Playing Sounds
Farrago's main window provides access to all sounds currently available within the program. The left side of the window allows you to switch between sets, while the center displays all sounds in a specific set. Each set in Farrago can contain up to 80 sounds, one per tile on the screen, and you can have as many sets as you need.
Audio playback of your sounds is triggered by pressing a tile's keyboard shortcut, or by clicking a tile with the mouse.
Triggering Sounds via Keyboard
Farrago provides fast and powerful keyboard-based playback. When Farrago is in the foreground, you can press 40 different keys (1 -> 0, Q -> P, A -> ;, and Z -> /) to trigger a unique sound. Another 40 sounds can be accessed by adding the option key (Option+1 -> Option+0, Option+Q -> Option+P, Option+A -> Option+;, and Option+Z -> Option+/).
With Farrago, your keyboard itself becomes a sound effects machine. Simply press a key once to trigger the sound. Press it again while playback is occurring to stop or pause it (depending on the tile's “Allow Pausing” setting, adjustable in the Inspector). A third press will cause the sound to play once again.
Example
A simple 2x2 sound set in Farrago
This screenshot shows a simple set of 4 sounds, arranged in a convenient 2x2 grid. The “Q” on the keyboard has triggered playback of the “Fog Horn” sound. Pressing “W” would trigger the “Slow Jam Loop” sound, pressing “A” would trigger “Rain”, and so on. Easy!
Useful Playback Shortcuts
Farrago includes keyboard shortcuts for many common actions. The following are several useful shortcuts related specifically to playback.
Return: The return key triggers “Play Selection”, causing any selected sounds to be played. Select multiple tiles (using the Command and Shift keys), then use this shortcut to fire them simultaneously.
Spacebar: The spacebar triggers “Pause All”, immediately pausing all audio playback. Note that the “Pause All” command applies to all audio playing in Farrago, even if the tile is normally not set to pause its playback. If any tiles are paused and no playback is occurring, this switches to an “Unpause All” command.
Escape: The escape key triggers “Stop All”, immediately stopping all audio. Use this to instantly stop audio playback and reset active sounds to their default state.
-: The “-” key triggers “Fade Out All” immediately fading out all audio playback from Farrago over a fixed 2 seconds. Use this to stop audio playback more gradually.
Global Keyboard Shortcuts
With up to 80 different keyboard shortcuts available to play audio, it's not viable to make all of Farrago's sounds globally accessible, as their shortcuts would conflict with too many other applications. Instead, we provide an option for one global keyboard shortcut which pulls Farrago's main window forward, so you can then use the in-app shortcuts.
For instance, you might hit “Option-Shift-F” to pull Farrago forward, then “A” to play a sound. This two-step process is tremendously quick, and allows for easy playback of dozens of different sounds.
To configure this Global Hotkey, see Farrago's Preferences window.
Triggering Sounds via the Mouse
While Farrago is geared toward keyboard usage, it's also possible to trigger sounds using the mouse. This works similarly to keyboard-based playback. Double-clicking on a tile will cause the sound to play, and double-clicking again will stop or pause it (depending on the tile's “Allow Pausing” setting, adjustable in the Inspector). Double-clicking the tile a third time will again initiate playback, or unpause the tile.
Additional Notes
To prevent inadvertent audio, mouse playback requires a double-click on the tile by default. Users wishing to operate Farrago via the mouse may wish to set tiles to play with just a single click. This can be done by adjusting the “Single click to trigger sounds” checkbox, in Farrago's Preferences window.
All playback options mentioned above in the “Useful Playback Shortcuts” section are also available via the mouse. Access these options from the Control menu.