One numbered file per TRACK:
Each segment of the event is its own file, so you can start each one on its own and never search through one long recording.
A beep, a bell and a click, right where you write them
Put a sound anywhere in the script, even between two words. Adding or moving one never records your lines again.
(beep)Short beep 0.25 sDo the action now: raise the paddle, change the slide, turn to camera.(beep 2)Long beep Up to 10 sA hard stop you cannot miss, or the end of a section.(ding)Bell 0.9 sA new section, a new slide or a new scene.(click)Click 0.06 sA small cue, like picking up a prop or a camera move.
Two more are built in: the 0.15 second beep that tells you it is your turn, and the 1.5 second beep that can end every track. In the Sentences view of Script mode, click the pause after any line to add a beep, bell or click there, or to take one out.
What you write, and what happens
Plain text, no special editor. Paste from anywhere and it keeps working.
| You write | What happens |
|---|---|
TRACK: Welcome | Starts a new audio file named Welcome. The line is not read out. |
CUE: Show the title slide. | The line is read in the cue voice. |
Look up. [slide 3] Smile. | Only the words in square brackets are read in the cue voice. |
VIDEO: Play the reel. | Production labels such as VIDEO, MUSIC, LIGHTS, SLIDE and SFX are read in the cue voice. |
MAYA: You kept the ticket. | A scene line. Every character gets a voice of their own. |
MAYA on its own line, the dialogue under it | The same, in screenplay layout. |
ME: Ready. | Marks a line as yours. |
(pause 2) | Exactly 2 seconds of silence. (pause 0.5) works too, up to 60 seconds. |
(beat) | A 1 second pause. |
(beep) (beep 2) (ding) (click) | A sound, exactly there. |
CUE: Wait for applause. | A cue that only asks the room to react gets the Wait here pause after it. |
(quietly) on its own line in a scene | A direction for the actor. It is skipped. |
INT. KITCHEN or CUT TO: | Scene headings and transitions are skipped. |
~~~~~ | A line with no words is decoration. It is skipped. |
Change one word and keep the rest of the recording
Scripts change up to the last minute. The delivery you have been rehearsing with should not.
I'm honored thrilled to be your emcee tonight
- keptGood evening, everyone, and welcome to the Riverside Spring Gala!
- keptTonight, we celebrate twenty five years of the Riverside Food Bank.
- keptTwenty five years!
- recorded againMy name is Abd Shanti, and I'm thrilled to be your emcee tonight.
1 sentence · 65 characters to record · nothing else changes
Edit the text and press Update recording. Only the sentences you changed are recorded again, and every other sentence keeps the exact audio it had. The status line tells you what will be recorded before you press anything.
Pauses, sounds, the count-in and the order of the lines are not part of any recording. Change them and the file is rebuilt from the audio you already have, with nothing recorded again. In our test that took under three seconds.
It works because Script mode only uses steady voices: a steady voice says the same sentence the same way every time, so a fixed word sits in the track like it was always there.
Four ways to run lines, side by side
No brand names and no prices, just how each way works in practice.
| What you need | Made for rehearsalFreeTTS Script modeFreeTTSPaste the script, press record | A friend reading with youA friendThe classic way | Recording the other parts yourselfYour memosVoice memos on your phone | A general text to speech toolOther TTSPaste text, get one voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ready any timeNo one to book, nothing to wait for | Yes. Any time, in the browser | No. When they are free | Yes. Yes | Yes. Yes |
| A gap for your lineSilence where you speak | Yes. Sized to each line | Yes. They wait for you | Partly. Timed by hand | No. Reads everything |
| Same delivery every runYour cues sound the same each night | Yes. Steady voices | Partly. It varies | Yes. Yes | Partly. Depends on the voice |
| A voice per characterHear who is talking | Yes. Automatic | No. One reader | No. Your own voice | Partly. Split it by hand |
| Change a line laterWhen the script changes | Yes. Only that sentence | Yes. Just say it | Partly. Record it again | Partly. Make it all again |
| Works in an earpieceA file you can play anywhere | Yes. One file per track | No. No | Yes. Yes | Yes. Yes |
| Try the scene |
- English only. The 22 steady voices are English, with US, UK, Australian and Canadian accents.
