player - Open Cubic Player
Description: Open Cubic Player

Next: configuration, Previous: fileselector, Up: Top

## 3 Player

When OCP is started with a valid filename the file is loaded and the player interface is started. This is the main part of OCP and you have various ways to display all kinds of music information and data.

### 3.1 General

OCP displays general (status) information in the top first 4 rows. Some of these entries can be changed by the user, others are static for each module. The following list will explain every entry.1

vol | The bar display the current playback volume. The default value is 100% or full volume. To change the volume press <F2> and <F3>. This will change the volume by one dot each time you press a key. The keys <+> and <-> on the numeric keypad will change the volume smoother.
srnd | Toggle this option with <F4> to enable a simple surround effect.
pan | If a voice should be played on the right speaker you can rearrange the stereo panning with this entry and <F5>,<F6>. To get mono sound adjust the two riders to the middle.
bal | Just like the device on your stereo this option works. Press <F7>,<F8> to adjust the stereo balance between full left and full right.
spd | The playback speed can be changed with <F9>,<F10>. 2
ptch | The pitch of the file can be altered with <F11>,<F12>
row | Most files of the module type are divided into rows and patterns. The first number shows the currently played row. The second number shows the total number of rows in the current pattern. All numbers are shown in hexadecimal format.
ord | Modules are divided into several orders consisting of patterns. The first number shows the currently played order. The second number shows the total number of orders.3 All Numbers are shown in hex.
tempo | the current tempo of the file.
bpm | These are not the physical beats per minute, but rather the speed at which the file is played (only valid for module types). This option is often refered by Trackers as BPM.
gvol | Some file formats allow a global volume to be set.
amp | This option lets you adjust an amplification. You can adjust this value with <CTRL>+<F2>, <CTRL>+<F3>.4
filter | You can select different types of interpolation by pressing <Backspace>:
| off - no interpolation
| AOI - OCP tries to determine if interpolation is neccessary for each note and sample indepentantly. This is the default option and should be enabled.
| FOI - every sample is always interpolated. This option uses more processor power as AOI.
module | shows the filename currently played and the title of the file
time | time since starting the current file

### 3.2 Global functions

Below the general information is a dark grey line. On the left side of the line the current screen mode is shown. In the middle a list of channels. Each file type has a maximum number of channels played simultaneously. For example simple file formats as `.WAV` can have one or two channels (responding to a mono or stereo sample). An audio CD always has 2 channels (left and right). Module file types can have many channels typically ranging from 4 to 32 channels.

The currently selected channel is displayed in light grey. To select another channel use <Left>,<Right>. You can also use <Up>,<Down> which will loop through the channels if the left or right end is reached.

Pressing <q> will quiet the selected channel. This key is valid in every part of the player. To enable the channel press <q> a second time. The reverse logic can be accomplished with <s>. This disables all other channels than the selected, so only one channel plays solo. Another hit on <s> will unsolo the channel again, so playing all channels. You can use any combination of the above keys. An example: Select channel 1 and press <s>. Now you will hear only channel 1. Go with the cursor keys to channel 3 and press <q>. As the channel is currently turned of (quiet) is it now played again. so you hear channels 1 and 3. Now switch to channel 2 and press <s>. Now only channel 2 will be played, whiche channel 1 and 3 are turned off again. By pressing <s> again all channels are enabled.

You can directly solo the first 10 channels by pressing keys <1>..<0>. This will act as if you had changed to the appropriate channel and pressed <s>.

To pause the file press <p>.

The current file can be restarted by pressing <CTRL>+<Home>. To move a bit forward use <CTRL>+<Right>. If a module is played this will skip the current order and start playing the next order. In other file types this command skips a certain amount of time, depending on the estimated playing time. <CTRL>+<Left> will rewind the music. This is not possible for all file type (midi or sid files). When playing modules the current order is skipped and the previous order is playing from the beginning. To skip a smaller amount of the file use <CTRL>+<Up> and <CTRL>+<Down>. This will skip 8 rows when playing modules. If the files support jump or loop command using these functions can lead you to patterns not included in the original play order! Be aware that using these funtions can lead to somewhat crashed files.5

The next file in the playlist can be loaded with <Enter>. If no more files are left in the playlist the fileselector will be started so you can choose the next files. However the current module will continue playing. By pressing <Esc> you can switch back to the player again. The fileselector can also be invoked with <f>. The current playlist is shown and can be edited. When exiting the fileselector with <Esc> you can load the next module in the playlist with <Enter>. Leaving the fileselector with <Enter> will load the currently selected module and switching back to the player.

