Say When Live
On my count.
Say When is the desktop app for worship teams, bands, and acoustic singles, duos, and trios. Split a full mix into stems, place spoken calls on the bars, then export a multi-track pack or a stereo split — click and cues in one ear, backing in the other.
also known as guide track
noun
A spoken in-ear track that tells the band what is coming — the section, the count, who plays — not only when the next bar falls. A click keeps time. A song cue names the arrangement the way a musical director would call it from the side of the stage.
“Put the song cue in the left ear so nobody misses the tag.”
The problem on stage
Most backing-track rigs are a metronome in the ears and a prayer that everybody remembers the arrangement. Chorus comes around twice. The guitar solo is eight bars later than last week. The music director is on a different gig. Say When puts a spoken cue track next to your click so the band hears the song the way a Musical Director would call it.
Worship sets move fast. A sung chorus into a tag into a rundown is easy to lose when the only thing in the mix is 16th-note hats. A calm voice saying “chorus” on the bar before is the difference between a lift and a scramble.
Duos and trios swap parts night to night. Say When can speak instrument entries — guitar, keys, sax — so the person who is supposed to play actually plays, and everyone else stays out of the way.
Karaoke stems, MultiTracks, and DIY Pro Tools dumps rarely include a cue stem. You should not have to bounce a whole new session just to hear “two, three, four.”
What it does
Say When is a desktop app for Windows (Mac and Linux are on the roadmap). Songs stay on your machine. The one online step is text-to-speech: generating a spoken song title or a custom cue phrase with a stock voice. Drop in stems you already own, or one finished mix that it splits for you. You finish a song once, then export either a full stem pack or a stereo split for in-ears.
Do not have stems? Drop in one complete stereo song. Say When splits drums, bass, guitar, keys, and lead vocal, then builds a click from the drums. Place cues on that grid the same way you would with a bought stem pack. One file in; a cue-ready session out.
Already have MultiTracks or your own stems? Point Say When at the folder where your song folders live. It scans, lists BPM and cue counts, and opens a project.
Tempo comes from analysis of the click or the mix, not a guess you type in. Optional quantization lines every stem up to that grid so counts land on the 1 you actually feel.
Numbered chips sit on the bar they fire. Each chip is one bar wide so you can see arrangement at a glance. Double-digit cues get a little extra room. Drag a chip, change the bar, hear it in context on the lanes.
Section names, counts up (1, 2, 3, 4) or down (4, 3, 2, 1), title and key on the intro, instrument entries. Built-in voices, plus a path to record your own counts in your own voice so it sounds like your MD — or like you.
Waveforms for drums, bass, keys, vocals, click, and the rest. Solo, mute, listen. Confirm the cue sits in front of the downbeat instead of hoping the bounce was right.
WAV or MP3 320. Optional ReplayGain-style normalize. A dedicated output folder for new song folders so the stage laptop stays clean. Cue stems line up with the rest of the pack.
How a Sunday or Saturday night looks
You do not need a new live-playback religion. Say When sits in front of the player you already trust.
Keep one folder per arrangement. Drop in the stems and click you already mix for in-ears. Scan the parent folder. Pick the song. No cloud login.
Let analysis read the click. Spot-check the bar lines on the lanes. Quantize if a karaoke dump drifted. The spoken count is only as good as the 1 it sits on.
Drop cues on the bars that matter: intro, verse, chorus, bridge, tag, solo, last chorus, ending. Keep chips one bar wide so a worship leader can read the map from the couch during rehearsal.
Use a clear stock voice for Sunday morning, or record your own counts so the in-ears sound like the person who actually leads the band. Count up or down to match how your room already talks.
Render a practice file, WAV for FOH quality or MP3 320 for a light laptop. Drop the cue stem (and refreshed song folder) into Playback, MainStage, or whatever already hits the ears. Walk on stage. Hear “chorus” before it happens.
Who it is for
If you have never used a click, this is still useful — but the people who feel it immediately are the ones already wearing packs.
Volunteer bands, rotating MDs, six songs and a bumper. Cues keep the spare guitarist and the choir in the same form when the leader takes an extra chorus. Counts in the ears beat a frantic hand wave from the loft.
Cover acts, originals, fly dates. The click stays. The talkback arrives. Guitar solo, key change, hold for applause — spoken, on the grid, same every night even when the MD is in the van.
You are the band. Tracks fill the rest. A voice in the pack saying “bridge” is the extra musician you cannot hire. Small footprint: local files, one Windows machine, output folder you control.
Examples
Pick a song and press play. These are short examples of a spoken guide track sitting with the music.
Inside the app
The interface matches the job: hear the grid, place the call, get off the laptop and onto the set.
About
Spoken cue tracks for live backing tracks. Tagline: On my count. Local-first desktop software from BrianErvin.com, sold as Say When Live. Version 2.3.0 on Windows; macOS and Linux are coming. The mascot is a donkey in a propeller beanie because live music is supposed to be a little fun after the downbeat is solid.
No. Keep the click. Say When adds a spoken stem you can pan, dim, or ride next to it in the in-ears. Wedges can hear a little of it too if the band wants.
No. Analysis and export run on your PC. Songs stay in folders you already own.
Stems are better — you see every lane. A mix-plus-click still works for placing cues and printing a cue track.
Designed for IEM packs. A house mix can still benefit if you tuck the cue track low for the band only.
Yes. The live site lists Mac and Linux as coming soon. Do not wait for those if you already mix on a Windows laptop.
Yes. Stock voices ship for speed. Record-your-own counts exist so the cue stem can sound like your room, not a GPS.
Windows
Mac and Linux will follow. Bookmark saywhenlive.com. When the installer is ready, this teaser becomes the full site with a Download tab.
saywhenlive.com