287 lines
10 KiB
ReStructuredText
287 lines
10 KiB
ReStructuredText
User Guide
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##########
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:slug: User Guide
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:lang: en
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp.png
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:align: center
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Loopp is a music creation tool, intended for live use. The focus is on real
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time processing and a fastintuitive workflow. With extensive MIDI mapping
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support, you can get looping just how you like! The next sections will show
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you how to set up Loopp with JACK for audio input and output, and introduce
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the concepts of "Scenes" and "Clips" to let you start arranging your
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creativity for live performances!
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Loopp and JACK
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==============
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If you are totally new to JACK and Loopp, this is an example video that
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shows what a typical Loopp looping session looks like:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6WiWDDKRCQ
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Before we can record we need to connect some audio source to Loopps
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master_in and connect master_right and master_left to the output jacks
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of the system. See screenshot of the connections:
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_jack_connections.png
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:align: center
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Next we will take a look at the Loopp interface, which may seem complex at
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the start, but really it's quite simple once we understand what each part of
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the UI does.
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_interface.png
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:align: left
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You can see 8 Tracks with each 10 Clips. To check if your setup work
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just play your audio source and you should see the amplitude of the audio
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on the top right meter. If this works, you are ready to go!
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Clips
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======
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Now click on a Clip to start recording and click again to start looping!
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Right clicking on a clip lets you:
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* Load Audio loop in the clip
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* Save the clip
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* Select 'Special' then record,play or stop the clip with space bar
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* Choose the number of beats
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* Use the clip as tempo
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* Rename the clip
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* Clear the clip (can also be done with MIDI Binding)
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All actions of Loopp are synced to the Beat, which is indicated by the four
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squares on the bottom right of the window. You can change the tempo by
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turning the knob with the BPM number (which should be 120 by default).
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_scenes.png
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:align: right
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Scenes
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======
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A pretty important concept of Loopp are the scenes. On each track you can
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just play one clip at the same time. In the master section of Loopp you can
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see a list of Scenes. You can launch a scene by clicking on
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it. When you do this, all clips in this row start at the same time.
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.. Tip::
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When you use clips with a length higher than one bar, be careful to
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start the recording at the same time when other clips in the row are
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starting. If not, launching a scene will create a little mess ;)
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-----
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_track.png
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:align: left
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Tracks
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======
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All tracks of Loopp have some controllers to do incredible things. I will
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walk through them from top to bottom. At first, there is the name of the
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track. You can change it by right-clicking on it. Below this,
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there is a circle showing the progress of the playing loop in the track.
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It's pretty useful to look at it when recording other clips in the same row.
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The next thing to come are the clips. You can give them a name with a right
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click, too. They also show the currect status of a clip, if it's recording,
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playing or empty. On the buttom is a fader, which adjust the volume of the
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track mixed to the master. Around the faders there are some controls
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we look at in the next sections.
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.. Tip::
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You can use your keyboard, to control the clips! The first scene
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are the numbers from 1-8, 9 triggers the first scene. The following
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rows are binded to the subjacent scenes. Just try!
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-----
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Panning
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=======
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Before we get into the world of processing in Loopp, let’s look on a pretty
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basic but powerful feature. It is introduced by version 1.1.1: The Panning.
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The knob above the fader of each track can split the signal to the two master
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channels as you want. So you have the possibility to give each channel a place
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in the master mix. This is pretty simple, so let’s move on …
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FX Section
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==========
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The first controls below the clip section are the effect section. In your
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JACK connection manager of your choice you will notice the Send_track_X and
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Return_track_X ports. Connecting the send to the input of a JACK client and the
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output back to the returns of Loopp will send the audio through this other JACK client.
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To enable the processing, click on the yellow FX Button. With the knob you can
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adjust the volume of the effect.
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This feature gives you endless possibilities. You could add as many effects as
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you want in any order. Just be creative!
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Reverb Send
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===========
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This feature gives you the great possibility to simply add some reverb on a
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track. Before we can try, we need to connect Loopps send_out to a reverb of
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our choice and the outputs of the reverb back to Loopps
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master_returns. If it's done, we can enable the reverb for each track with
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the Snd-Button and adjust the amount of reverb with the above knob.
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The connections for a reverb send are as follows:
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_reverb_send_connections.png
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:align: center
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_reverb_roomy.png
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:align: right
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And the recommended Roomy settings are shown here - the most important part
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is to set the Dry/Wet dial to 100% Wet, as then only the reverb is output,
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and the original signal is totally muted. Given that Loopp is already
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outputting the original signal, we do not want the reverb to also do that!
