The Audio File Player plugin provides a MIDI input pin, eight audio output pins, and a MIDI output pin:
It allows you to load and play up to eight audio files (in AIF, FLAC, MP3, OGG or WAV formats), either one at a time or simultaneously. You can use this plugin as a backing track player or for looping short samples, switching seamlessly from one to another while running. Up to eight audio output channels are available, singly or in pairs.
The Audio File Player plugin provides eight "lanes" for playback. You can think of these as roughly equivalent to tracks on a DAW although each lane could have an entire song on it. Its editor provides controls that enable the following operations:
1.Single/Multi - allows you to switch between playing back one audio file at a time versus multiple files simultaneously.
2.Loop - turns looping on or off for all lanes.
3.Go To Beginning - allows you to instantly go to the beginning of all audio files.
4.Time/Tracks display - displays the current time, in hours/minutes/ seconds/hundredths of a second, as well as the number of tracks (channels) loaded with audio files.
5.Play/Pause - allows you to start or pause file playback. The "pause" function does not return the file to the beginning - it simply pauses it wherever it is. Clicking on the button a second time resumes playback from the point at which it was stopped.
6.Sync - when turned on (lit green), Gig Performer will play and pause the Audio File Player automatically when its button is engaged. This allows you to begin playback of audio files at the same time you start a drum machine emulation plugin, for example.
7.Load Full Directory - loads a full folder of audio files at once, up to the number of available (empty) lanes. If, for example, you have six empty lanes and you try loading eight files using this button, only the first six files will get loaded, into lanes 3 - 8. With this feature, you can create a directory with all of the files you will need, then load the entire player with them at the gig by invoking only a single command.
8.Metronome - clicking on this icon provides a number of additional controls that allow you to create a MIDI click track in sync with the tempo of your Master track. See the MIDI metronome chapter for more details.
In addition, the Audio File Player editor offers the following lane-specific controls:
9.File name - displays the name of the file currently loaded in the lane.
10.Play/Silence this lane - enables or mutes playback of the file loaded into the lane.
11.Load New Audio File (file cabinet icon) - click this to load an audio file into the lane.
12.Remove Audio File (trashcan icon) - click this to delete the audio file from the lane.
13.Master indicator - when lit, indicates that the file in the lane is being used as the Master, determining the actual playback length of all other files. Note that this is not a parameter that can be changed; instead, Gig Performer automatically designates the lane loaded with the longest audio file as the Master. If you load other lanes with new files, the Master designation may change accordingly (if the new files are longer than the one in the currently designated Master lane).
14.Output assignment - allows you to set the output for that lane's playback. A stereo file should ideally be set to a pair of outputs (i.e. Output 1&2, Output 3&4, etc.) but if it is sent to a mono output, the two channels will automatically be mixed to mono. Conversely, sending a mono file to a pair of outputs will result in the same signal being routed to both outputs.
15.Level indicators - shows the current playback level for that lane.
16.Volume control - allows you to adjust the volume of the lane.
17.Oneshot on/off - allows you to turn looping off for that lane, even if the master Loop button is on (lit). Clicking on the Oneshot button (causing it to light) during playback will cause the file in that lane to play to the end and then stop. If you then turn Oneshot for that lane off again, the file will resume playback when the file loaded into the Master lane ends.
18.File duration - displays the duration in seconds and samples of the file currently loaded in the lane.
To load audio files, do any of these:
•Click the Load New Audio File button in a lane and navigate to the desired file.
•Drag and drop the file from the OS X Finder or Windows Explorer onto the lane into which you want it loaded.
•Click the Load full directory button and navigate to a source folder of audio files to be loaded in the Audio File Player.
To play audio files:
a)to play a single audio file, be sure the Single/Multi button is set to single and that the lane is play-enabled, then click the Play/Pause button to start playback.
b)To play multiple files simultaneously:
i.Load all of the files you want to play.
ii.Set the Single/Multi button to Multi. This allows you to enable or mute multiple lanes.
iii.Set muting for tracks you don't want to hear.
iv.Click the Play/Pause button to start playback.
Things to note about the Audio File Player:
•The Audio File Player designates the longest file loaded as the Master, whether or not it is play-enabled. The duration of the Master track becomes the loop length when loop playback is enabled.
•The MIDI metronome is generated based on the length of the Master track, and information you supply about the number of bars in the loop and the number of beats in each bar.
•Lanes can be muted and enabled in real-time while the player is in playback. As this is muting, not stopping playback, all files always stay in sync with the master track's location, so if a lane is muted during playback and then enabled 10 seconds later, it resumes playing 10 seconds later than the point at which it was muted.
•When a file is muted, you will still be able to see "ghost" meter activity for it.
•Beneath the file duration on the right of each lane is a progress bar that turns blue as the file plays. The length of the bar represents the full duration of the file in that lane and the progress through it of the play cursor. So, while working in Multi mode, in 10 seconds, the blue bar in a lane with a 20 second-long file is filled to one half, where as the blue bar for a two-minute loop running at the same time in another lane is only filled 1/12th of the way across, just a small chunk.
•To move the playhead to different locations in the Master file other than the start, create a knob or slider widget and map it to the Playhead position parameter of the Audio File Player.
•The Audio File Player allows files of different sample rates to be loaded into separate lanes and played simultaneously.
Audio File Player parameters
The following parameters are available for the Audio File Player plugin:
•Play/Pause - allows you to start or pause playback.
•Play From Beginning - causes playback to start from the beginning in response to a widget movement.
•Play From Marker - causes playback to start from the marker position (see the "Marker position" below) in response to a widget movement.
•LOOP On/Off - allows you to turn looping on/off.
•Playhead position - allows you to change the playback start point from a widget. Using a continuous widget (such as a knob or a slider) for this purpose enables you to seek particular points or even to "scrub" one or more tracks while they are playing.
•Marker Position - allows you to change the marker position from a widget.
•Set Marker now - allows you to set the marker position "on the fly" from a widget.
•Click Generation On/Off - allows you to use a widget to turn the MIDI click track on or off.
•Play Mode (single/multi) - allows you to use a widget to switch between Single and Multi playback.
•Lane 1-8 Playing - allows you to use a widget to start playback from the specified lane (1-8).
•Lane 1-8 One Shot On/Off - allows you to use a widget to turn the Oneshot mode on or off for the specified lane.
•Lane 1-8 Volume - allows you to use a widget to adjust the volume of the specified lane.
•Lane 1-8 Output Assignment - allows you to use a widget to change the output assignment for the specified lane.
•Lane 1-8 Filename - displays the name of the song (file name without path or extension).
•Lane 1-8 Length - displays the lane length in seconds (the underlying parameter - always between 0.0 and 1.0 - represents a percentage of 10 hours).
•Largest Lane Length - displays the length of the largest lane in the Audio File Player (the underlying parameter represents a percentage of 10 hours).
Note: we recommend the use of on-off widgets, such as one of the LED buttons, for real-time control over most Audio File Player parameters. However, Playhead position, Marker position, Lane 1-8 Volume, and Lane 1-8 Output Assignment are better controlled with continuous widgets such as knobs and sliders.