- It does not listen. Your gap is a fixed length. If you run long, the next line comes anyway, so turn Room up while you are learning.
- Recording needs PRO. You can paste a script and see how it will be timed for free.
- Your part has to be marked. Script mode needs your character's name on your lines, or ME: in front of them.
For anyone who has to say someone else's words on cue
Learn a part at home
Run a scene every night with your partners' lines read to you and your own left open. One TRACK: per scene keeps a long play in order.
Run the sides the night before
Paste the sides, pick your part and run them until the gaps start to feel short.
The whole run of show in your ear
One track per segment, with cues in a second voice, waits for applause and a signal at the end of each track.
A keynote with the slide changes marked
A bell before each new slide and exact pauses where the room needs a moment.
A monologue, a speech or a recitation
Your lines read quietly at first, then left as gaps once you are close.
Timing reads against a partner
Hear the other side of a dialogue with your lines left open, to practise the timing before a session.
Starting settings for six situations
All of these are in the panel on the right of Script mode. Pauses, sounds and the Your lines options never record anything again. Voices and speeds do, because they change the sound.
- Your lines
- Read quietly
- Count-in
- Say 3, 2, 1
- Characters speed
- −10%
- Your lines
- Leave a gap
- Room
- 120%
- Extra time
- 0.5 s
- Beep
- On your turn
- Your lines
- Leave a gap
- Room
- 150%
- Extra time
- 1 s
- Beep
- On your turn
- Your lines
- Read aloud, −15%
- Count-in
- Say 5 to 1
- After Wait here
- 3 s
- Track ends
- Long beep
- Your lines
- Read aloud
- Slides
(ding)before each- After each paragraph
- 1.5 s
- Count-in
- 3 s of silence
- Script
- Paste the screenplay
- Tracks
- One TRACK: per scene
- Your lines
- Leave a gap
- Voices
- One per character, automatic
Every number here came from a file the tool made
We downloaded the recordings and measured them with ffmpeg's silence detector at −45 dB, on September 28, 2026.
A count-in on the beat
A spoken 5 to 1 came in at 0.05, 1.05, 2.05, 3.05 and 4.05 seconds, and the first line started at 5.05 seconds. One number a second, as set.
Pauses
On a real three minute emcee script, commas landed within 5 ms of the setting, paragraph and cue pauses within 18 ms and sentence pauses within 24 ms.
Sounds
The end of track beep measured 1.50 seconds of pure 1 kHz tone, the short beep 0.25 seconds and the turn beep 0.15 seconds.
Adding a sound later
We added a bell after one line from the sentence list and pressed Update. Nothing was recorded again. The new file was 1.05 seconds longer, the bell and its lead in, and the bell started 0.15 seconds after the line.
The demos on this page
The three recordings above are the tool's own files, made the same day with the voices Guy, Ava and Aria. Nothing was edited afterwards.
Questions actors and emcees ask
Where the facts came from
Reading pace and lag
Shannon O'Dowd, media coach: How to Use an Ear Prompter. Read about 15 to 20 percent slower, speak three to four words behind, put a beat or a pause in the transitions.
Who uses ear prompters
Chris Agos: EAR Prompters: The Basics For Actors. Trade show presentations, commercials and long on camera narration.
Speaking behind the recording
Steve Tom: Ear Prompter. Two to three words behind; the script recorded with all its pauses and inflections.
Running lines with a recording
Spotlight: 5 Ways to Learn Your Lines, with actor Amy Tara on recording the other person's lines and leaving a gap for her own.
Our own measurements
FreeTTS, September 28, 2026: files made by Script mode and measured with ffmpeg, as described under How we measured.
FreeTTS Script mode turns a script into rehearsal audio: scene partners read in their own voices with timed gaps for the actor's lines, or ear prompter tracks with exact pauses, sounds, a spoken count-in and one file per track. Measured pauses landed within 0.03 seconds of the setting.
Run your first scene tonight
Open the example scene, pick your part and press play. Pasting and timing your own script is free; recording is part of PRO.