B. Playing Songs

1. Introduction to the Play Screen

The Play screen allows you to play the songs in a Playlist. During play, you can also access the volume, tempo & pitch, and channels screens. Use the hardware scroll button to switch quickly between them. Note that switching screens or tapping anywhere on the screen can cause delays in play.

The control buttons are modeled after those on CD and tape players: previous song, play/pause, stop, and next song. The hardware application buttons duplicate the functions of these buttons, and can be used on each of the four screens where play is allowed.

Use the volume slider to adjust the overall volume of playback. This is a global value, not saved with each song.

The behavior of this screen depends on the Play Mode and whether or not a song is playing. With exception of the Loop Modes, when the current song ends, the song displayed in the next song field becomes the current song. When playing, the next and previous buttons affect the next song. When stopped, they affect the current song.

To change to a different Playlist, use the pull-down menu on the top right of the screen. The Book master lists are always available.

To quickly select the measure to start playing at, tap on the field that displays the measure number. It will now be highlighted. Use the page up and page down hardware buttons to set the measure. If a measure past the end of the song is selected, it will be automatically reset to 1. Similarly, selecting the tempo or volume allows you to use the page up and page down buttons to edit these values.

2. Screen Elements

This section describes the items on the Play Screen as they appear from left to right and top to bottom.



 

1. Play Screen Tab

This is simply the name of this screen. In later versions of Palm OS®, you can tap here to access the menus. In earlier versions you must use the menu icon at the bottom left of the silk screen area.

2. Play Mode Icon

This is the Play Mode icon. You can change the mode and get more information about play modes on the Play Mode screen via the Options menu.

See also Section 3: Understanding the Play Mode Screen below.

3. Battery Icon

This icon shows the battery charge remaining.

4. Playlist Pull down

This pull-down allows you to switch Playlists.

5. Time Signature

This is the current song's time signature. Defaults to the 4/4 if the signature is not specified before the first note (or first note of the current loop). Changes as new time signatures are encountered.

6. Measure

This is the current measure. To change the song's start measure, tap on it to select it, then use the page up and page down buttons.

7. Beat

This is the current beat in the measure.

8. Tempo

This is the tempo, the speed at which the song is played. To edit the tempo, tap on it to select it, then use the page up and page down buttons.

9. Current Song

This is the title of the current song. Changes made apply to this song.

10. Next Song

This is the title of the song that will play next. *End of List* is displayed at the end of the Playlist. When a song completes, the song specified here becomes the current song.

11. Annotation

This field displays a text note about the current song. Tap to edit it. When a song is in a Playlist multiple times, the note defaults to a number, to help distinguish between instances of the song.

12. Next and Previous Buttons

These are the next and previous buttons. They scroll through the current Playlist. If playing, they select the next song. The Calendar and Memo buttons do this on any valid screen when not playing.

13. Play/Pause Button

This is the play/pause button. It starts or resumes the current song. During play, it pauses the song. To start play on any valid screen, use the Address Book button.

14. Stop Button

This is the stop button. It halts the current song. If no song is playing, it sends an All Notes Off message. Use the ToDo List button to do this on any valid screen.

15. Palm OS Writing Area and Icons

Please refer to your handheld's manual for more information on this area.

16. Volume

This allows you to increase or decrease the overall volume of playback.

 

 

3. Understanding the Play Mode Dialog



 

This screen controls the play mode. Play All plays an entire Playlist and then stops. Play One plays a single song and then stops. Loop All plays an entire Playlist and then repeats from the beginning; Loop One repeats the same song endlessly. The play mode button on the play screen can also be used to select a mode.

The First and Last Measure fields allow you to play only part of a song. Changing this affects the current song in the Playlist only. The << and >> buttons reset the fields to their default values of measure 1 and the end of the song, respectively. To advance through the songs while on this screen, use the calendar and memo pad buttons. Changes to the current song will be saved before switching to another song.