Visual click

To complement DP5's new visual cueing features (Streamers, flutters & punches), a visual click has been added.

You can choose the size and color of the visual click, which then flashes - in tempo - as a large circle on Digital Performer's own QuickTime movie window or on an external video screen (via external hardware triggered by DP5). The visual click, together with the audio and MIDI click, can be programmed with unlimited flexibility with DP5's new click programming features.

Customized click

In past versions, Digital Performer's click feature was tied to meter changes. In DP5, you can also insert click change events wherever you like in the Conductor track, independent of meter changes. This allows you to quickly and easily program customized audio, MIDI and visual click tracks for a wide range of situations. Three types of click change events are provided: beat click, tacet click and pattern click. Together, these click change events give you complete flexibility in programming even the most elaborate click tracks. For example, film composers and conductors can customize the click for each cue in preparation for sound stage recording sessions. Because click events are regular Conductor track events, creating the perfect customized click track has never been easier.

Beat click

The beat click makes clicks on regular beats or beat sub-divisions, just like the beat click that is part of a meter change event, except that a beat click event is independent of any meter change events. For example, you could insert a meter change event that clicks every quarter note, but then insert a beat click event a few bars later that clicks every eighth note.

Tacet click

The tacet click silences clicking until the next click change event (or meter). For example, you might create a countoff in which the last two clicks before the downbeat are silent. Or you may want to create a period of click silence in which you then program visual elements in the Conductor track (punches, flutters or streamers) during the silence in order to provide a visual timing reference.

Pattern click

The pattern click allows you to program any imaginable click pattern you wish using a convenient shorthand method of entering the click pattern.

Click defaults

The new click defaults feature lets you choose a preferred click pattern for any meter and tempo range that you specify. For example, at a slow 6/8 time, you might prefer to click on eighth note sub-divisions, while for a fast 6/8 you might prefer to only click every dotted-quarter note. You can create as many default click patterns as you wish for any variety of meters and tempo ranges. These default preferences can go far beyond the convention of clicking once per beat, thanks to DP5's new click programming features.

Once you customize your default click patterns as desired, Digital Performer will automatically use them whenever the click is enabled and your sequence Conductor Track matches the meter and tempo of each default click.

Enhanced countoff

Digital Performer now lets you specify the countoff in any number of beats and bars (instead of just bars). This allows you to include pick-up beats, countoff for only a portion of a measure and many other applications. In addition, you can specify any click pattern you wish for the countoff, and even program a visual countoff, just like the visual click, with its own customized settings.

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