By default a module is looped after its end was reached. You can change this behaviour by configuring the file selector 6 or with <CTRL>+<l>. When looping is disabled the next module in the playlist will be loaded once a module has ended. If no modules are left in the playlist the fileselector is started.

A shell will be started when typing <d> if the current renderer supports it.

An online help is shown by <h>, <?> or <F1>. Use <Pgup> and <Pgdown> to scroll through this screen.

### 3.3 Text mode functions

The player has two different operating modes. Text mode and graphics mode. In text mode you can enable various functions at once, while in graphics mode only a single function can be shown.

Because there can be more than one text mode funtion visible at the same time you might have to press the according key more than once to get the wanted effect. Each function can be in one of the following states:

- invisible - inactive
- invisible - active
- visible - inactive
- visible - active

When pressing a key the according funtion is made active, but left invisible. By pressing the same key a second time the function will be made visible. An active function can be recognized by their title string displayed in bright blue, while inactive functions have their title string displayed in dark blue. Keys affecting the funtions are only processed for the currently active mode. So it might be necessary to change to the appropriate mode by pressing its key once to manipulate its behaviour.

In the 132 column mode only one of the instruments* and channels* fields is active and used by the appropriate function. If a function is not visible the space is used by the other visible functions.

#### 3.3.1 Channels

The channel function is invoked with <c>. The channels appear in two different modes. By default the short mode is enabled. Two channels are shown in one row. A grey number shows the channel number. Left to it a white number shows the currently played instrument / sample on this channel followed by the note. If the note starts to play it is shown in cyan for a short while. The third number shows the current volume at which the intrument / sample is played. Behind the volume the current effect is shown.7 At the rightmost of each entry the current (physical) volume splitted among left and right output channel is displayed in a bar graph.

The currently selected channel is indicated by a small white $>$ to the left side of the channel number. When a channel is muted with <s> or <q> it is shown in dark grey. However OCP continues to play this channel, so that the music sounds correctly when turning on this channel again.

When pressing <c> twice the channel function switches to the long format. Each channel now uses a single row as more information is beeing displayed. From left to right this is as follows: channel number, instrument / sample name, current note, instrument / sample volume, pan position, current, volume. 8

If the textmode is changed to 132 column mode the channel function can be displayed in short form at the upper right corner of the desktop.

If there are more channels than space inside the screen area OCP will scroll automatically through the channel list when you use the cursor keys. This is indicated by white up and down characters.

    The channel function has no title string which could indicate
    if it is active or inactive. So you might have to press <c> one
    time more often if the channel function was previously inactive.

#### 3.3.2 Instruments

If the current file a module (or midi) the used instruments / samples are shown with the instruments function. The instruments are shown with <i>. Just like channels instruments come in two formats, short and long.

In the short view only the intrument names are shown giving you space for two instruments per row in 80 column mode (4 instruments are shown in 132 column mode). An instrument / sample that is currently played is shown in bright cyan. If the sample is played on the currently selected channel it is shown in bright green. All inactive intruments are drawn dark grey. If a sample has been played once a rectangular dot is placed left to the intrument number.

When the intruments are switched to long mode various information is displayed. From left to right this is as follows:

- a number from 00h to FFh giving the instrument number
- instrument name
- sample number (when using multiple samples per instrument)
- sample name (only in 132 column mode)
- length of the sample in bytes
- length of the loop in bytes
- bits per sample
- the base note. For modules the default is C-4
- finetune value
- standard volume at which the sample is played
- standard pan position
- various flags (volume, pan envelopes etc.)
- fadeout value (only in 132 column mode)

Often a file includes more instruments than can be shown on the screen. Use <Pgup>,<Pgdown> to scroll through the instruments. If the instrument function is active <CTRL>+{<Pgup>, <Pgdown>} will scroll for a complete page. When inactive you can scroll single lines by using <CTRL>+{<Pgup>,<Pgdown>}. This is very useful if you have enabled more than one textmode function.

The instrument flags (the rectangular dots left to the instrument number) are cleared with <ALT>+<i>. By pressing <Tab> you can toggle between the color mode and pure grey.

