Playing Audio

Prior to making selections and performing edits on an audio document, you will typically play the audio to locate likely sections for editing. There are a number of ways that you can do this, each of which is explained below.

The Transport
The Transport is a useful tool for initiating both playback and recording. In addition it provides a digital counter-type display of the current playback location and playback level meters. You will find it useful to use this window when working with audio documents.

To display the Transport window:
1. Choose Transport from the Windows menu. The Transport appears.

To start playback from the beginning of a document:
1. Press the Space bar or click the Play button on the Transport. Playback begins from the beginning of the document.
2. To stop playback, press the Space bar again or click the Stop button on the Transport.

To start playback from a specific point in a document:
1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the track and press Command-Space bar on your computer keyboard. Playback begins from the cursor location and continues to the end of the document.
2. Alternatively, double-click the mouse at the desired location in the track. Playback begins from the location that you double-clicked and continues to the end of the document.
3. To stop playback, press the Space bar.

To play a selection only:
1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the track and drag to select the range you desire.
2. Press Option-Space bar. Playback starts at the beginning of the selection and stops at the end of the selection.

Auditioning Audio with Pre- or Post Roll
It is often useful to audition a selection along with just a bit of audio preceding or following it—without actually including this material in the selection itself. Peak’s Auditioning command allows you to do this by specifying a desired amount of preroll or postroll when you play the selection.

To audition audio with pre- or postroll:
1. Choose Auditioning from the Preferences menu.
2. Enter the desired amount of preroll and post roll and click OK.
3. Click the cursor in the track and drag to select the desired range.
4. Press Control-Space bar. Peak plays the selection, adding the amount of pre-and postroll that you specified.

Triggering Playback of Multiple Audio Documents
Peak allows you to have multiple audio documents open at the same time. Peak assigns each of these documents a number based on the order in which it was opened. Peak provides you with a convenient way of triggering playback of any open audio document by pressing a number key on your computer keyboard. This can be a very useful feature for applications such as “live” sound effects playback, since you can open multiple audio documents and play them from your Macintosh keyboard.

To trigger sequential playback of multiple audio documents:
1. Open several audio documents, taking note of the number that Peak assigns them in the Windows menu. (This is based on the order in which the documents were opened.)
2. Press the number which corresponds to the document(s) you wish to play. You don’t need to wait until a document has finished playing to press the next number: typing a numerical sequence on your keyboard will “cue up” all of the corresponding files. They will then play in order.
3. If you wish to stop playback and jump to the next document in line, press the Return key. Peak initiates playback of the next document in sequence.