Exploring the Control Panel

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The Control Panel is the central area used to play back your sequences. It basically looks like any audio player, just with a few more buttons . The Control Panel not only gives you basic control over playing your sequences, it also has some extra features like a counter, metronome, tempo indicator, and more.

The Basic Controls

The basic controls allow you to quickly navigate through your sequence. They work the same as almost any other audio player.

The Counters

A counter simply lets you know where you are in a particular sequence. There are two different counters displayed on the Control Panel; the larger one is the Main counter and the smaller one is the Auxiliary counter. Other than their size, there is no difference between the two counters.

Counter Display

You can choose the format (measures, real time, frames , or samples) that the Main and Auxiliary counters use to display your location. Basically, the two different counters are available so that you can view your location using two different methods . For example, one counter can let you know where you are in a sequence by measure, while the other counter can display real time. Changing the display is simply a matter of a few clicks.

NOTE

If you change the Main counter to the same format as the Auxiliary counter, the Auxiliary counter will automatically change to a different format. In other words, the two counters cannot display the same format at the same time.

Navigating with Counters

Using the counters, you can jump to different parts of your tracks. You simply have to specify a location and the counter will take you to that part of the track.

The Position Bar

While the counters allow you to move to precise locations in your sequence, the position bar is another alternative for moving to different locations.

The Metronome

Metronomes always remind me of taking piano lessons when I was a kidthat incessant ticking the teacher kept insisting that I follow. Digital Performer has a built-in metronome that can be turned off or on and adjusted to meet your requirements.

Countoff

Isn't it cool when the leader of a band counts down "4, 3, 2, 1" before the band begins playing? The Countoff feature in Digital Performer works almost the same way: It counts down a certain number of times using the metronome before it starts to play or record.

Wait

Wait works in a similar way to Countoff, but rather than providing a countdown, Digital Performer will wait until it receives a signal from either the keyboard or a MIDI device before it starts playback or recording. Using the Wait feature, you don't have to rush between the computer and your instrument; recording or playing only starts when you give the signal.

The Tempo Indicator

Embedded within the Control Panel is the Tempo Indicator, which will tell you what your current tempo is. In Digital Performer, there are two ways to control your tempoone is through the Conductor Track and the other is through the Tempo slider. When you are using the Tempo slider, you can actually adjust the tempo settings by using the Tempo Indicator.

The Memory Bar

The memory bar in Digital Performer allows you to control the way a sequence is rewound, stopped , and repeated. Rather than rewinding to the beginning of a sequence, the memory bar allows you to rewind to a specific point. You can also set a point where a sequence will repeat.

Setting Start and Stop Points

Rather than rewinding to the beginning of your sequence, you can set any point in the track to rewind to. When auto rewind is selected, you will be taken to this point rather than the beginning of the track. You can also set a stop point that will stop the sequence at a specific point, or if auto repeat is selected, loop the sequence between the start and end points.

Using the Memory Bar

Once you have your start and end points defined, you can use the Auto Rewind, Auto Stop, and Auto Repeat buttons to take advantage of your start and stop points.

Receive Sync

Digital Performer allows you to connect a wide variety of hardware and external musical devices to your computer. The Receive Sync button allows you to synchronize Digital Performer with external devices.

Auto Record

The Auto Record button allows you to select specific times in a sequence when Digital Performer will automatically start recording. Rather than having to press the Record button, you can use auto record to set specific punch times to start and stop recording within a sequence.

Overdub Recording

Overdub recording allows you to record onto a track without deleting the existing information on that track. In other words, you can add to an existing track, rather than deleting or taping over it.

Chunk Controls

The Control Panel gives you two buttons that will allow you to control how chunks of music are played .

Drawers

The Control Panel has four collapsible drawers that can be used to hide or display sections of the screen. With all of the different windows that can be opened in Digital Performer, it's nice to have the ability to hide or display certain parts of the screen.

NOTE

When closing a drawer , all drawers to the left of the one being closed will also close.

Moving Drawers

When you open drawers, they appear in a certain order. You can change the order in which the drawers appear by moving them.

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