#### 3.3.3 Pattern view

Modules are arranged in patterns. You can view these patterns with the pattern view function envoked with <t>. When enabling this funtion OCP tries to display all channels at once using the best display possible. For modules using few channels (<8) this default display is normally acceptable, but you might want to change it when playing modules with many channels.

The pattern is shown in different columns. At the leftmost the row number is shown in hex. If the screen mode and pattern view allows the row number is shown again at the right side of the screen. Then follow some fields for global commands the module might contain. The biggest section of the screen use the channel columns, each one displaying on single channel indicated by the number on top of the column. Inside such a channel column various information can be displayed depending on the amount of space available. You can see the format of a channel column in the status line of the pattern view. The format of the column can be changed by pressing <Tab>. As there are many combinations of screen mode, channels and formats I will not go into detail here.

The number of channel rows displayed at once can be changed by pressing <Pgup>, <Pgdown>. Normally the pattern view will follow the music as it progresses. With <Space> the pattern view will stop. The current play position is now displayed with a white special char. You can now browse through the module with <Pgup>,<Pgdown>. <Space> will enable the follow mode again, bringing the pattern view to the current play position.

The pattern view displays the different effects used in modules with different colors. Green is used for effects affecting the pitch of the sample, while blue command change the volume. Effects drawn in purple change the pan position. Red colors indicate the manipulition of the timeslice effected with this samples. Other effects are drawn white.

#### 3.3.4 Spectrum Analyzer

The spectrum analyzer uses the fast fourier transformation to gather information on the audio spectrum used in sample data. The analyzer is started with <a>. This function splits the sound data into many bands of pure sine waves. This is called the spectrum of the sample.

The status bar of this function shows you the range each bar covers and the highest frequency processed (the rightmost bar corresbonds to this frequency). Use <Pgup>, <Pgdown> to change the range. <Home> will set the default value of 2756Hz.9

With <ALT>+<a> the mode of the spectrum function can be toggled. Stereo using two analyzers, mono using only one and a single mode are available. In the single mode the currently selected channel is used as sound source for the analyzer.

<Tab> changes the color used for the analyzer.

#### 3.3.5 peak power levels

This function shows the current physical volume of the output channels in a bar graph. You can use <v> to make this function visible - invisible. In the 132 column mode the levels can also be shown at the right side of the screen.

#### 3.3.6 Volume control

You can browse through the different items with <Up> and <Down>. If you want to change a value, try <Left> and <Right>. You can also toggle between a short mode, a long mode (only in 132 column modes) and invisible mode using <m> (Volume control is disabled in 80 column modes and enabled in 132 column modes by default).

#### 3.3.7 Module message

Some file types store messages which can be viewed with <|> like in Multi Tracker. If the message is long use <Pgup>, <Pgdown> to scroll.

#### 3.3.8 eXtended mode

All four text mode functions can be displayed simultaneously. This function enables channel, instrument, spectrum analyzer, pattern view and volume control function with a good preset in text mode. <x> will enable 132 column mode. <ALT>+<x> will switch to the default 80x25 mode with channel and instrument functions enabled.10

### 3.4 Graphic mode functions

The default graphics mode is 640x480x256. Only one graphics mode function can be shown at once. The screen therefore splits into the general window at the top side showing the usual informatin and the function window covering the rest of the screen.

If you have included a background picture in the `ocp.ini` it will be shown in the graphics modes (expect the graphical spectrum analyzer).

#### 3.4.1 Oscilloscopes

The oscilloscopes are started with <o> and come in 4 different modes: logical (the channels are sorted with the default panning position), physical (channels 1 to n from top to bottom), master (the mixed output channel(s)) and single (the currently selected channel is shown).

By pressing <Tab> you can enable/disable triggering of the scopes. If the output is triggered a wave on the screen always starts with the upper halvwave. If triggering is turned off the wave will be drawn from the current position.

The scale of the scopes can be altered with <Pgup>, <Pgdown>.

#### 3.4.2 Note dots

<n> starts the note dots function. Each channel is displayed on a horizontal row. The current note is represented by a dot or bar. Low notes are placed on the left side. High notes appear on the right side of the screen. By pressing <Pgup>, <Pgdown> the scale of the rows can be changed. However the default scale fits the usual note scale of modules exactly, so there should be no need to change.

