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 Buttons
The Transport buttons that appear in the Toolbar are useful tools for initiating both playback and recording. They function much as the controls on a tape recorder would. These buttons are customizable, as are all Toolbar buttons, so you can choose which Transport functions to display. As they appear below, from left to right, they are Rewind, Play, Play Selection, Pause, Stop, Fast Forward, Record, and Record Info.

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

To rewind playback to the beginning of a document:
1. Click the Toolbar Stop button twice, or click the Rewind button.

To start playback from a specific point in a document:
1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and press command-Spacebar 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 audio document. Playback begins from the location that you double-clicked and continues to the end of the document.
3. To stop playback, press the Spacebar.

To play a selection only:
1. Click the cursor at the desired location in the audio document and drag to select the range you desire.
2. Press Option-Spacebar, or click on the Play Selection button on the Toolbar. 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 preroll or postroll:
1. Choose Auditioning from the Preference menu. The Auditioning dialog appears.
2. Enter the desired amount of preroll and postroll and click OK.
3. Click the cursor in the audio document and drag to select the desired range.
4. Press Control-Spacebar. Peak plays the selection, adding the amount of preroll and postroll that you specified.

Triggering Playback of Multiple Audio Documents 
As explained earlier, 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 Command and 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 the order you choose.
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.