Your first project

This walkthrough takes one song from an audio file to a saved Prest project. Keyboard shortcuts use ⌘ on macOS and Ctrl on Windows and Linux.

1. Open a song

1. Open Prest.
2. Choose Open… in the middle of the window, or the folder button near the left of the toolbar, Open a project or a song (⌘O), and pick an audio file. You can also drop the file anywhere on the window.

Expected result: the timeline shows the song as a track, in a new project named after the song. Nothing is written to disk until you save.

2. Play it

1. Press Space to play, and Space again to pause.
2. Click the timeline to move the playhead. Home goes back to the start.

The readout in the toolbar counts bars at 120 BPM in 4/4, dimmed, until the song has a tempo map.

3. Separate the stems

1. Click the song’s track name. This picks its clip, which is what PresTools’ tools run on.
2. Choose Separate on the toolbar. Its window opens over the tracks.
3. If stem separation is not installed yet, choose Install.
4. Choose a model, and tick the stems you want.
5. Choose Separate. If the model is not downloaded yet, the button says how much it downloads first.

Expected result: the stems appear as tracks under the song, and their files are written beside it. Activity on the toolbar (⌘B) shows the work while it runs. Use M and S on a track to mute or solo it, or press X to show the mixer. More in Separate stems.

4. Map the tempo

1. Click the song’s track name again.
2. Choose Tempo on the toolbar.
3. If beat detection is not installed yet, choose Install.
4. Keep Build the tempo map ticked, and choose Detect beats.

Expected result: the bars follow the music, and the readout is no longer dimmed. Snapping to beats (G) and the metronome (C) become available. More in Map the tempo.

5. Mark the sections

1. Double-click the Sections lane in the bar where a part of the song starts. A section four bars long appears, with its name ready to type.
2. Type its name, such as Verse or Chorus, and press Enter.
3. Drag the section’s edges to fit the part. Repeat for each part.

Expected result: the form strip appears under the toolbar, with the sections in the order they play. While the song plays, you can repeat, skip, or hold them from there: see Play a show.

The Chords tool can also write the sections for you, from its chord chart. See The chord chart.

6. Save the project

1. Press ⌘S.
2. Accept the suggested name, <song>.prest, beside the song, or choose another place.

Expected result: the project is saved, with its stems, tempo map, sections, and mix. Paths inside it are kept relative to its folder, so you can move the folder as a whole.

To come back to it later, open the .prest file.

Next: Play a show, or add chords and lyrics with PresTools in Prest.