KTabS Reader Guide

Introduction

The KTabS Reader is designed to play .ktb files, which are music files created by the KTabS software. Several sample songs are available for free download on your My KTabS page. Bundles of KTabS files called KPacks can be installed as a group in your Reader folder. Some KPacks are available for free download from your My KTabS page, while others can be purchased from the KTabS Store.

You will notice that there are many icons and menu items that are grayed out in the KTabS Reader. These are functions that are available with the KTabS software but not with the Reader. Below is a summary of the icons that are used by the KTabS Reader.

Icons

Open	opens a .ktb file to be played by the Reader
Authorship Info	allows you to view information about the current music file, such as title and author, if available
About	tells about the current version of KTabS Reader
Play Delay	allows you to enter the number of seconds you want KTabS to wait after you click the "Play" button before it starts playing back the music
Play	starts the playback of a song
Stop	stops the playback of a song
Home	selects the first row of music
End	selects the last row of music
Tie All Views	causes all open windows to be synchronized so that an action performed on one applies to all windows
Tile Windows	arranges all open windows so they can be viewed side by side
Midi	arranges all open windows so they can be viewed side by side

Opening Reader files

To open a .ktb file that you installed as part of a KPack, click the "Open"

icon on your toolbar. Select the file you wish to open, and click "OK".

Playing Music

To play a .ktb music file that you have opened with your Reader, click the green "Play"

button on the toolbar. Playback will start from whichever row is selected. To quickly go to the beginning of the music, press the "Home" key on your keyboard and the first row of music will be selected.

To stop the playback, press the red "stop"

button on the toolbar. Playback will stop automatically at the end of the music.

Play Delay

Sometimes it is convenient to have KTabS wait a certain amount of time after you press the play button before playback actually begins. If you are playing along with KTabS, this gives you time to pick up your kalimba before playback starts.

To delay playback, enter the number of seconds you wish KTabS to wait in the box to the left of the play button on the Top Toolbar.

When you press the play button, KTabS will count down the number of seconds you entered before it begins playing back your music.

Getting into the Music

You can also use your KTabS Reader to scroll through the music one line at a time. To do this, click on the row of music where you would like to start. The row will highlight green. You can use the arrow keys on your computer keyboard to scroll up and down through the music.

Home/End

To jump to the beginning or end of the music, use the green "Home"

and "End"

arrows on the toolbar.

Playing Multiple Files Together

It is possible to play more than one .ktb file at the same time with your Reader. For example, a kalimba duet might be written as two separate .ktb files, and you can use the Reader to play the files together.

To play more than one file at a time:

1. Open each file you wish to play with your Reader.

2. To view all the files side by side, click the "Tile Windows"

icon on the toolbar.

3. Then click the "Tie All Views Together"

icon. This will cause whatever action you take to apply to all the windows.

4. Click the Home

button to select the beginning of the music. This will happen for all windows at once since the views are tied together.

5. Click the "Play"

button. All the song files will start playing at the same time.

6. To untie the windows so you can play each one separately, click again on the "Tie All Views Together"

icon.