What is KTPlayer and how does it work?
KTPlayer is a cue-based playback application for live musical theatre. It loads a show file authored by KeyboardTEK that contains the show's playback tracks, click track, and other audio content.
KeyboardTEK often partners with each show's original playback designers, meaning you receive the show's original playback content and structure: exactly how the show's composers, arrangers, and orchestrators intended it to sound.
Why do shows use playback?
Playback is used for a variety of reasons in modern musicals, including to utilize sounds that can't be played or recreated live or reinforce the live instrumentation.
Playback elements are often vital to how the sound of the show, but many times been left undocumented, or vaguely indicated in the score. KTPlayer by KeyboardTEK provides your production with these key elements, in an easy to use, purpose built playback app.
How it works
The KTPlayer show file (.ktd ) that you receive contains an ordered cuelist authored by KeyboardTEK: a visual breakdown of the show, including manual cues and pickup points. In performance, the operator presses Go to fire the next cue, and audio plays through the configured audio device. The mixer gives you the show's multi-channel output, so you can route each stem (click, LTC, individual tracks) to the right physical output. The click channel, for example, goes to the musicians' headphones so everyone stays in time.
The license model separates the show file from the right to use it: the .ktd holds the tracks, and an activation key (or a .kta activation file) unlocks it.
Getting KTPlayer set up
You don't author cues in KTPlayer from scratch, they're ready for you to use. Once you've loaded the show file, activated the license, and set up your audio routing, the show is ready to perform. The main interface is what you use in performance and per-cue customization (tempo, pitch, repeats, fade times, colors) happens in edit view.