File Player/Recorder...
Once created, this module, sometimes referred just as File Player, prompts you to load an audio file to play in loop (of which length and position can be specified). You can also set cue points to recall while playing (i.e. jumping between different positions within the file) and crossfade
the level of the audio file with the audio signal coming from the previous module. In addition you can copy, paste and record to file.
Front view
To open a file, tap the open button on the top left. You can load files of any of the following extensions:
wav, aiff, aif, aifc, caf, mp1, mpeg, mpa, mp2, mp3, mp4, m4a, 3gp, 3g2, aac, adts, ac3, amr, snd, au, sd2.
Note that formats different than wav or aif, as well as files longer than 5 seconds, will consume more CPU during the execution.
The next two buttons, following on the right, are to stop and start playing the
file from the beginning respectively. The file is played in a loop determined by three parameters that are configurable from the back view, namely
tempo, starting frame and loop length. By default, a file is considered to be of the same tempo of the current session,
its loop length is set to be minimum number of bars necessary to play the whole file, and its onset coincides with
the onset of the file.
If the play button remains pushed within the end of one bar and
the beginning of the next, the execution will restart in sync with the new
bar.
The "set cue" button, represented simply by a "Q", selects the mode for using the four cue buttons in
the central area. When it's active, each of these buttons, when
pushed, will set a cue point, that is a reference to the current position of the file being played. When it's not active,
by pressing the cue buttons you can seek the file to the previously stored cue
points.
In the area below, a crossfader mixes the levels of two
channels: the audio coming from the previous module and the file being played.
The control view contains two knobs to set the gain of each of the two channels.
The open button's popup
When pushed, the open button shows a popup displaying other functions, namely copying, pasting and recording an audio file. You can select one of these
functions through a drag and drop gesture.
The audio copy/paste clipboard is shared between
Intua-compatible applications.
The copying takes into account the loop parameters specified in the back view, so you can decide to copy only a segment of the entire file.
Pasting will prompt you to name a new file that will be saved into the current session's folder.
By selecting the recording function you will turn the play button into a circle-shaped recording button. The color of
this button reflects the current state of the module: grey -> stopped, green -> playing, red -> recording. When you'll press the
recording button, it will turn into a red square-shaped stop button, indicating that the module has started the
recording of the audio coming from the left-hand side of the module, and you can push it again to stop the recording.
When the recording ends, you'll be prompted to name the new file in the current session's folder. Once saved,
the file will be automatically opened, and ready to be played.
Back view
The settings view has controls to set the timing informations for
the opened file, namely the tempo in BPM (units and decimals),
the length of the loop specified in bars (if this is
set to 0 then the file loops when it reaches the end) and
the first frame to be played (in 1 second there are 44100 frames). The
tempo can be set both with the encoders or by tapping on the relative button (at least four times).
When you're about to close a file located in the User folder or any of its subfolders, with the exception of all
the session folders, you may be asked to save these informations, in order to be able to recall them
automatically the next time you open that file in any session.
On the bottom, a button to play/stop the file can help you to set the timing
informations without switching to the main view.
Note that changing the file's tempo will update also the tempo of the session and
of all the files you opened with other file players.