By pressing <n> you can alter the output appearance of the dots. In the modes stereo note cones and stereo note dots the current pan position is indicated by the left / right half of the icon.

#### 3.4.3 Graphical Spectrum Analyzer

The graphical spectrum function works in two video modes. By pressing <g> you will see the standard 640x480 mode. <SHIFT>+<g> will start the spectrum in 1024x768 mode. Apart from this difference the two video modes are equal.

Pressing <g> more than once toggles between the usual stereo, mono and single channel mode for calculating and showing the spectrum. <Pgup> and <Pgdown> adjust the frequency range. <Home> will set the frequency to 2756Hz. To half the resolution (and yet speed up the calculation) press <ALT>+<g>.

<Tab> change the palette of the graphical spectrum. <SHIFT>+<Tab> do the same for the standard spectrum analyzer at the bottom.

    If you have difficulties interpreting this function here is a
    short explanation.  The standard spectrum analyzer at the bottom shows
    you the frequency spectrum at the current moment. The higher a single
    bar, the louder the frequency. Now imagine looking at this spectrum
    from top, now every bar becomes a single dot.  The height of the bar
    is now coded into different colors (from black leftrightarrow low
    to yellow leftrightarrow high). Now we can draw these point along
    the screen and see the spectrum as is progresses over time. This is
    somewhat a “3D” view of the spectrum, with the frequency coded along
    the y-axis, intensity coded in different colors and the time along the
    x-axis.

#### 3.4.4 Phase graphs

The last graphical function is started with <b>. You can toggle between four modes which correspond exactly to those in the oscilloscope mode. This function displays the currently played samples in a phase graph. One full wave of the sample is drawn over the complete angle of a circle. The louder the sample the greater the radius of the circle. A sine sample would respond to a normal circle.

#### 3.4.5 Wurfel mode

With <w> the wurfel mode is enabled. It's only purpose is to display an animation located in the home directory of OCP. The <Tab> key will change the play direction.

    To save
    diskspace no animations are included in the distribution of OCP.  They
    can be found on the OCP homepage (page http://www.cubic.org/player).
    Animations can be generated with the wap program from bitmap
    files.11

### 3.5 Using the Compo mode

If you enable the Compo mode in the `ocp.ini` file all title and instrument string from modules will not be displayed.

### 3.6 MIDI files

OCP is able to play MIDI files. However there is a certain problem. Unlike the other file formats MIDI does not store the sample information needed to produce a sound output. The midi file only contains which instrument out of a set of 12712 should play which note at a given time. This is the reason why `.MID` files are much smaller than other file types.

This has of course some disadvantages. To hear a MIDI file you need to have some information how to play the used instruments. Back in the old days the OPL2 sound chip which was present on the SoundBlaster cards was used to play the midi instruments. Most people find the sound capabilites of the OPL series rather limited and midi files were no big deal back then.

Things changed when so called wavetable cards became popular. Those card have sample data stored onboard in a ROM plus a hardware mixer capable of mixing several midi channels.

OCP uses a fork of Timidity that uses this approach, using what is called a sound font. So for MIDI to work, this needs to be installed. The most easy method is probably to make sure that Timidity installed in the operating system, since this usually includes installing atleast a sound font, and to configure the needed configuration files.

#### 3.6.1 Mixer

If your computer is too slow to play with proper speed remember that the new Float Mixer is the default device used by OCP when dealing with software mixing. If you enable the Normal Mixer you will gain a good speed up of your system.

Look in the see [sound] section of your `ocp.ini` file for the following line:

         wavetabledevices=devwMixF devwMixQ (...) devwMix devwNone

The leftmost device is used as default. So change the line to the following to enable the Normal Mixer:

         wavetabledevices=devwMix devwMixF (...) devwNone

If you don't understand all this right now, read chapter see ocp.ini on how to configure OCP.

#### 3.6.2 Interpolation

If the player still runs to slow you can disable the use of interpolation with software mixing. Look for the following line in the see [sound] section of the configuration file:

         filter=1

and change it to:

         filter=0

Now the use of interpolation is disabled. You can enable the filters again in the player with <backspace>.

#### 3.6.3 still to slow?

If you applied the above 4 tips and OCP is still running too slow, there's hardly anything left to tune. Remember that graphic modes are generally slower than text modes. And in text mode the analyzer uses most ressources. If you only display channels, instruments and track list there's almost no cpu consumption by visuals.

