Playback & Transport

The transport controls run along the bottom of the main window, and they are where you spend most of your time. This is how you play a file and steer through it.

PXR plays from a precise internal clock, so the timing stays tight and rock-steady even on dense, busy files. There is no audible drift or stutter, which matters as much for a delicate ballad as it does for a wall of notes.

Opening files#

How	Action
Open a single file (replaces what is loaded)	File → Open, `⌘O`, or drag a file onto the window
Add files to the playlist	File → Add to Playlist, `⌘⇧O`, or drag files in
Open a recent file	File → Open Recent

Feel free to drop a whole folder onto the window; PXR will dig through it and add every MIDI file inside. Supported files are Standard MIDI Files with a .mid, .midi, or .kar (karaoke) extension, in both Type 0 (single track) and Type 1 (multi-track) forms.

The transport controls#

The transport sits in two rows: the seek bar, volume, tempo, and pitch on top, with the playback buttons below.

Control	What it does	Shortcut
Play / Pause	Start or pause playback	`Space`
Stop	Stop and return to the start	`⌘.`
Previous	Jump to the previous track	`⌘←`
Next	Jump to the next track	`⌘→`
Shuffle	Play the playlist in random order	`⌘⇧S`
Repeat	Cycle through Off, Repeat One, and Repeat All	`⌘⇧R`

The play button wears a beat ring that pulses in time with the music. If you find it distracting, you can turn it off in Display settings.

Media keys#

You can also drive playback with your keyboard's media keys and the macOS Now Playing controls (in Control Centre or on the lock screen). Play/pause, next, and previous all work, so you can steer PXR without ever bringing its window forward.

Seeking#

Drag the seek bar to jump to any point in the file.
The LCD shows the current time. Switch the LCD's right side between time and channel meters in Display settings.

Navigating with markers#

Many MIDI files include markers that name points in the song, such as an intro, a verse, or a chorus. When a file has them:

The transport's chapter / marker split buttons jump to the previous or next marker, so you can skip straight to a section instead of scrubbing the seek bar.
The marker name briefly flashes on the LCD as each one is reached.
The neighbouring split buttons jump by track instead, for moving between files.

Yamaha arranger files carry their sections as XF data, which gets its own click-to-seek view. See Yamaha XF.

Volume, tempo, and pitch#

Volume sets the overall output level.
Tempo adjusts playback speed; the live BPM is shown on the LCD and in the now-playing strip.
Pitch (transpose) shifts the whole song up or down.

Tip

For per-channel volume, pan, and effect levels, open the Mixer (⌘6).

Repeat and shuffle in detail#

Repeat cycles through three states each time you press it: Off, Repeat One (loop the current track), and Repeat All (loop the whole playlist).
Shuffle plays the playlist in a random order. Combine it with Repeat All for endless random play.

Stopping sound in a hurry#

If a note gets stuck or you just need silence right now, reach for MIDI → MIDI Panic (⌘⇧.). It silences every note and resets controllers on all channels, so it is the button to remember when things go quiet but the noise does not. See Troubleshooting for more stuck-note help.