Key terms and concepts
A plain-language glossary of the words you'll meet across KTPlayer and these docs.
Tracks
Playback
Pre-recorded audio that is intended to be heard by the audience alongside the live band during a show. Some musicals utilize playback for sounds that can't be produced live, to add textures central to a show's style, or to reinforce the live instrumentation. Playback does not replace any instruments included in the show's orchestration.
Click track
A metronome-style audio guide that keeps the band and playback together. The click channel is routed to the musicians' headphones, not to the audience. See Understanding your audio.
Counts
A spoken voice that counts the band into a section, carried in the click channel. See Understanding your audio.
Track
A single audio file or 'stem' inside a cue: the click, a band part, a pre-recorded vocal, timecode, and so on. A cue usually contains several tracks playing together. See Understanding your audio.
Linear Timecode (LTC)
A timing signal KTPlayer can output to sync other equipment (lighting, automation, video) to the playback. See Linear Timecode (LTC).
Audio/Playback
Audio device
The hardware KTPlayer sends sound out through, usually an external audio interface. The number of outputs on the device determines how many separate stems you can route. See How to set up your audio interface and configure audio routing.
Warping
Time-stretching audio so it plays faster or slower without changing pitch, or vice versa. KTPlayer warps the tracks from the original tempos when a cue's tempo or pitch is adjusted. See Adjusting and altering cues.
The cuelist
Cuelist
The ordered list of cues that make up the show. See How the cuelist works.
Cue
A row of the cuelist that's an individual marker in the show's timeline. Firing a cue starts the audio from that point in the show or song. The cuelist is the ordered set of these markers.
Section
The space between two cues. Not interchangeable with "cue".
Parent cue
A cue designed to be triggered manually in each performance. The start of a song or section, or coming out of a vamp: any point the operator triggers manually.
Child cue
A checkpoint or pickup cue, inserted in the cuelist for rehearsal or emergency pickups.
Playback and Performing
Go
The command that fires the selected cue. You "press Go" (via the GO button, a key command, or a MIDI control). See How to trigger and stop cues.
Trigger
The act of firing a cue, the same thing as pressing Go.
Selected cue
The cue queued to fire next when you press Go. Shown in the cuelist with a thick colored border and diagonal lines.
Active cue
The cue currently playing. When playback is stopped, the active cue is the same as the selected cue.
Cuelist playhead
The arrow or triangle on the far left of the cuelist, marking which cue is playing. Distinct from the timeline playhead.
Timeline playhead
The vertical line in the timeline showing the current playback position within a cue.
Vamp
A section of the playback that loops until the next cue is triggered. See Vamps, loops, and exits.
Quantisation
An option that delays a Go press until the start of the next measure, so cues fire cleanly in time instead of the instant you press. See How to use quantised cue triggering.
Interface
Main interface
The standard KTPlayer screen you use in performance: Masthead, Cuelist, Mixer, Timeline, and Bottom bar. See The main interface and edit view explained.
Edit view
A view of the main interface (View → Edit Cuelist, ⌘E) where the cuelist becomes an editable table for show-prep adjustments like tempo, color, and vamps. Playback can't run in edit view.
Mixer
The panel in the main interface with one vertical strip per channel: fader, meter, and output assignment. Where you set channel levels and route each channel to a physical output on your audio device. See How to use the mixer.
Timeline
The panel below the cuelist that shows the current cue as waveforms with a moving playhead, measure lines, and beats: a visual readout of where playback is. See How to use the timeline.
Control and Assignments
Key command
A keyboard input assigned to a command, for example Space = Go. Key commands are customizable in Preferences → Assignments. See How to assign and edit key commands.
Keyboard shortcut
A fixed app shortcut like ⌘S = save. Unlike key commands, keyboard shortcuts aren't customizable. See Keyboard Shortcuts.
MIDI assignment
A binding between an incoming MIDI message (a Note On or CC from a controller, pad, or footswitch) and a KTPlayer command, set in Preferences → Assignments. See How to connect and assign MIDI input devices.
MIDI device
A controller, footswitch, pad, or keyboard connected to the Mac that sends MIDI messages KTPlayer can bind to commands. Each device is enabled for input with Listen. See How to connect and assign MIDI input devices.
Files and Licensing
Show file (.ktd)
The packaged show authored by KeyboardTEK: every cue, every audio channel, and every authored default. It's what KTPlayer opens and plays. See Files and saving.
Activation key
A 24-character key that activates the production license on a machine. The standard way to activate; needs a one-time internet connection. See Activation and licensing.
Activation file (.kta)
A file that activates the production license without an internet connection. An alternate to the activation key, mainly for offline machines. See Activation and licensing.