If the player is still too slow your last chance is to lower the mixing / playing rate of the player. Locate the following line in the see [sound] section of `ocp.ini`:

         mixrate=44100

Use the table mixingrate as a guideline to set this value.

#### 3.6.4 mixingrate

44100 | CD Quality
33000 | very close to CD
22050 | Radio Quality
11025 | Telefon Quality
8000 | `.au` Quality

While applying those patches please remember that modules with more channels will always need more cpu power than those with few. If your Impulse Tracker modules (`.it`) always click and pop while old Amiga modules (`.mod`) play fine that's normal, because the modern trackers allow more than 4 channels.

### 3.7 Key Reference

<ESC> <ESC> | quit the player
<F1> | help
<F2>, <F3> | volume up/down
<SHIFT>+{<F2>, <F3>} | change amplification
<CTRL>+<SHIFT>+<F2> | save current configuration
<CTRL>+<SHIFT>+<F3> | load previously saved configuration
<F4> | surround on/off
<CTRL>+<SHIFT>+<F4> | load default configuration
<F5>, <F6> | change panning
<SHIFT>+{<F5>, <F6>} | adjust reverb
<F7>, <F8> | change balance
<SHIFT>+{<F7>, <F8>} | adjust chorus
<F9>, <F10> | change speed
<|> | song message
<F11>, <F12> | change pitch
<CTRL>+<F12> | (un)lock speed and pitch
<1>..<0> | select and toggle channel 1..10
<a> | textmode spectrum analyzer
<ALT>+<a> | toggle analyzer mode
<b> | phase graphs
<c> | channel mode
<d> | open a shell
<f> | open fileselector
<g> | graphic spectrum analyzer
<SHIFT>+<g> | graphic spectrum analyzer in 1024x768
<ALT>+<g> | toggle fast/fine algorithm in graphic spectrum analyzer
<h> | help
<i> | instrument mode
<CTRL>+<i> | instrument mode colors on/off
<ALT>+<i> | remove played dots
<CTRL>+<j> | same as <Enter>
<CTRL>+<l> | song looping on/off
<ALT>+<l> | pattern looping on/off
<m> | volume control
<n> | note dots
<o> | oscilloscopes mode
<ALT>+<o> | behaves like <Tab> in this mode
<p> | pause
<q> | quiet current channel
<s> | solo current channel
<t> | track/pattern mode
<v> | peak power level mode
<w> | wurfel mode
<Enter> | play next song in playlist
<Space> | stop pattern mode flow
<Pause> | pause screen output
<Backspace> | toggle filter
<Tab> | change option of the activated mode
<'> | link view
<,>, <.> | fine panning
<+>, <-> | fine volume
<*>, </> | fine balance
<Right>, <Left>, <Up>, <Down> | change current channel
<CTRL>+<Right> | skip the current pattern
<CTRL>+<Left> | restart current pattern / goto previous pattern
<CTRL>+<Down> | skip 8 rows
<CTRL>+<Up> | skip -8 rows
<Ins> | goto fileselector
<Pgup>, <Pgdown> | scroll in current window
<CTRL>+{<Pgup>, <Pgdown>} | scroll a page in instruments window
<Home>, <End> | goto top/bottom of current window
<CTRL>+<Home> | restart song

#### Footnotes

[1] Some special file types modify the appearance of the general field, but only static data is affected.

[2] By default the speed and pitch options are linked (indicated by a small arrow). To disable linkage press <\>. Note that this will not work with all supported file types.

[3] Not all orders have to be played, as modules can jump between different orders.

[4] This is not the same as Volume and <F2>, <F3>, because you are able to make the complete file louder than 100% with this option. Note that setting to values above 100% might harm sound quality.

[5] This does not mean that OCP itself crashed, but that the order of the music file can be disturbed so heavily, that the player is not able to play the correct music anymore.

[6] see see Advanced usage for details

[7] All these informations are only shown when a module or similar type of file is played.

[8] This layout is only valid for module type files. Other file types like `.SID` have a different layout, but basically showing the same information.

[9] The highest possible frequency is half the output frequency (22KHz when playing at 44Khz).

[10] If your VESA bios does not support 132 columns a 80x50 mode is used.

[11] See appendix See wap.

[12] a set of drums is defined aswell