Stupid Feature Idea - can you add typewriter sounds to the Typewriter feature?

I’m sure there is a small number of typewriter fans that would like to see this (and they probably own the iPad HanxWriter app). Would have to make the typing sound configurable ON/OFF. Normal key stroke sound, backspace sound, carriage return sound, bell at the right margin sound and a graphic just below the typing line - see attachment.

If you carry out a search of these forums, you’ll find that this idea has in general terms been discussed before. I can’t recall exactly what the response of KB or his colleagues was. But for myself, I hope that the feature isn’t introduced to Scrivener - for several reasons. One is that I supect that L&L would have to “buy it in”, and, as a user who already owns KeyClick (http://sustworks.com/site/prod_keyclick_overview.html), I wouldn’t want to have - effectively - to pay twice for the functionality.

Now, what I’d really like as a reminder of those days in front of an ancient and temperamental Olivetti in a smoke-fetid newsroom is some way of digitally simulating office cricket - ball made of rubber bands, bat made of rolled and sticky-taped newspapers, stumps the back of the news editor’s chair (with or without him in it…). :wink:

A few years ago somebody posted a couple of background images very much like the typewriter in your screenshot. They were well done and I used them for a while but somehow over several installations they’ve gone missing.

I’ve just looked, but unfortunately I can’t find them on my computer or in this forum, or remember the poster’s name. Perhaps someone else with a better filing system/memory can help…

Fine for you Mac folks, but I have found nothing equivalent to KeyClick for the PC. No independent background utility actually seems to work well. Perhaps it’s my laptop’s sound card, but the various utilities I’ve tried all have a long delay between key press and sound, and/or miss key clicks for too rapid typing.

But sounds generated as part of a dedicated writing app work great on my laptop. WriteMonkey is a text processor that offers the option of adding audio feedback for 3 types of keypresses (letter key, space bar, return). I enjoy this so much I do all of my drafting in WriteMonkey’s distraction-free mode, and then copy the result into silent Scrivener at the end of the day.

Similarly, on the iPad, I draft in HanxWriter (flawed editor with a great typerwriter emulation) and copy the text into Scrivener when done.

Having optional typing sounds in Win Scrivener would be a wonderful addition.

My $.02

Jim

Sorry to read that you’ve been having problems with this functionality, Jim.

For obvious reasons I’ve no recent experience of Windows apps in this area, but in another recent thread about this topic, ClicKey was recommended. It seems from the developer’s description like quite a “lightweight” utility, so it may be worth trialling, if you haven’t done so already. (But of course if your soundcard is the source of the problem, presumably that would hypothetically also apply to any typewriter sounds originating from within Scrivener?)

Hi Hugh,

Thank you for your suggestion.

I’ve tried ClicKey in the past and found it wanting. The quality of the typing samples is poor, and it had the issues mentioned in my earlier post (long delay between key press and sound, and/or missed key clicks for too rapid typing). Another “dedicated clacking” program called Qwertick also falls into this category.

But your post got me to looking around on the internet–thinking there must be something out there that works! – and much to my surprise, I was able to find two different dedicated clackers that work well on my Win 7 laptop.

I know they won’t help you, but perhaps they will be of assistance to other Windows users looking for typing sounds.

JingleKey (http://fieldp.com/myblog/2013/how-to-make-your-computer-sound-like-a-typewriter/) This thing works wells with my sound card, in that I’m not hearing delays or missed keys. The typing sounds it comes with are decent, but its strength is that you can substitute your own WAV files for different types of key strokes. This increases the realism, as you’re not hearing the same sounds for every key. I’ve got different sounds for the letter keys, the space key, backspace key, and return. WriteMonkey (http://writemonkey.com/) (a great text editor) came with really good WAV files, so I am using them with JingleKey. When active, JingleKey places an icon in the system tray, which makes it easy to mute/unmute the typing sounds.

Key Sound Generator (http://moosesoftware.16mb.com/mooses_freeware.html#Key_Sound_Generator) is another one that also works well with my sound card and allows you to substitute your own sounds. It doesn’t have the capability of muting.

One last point. JingleKey and KSG sounded terrible through my laptop speakers. Not just the sound quality but key clicks were missed if I typed too fast. Oddly enough though, they sound great through my bluetooth headphones, and no missed clacking. Weird.

Hope this helps somebody!

Jim

Pleased that you found some applications that work, Jim.

Not sure if this is still a question, but typewriter sounds are built-in to a Mac. Here’s a short YouTube vid describing how:
youtube.com/watch?v=1It9Hyrs5m8

Basically,

  1. open System Preferences, click Sound, check “Play user interface sound effects.”
  2. Then go back to main System Preferences screen, click Accessibility, select Keyboard, check “Enable Slow Keys”
  3. Then select Options next to Enable Slow Keys, check “use click key sounds”, and slide “Acceptance Delay” to far left (shortest setting)

Works great.

This is excellent! Thanks for posting. I have been looking for this feature for a long time…

That’s pretty cool! I have to turn the volume way up though, because I could not hear the sound effects over the thunder of my Cherry MX Blue key switches. :laughing: Nothing better than analogue, in my opinion.