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There is a video about this topic, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLy9oG_WpHg
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-----
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Sidechaining
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============
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Using Loopp it's very easy to use sidechaining, for example to create some
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house bass lines.. It's a pretty simple concept: you use one audio signal to
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control the processing of another signal. This processing could be a
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compressor or an enveloper. So, how to use it? At first
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we again need to do some connections. Loopps sidechain_key needs to be
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connected to a sidechain input and Loopps sidechain_signal needs to be
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connected to the regular audio inputs of the JACK client.
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Send the outputs of the Ducka JACK client to the master returns.
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Back to Loopp. On one track you need to enable the Key-Button. This way the
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output of the track is the trigger for the sidechain effect. Now you can
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send each track with the knob above the Key-Button to JACK. If you
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want to see how it's works, watch these videos:
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* Explanation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AwtMUeBc9w
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* Showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJQs6w2XQc
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Input Section
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=============
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At the beginning of this tutorial we connected an audio source to Loopps master_in.
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You can input several different sources, or any output of a mixer or what ever you can
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imagine! In the top right corner of the GUI you can see the Loopp Input Section.
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.. Tip ::
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Loopp only has a mono input. If you want to connect a stereo source like a synthesizer,
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there are severel possibilities. In the most cases it's enough to connect just one side since
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there are equal or similar. If you need both sides, consider a mixer to mix them together.
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But there might be some trouble if you simply connect both to the input port.
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Here you have a meter, and a fader to adjust the volume of the input. The knobs below
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do the following:
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_inputsection.png
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:align: left
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* Snd-Button activates the Send
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* Knob above sets the amount, e. g. Reverb
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* Key-Button sets the input as Key-Signal for Sidechaining
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* Knob above the Key-Button how much of the input goes to the Sidechain-Signal
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* Mix-Button activates the routing of the input to the master outs of Loopp
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* Knob above the Mix-Button sets amount of the input on the master outs.
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So you have great possibilities here: a little reverb on the input, using an
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input for a special sidechaining key? Easy! You can monitor what you play just with
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Loopp and adjust the recorded volume to fit with the other tracks.
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Master Section
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==============
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_master_section.png
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:align: right
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Let’s take a look at the last part of the GUI: the master section. The function of the most elements
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are quite obvious, so i will only explain them in short:
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* the green, yellow, orange and red square show the beat (from bottom to top)
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* the Stop/Play button stops or restarts the transport
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* with the tap button you can adjust the tempo by clicking the beat
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* right click on tap button allow to input manually BPM input
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* the metro button activates a metronom on the headphones_out of Luppp (note that you can choose between a selection of different volume levels by right-clicking on the "metro" button)
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* the knob with the number sets the tempo
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* the return knob adjusts the volume of the returned audio (e. g. reverb)
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* the fader adjusts the master volume
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Saving and Loading Sessions
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===========================
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.. image:: {static}/images/guide/loopp_load.png
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:align: right
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Loading and saving is done by using the "Luppp" titled menu on the
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top left. Clicking the "Luppp" word opens the menu, allowing to control
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the session (New, Load, Save), setup controllers, and quit the program.
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-----
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Configuration
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=============
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Loopp provides some configuration features in a file under the user's
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config directory. It allows setting some options apart from the GUI.
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The file to edit is ``~/.config/soundship/loopp/loopp.prfs`` which uses the
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`JSON <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Json>`_ format.
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The default content looks like this::
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{
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"saveDirectory": "loopp",
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"resampleQuality": 1,
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"defaultControllers": [],
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"enablePerTrackSendReturns": 0
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}
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Save Directory
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--------------
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The option ``saveDirectory`` defines the directory where sessions are stored.
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The path is relative to the user’s home directory and defaults to ``loopp``::
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"saveDirectory": "loopp"
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Resample Quality
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----------------
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The quality for resampling can be defined with the ``resampleQuality`` key.
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Possible values are:
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* 0 = LINEAR
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* 1 = SINC_FASTEST
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* 2 = SINC_BEST
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The default value is ``SINC_FASTEST`` (``1``)::
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"resampleQuality": 1,
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Default Controllers
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-------------------
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The ``defaultControllers`` option allows to specify which controllers are
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loading automatically at startup. Note that multiple controllers can be added,
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listed as separate strings with a comma inbetween::
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"defaultControllers": ["akai_apc.ctlr", "launchpad_s.ctlr"]
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Enable Per Track Send/Returns
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-----------------------------
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The option ``enablePerTrackSendReturns`` controls if send/return channels will
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be enabled for each track. A value of ``0`` disabled, ``1`` enables it::
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"enablePerTrackSendReturns": 0
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