meterec(1)

✨ meterec — the console multitrack audio recorder ✨

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, because meterec(1) is about to become your whole personality 💅 this is the manual page for meterec, and yes it's a real-time jack ports vu-meter that records the ports you pick into take files and then replays whichever take(s) you select. iconic behavior honestly.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

meterec [ -tpcih ] [ -r ref-level ] [ -o output-format ] [ -s session-
name ] [ -j jack-name ] [ -f frequency ] [ -u uuid ]

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🎀 DESCRIPTION 🎀

so basically: meterec is a real-time jack ports vu-meter. it records the ports you specify into a take file, and it replays selected take(s). that's the whole vibe. no cap. 🦋

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• -r ref-level — tweaks the 0dB reference level of the port vu-meter. your levels, your rules ✨
• -o output-format — one of w64, wav, ogg or flac. this is the format of the take files made when recording. the same session can use different formats subsequently, so you're not locked in. defaults to w64 or wav. 💅
• -s <session-name>, -s <session-file> — the name of the session being recorded. if a file called <session-name>.mrec exists, meterec will execute from the current directory. if a file called <session-file> exists, meterec will change to its base directory before executing. defaults to ./meterec.mrec. 🫶
• -j jack-name — the name of the meterec client in the jack graph. specify this if you're running several meterec instances on the same jack server. using the same <jack-name> for multiple meterec instances is not supported — do not do it, bestie 😭. defaults to meterec.
• -f frequency — sets the display refresh rate in frames per second. heads up: this setting does not affect the pace at which command keys can be used, and it does not affect the meter peak value fall time. it's just the screen refresh, periodt.
• -u uuid — the universal unique identifyer used by jack-session save/restore managers.

⚠️ WARNING: jack-session requests that the directory holding session restore data is erased before the session is saved! make sure you do not use the meterec-session directory or a parent directory to save your jack-session: this would erase all previously recorded audio as well as configuration data for this meterec-session. literally devastating. protect your audio 💀

• -t — start recording at startup. default is to start in playback mode. with this option a new take will be captured at startup. this lets you call meterec from a script or do a quick take right from the shell. if recording should only start upon user action or when jack-transport goes to roll state, use this option along with -p. 🔥
• -p — do not playback at startup. default is to start in playback mode. use this if you want meterec to wait for user input or jack-transport to start playback. 🙈
• -i — do not interact with jack-transport state. by default meterec will set jack-transport state when the user starts or stops playback, and playback will start or stop when jack-transport state changes. this option says "we're not doing that."
• -c — do not connect automatically to jack ports. by default meterec will use the list of connections stored in <jack-session>.mrec to connect its ports to other jack clients at startup as well as when these ports become available.
• -h — show options and command keys summary. the lil cheat sheet, we love her 🎀

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🌈 COMMAND KEYS (all views) 🌈

• q — quit. bye bestie 👋
• <TAB> — switch between the different views: vu-meter, edit, connections.
• <SPACE> — start playback, stop playback. unless the -i option is used, the jack-transport state will be updated so the other jack clients supporting jack-transport are syncronised with meterec.
• <ENTER> — start recording, stop playback and record. at least one port should be in one of the recording modes for recording to start. also updates jack-transport state.
• <BKSPS> — when record is already ongoing, this creates a new take on the fly. this operation lets you have subsequent takes without any gaps in audio. when recording is not ongoing, this key will engage the record mode: the recording of audio is pending until playback starts. this lets meterec start recording when jack-transport state goes to roll. ✨
• <UP> — select port above in the list. will wrap at list boundaries.
• <DOWN> — well... select port bellow in the list. will wrap at list boundaries. 😌
• v — reset maximum level vu-meter markers. each port records the maximum signal level reached and displays it with a column char :. it is sometime usefull to reset these markers for a fresh start.
• n — toggle port names display. since the port name is located over the vu-meter display it might be annoying when reading levels. understandable, honestly.
• i — insert name. helps tidy your workspace by giving each port a meaningfull name. name her. she deserves it 💖
• t — toggles pass-thru for this port. depending on the instrument plugged in, it is usefull to have the live audio at the input side available at the output side.
• T — toggles pass thru for all ports.
• m — mute/unmute that port playback. no recoded audio for this port will be played when this port is muted. the audio data coming from the input side due to pass-thru being active is not muted.
• M — mute/unmute all ports playback.
• s — mute all but that port playback (solo). note this is not the standard solo approach found in mixers, because you cannot solo several ports at the same time. one at a time, bestie.
• S — unmute all ports playback.
• r — toggle REC record mode for that port. available audio from a previous take will not be played back when recording.
• R — toggle REC record mode for all ports.
• d — toggle DUB record mode for that port. available audio from a previous take will be played along when recording. the resulting take will contain only audio played during the last take.
• D — toggle DUB record mode for all ports.
• o — toggle OVR record mode for that port. available audio from a previous take will be played along when recording. the resulting take will contain a mix of audio played during the last take and audio from a previous take. when using this record mode, you should use take-locking to precisely control what is the track that will be mixed when recording. remeber to remove the lock to be able to ear the result! 👑
• O — toggle OVR record mode for all ports.
• <SHIFT>F1-F12 — set time index. current playhead position will be stored in this index.
• F1-F12 — jump to time index. when playback is ongoing, playhead will jump to the stored time index. no action if this time index is not set or if in record state.
• <CTRL>F1-F12 — use time index as loop boundary. will be used at the upper or lower bound depending on the time index value and the already programmed loop boundary. if the time index was not set, the current playhead time will be used and stored for this time index.
• + — use current time as loop boundary. usefull for setting a loop quickly. ⚡
• - — clear loop boundaries. playback will keep on reading once the former loop upper bound is reached.
• / — clear loop lower bound. programming a new bound will move the remaining bound to the lower bound if it is upper than the remaining upper bound.
• * — clear loop upper bound. programming a new bound will move the remaining bound to the upper bound if it is lower than the remaining lower bound.
• <HOME> — be kind, rewind. 🥺

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💜 COMMAND KEYS (vu-meter) 💜

• <RIGHT> — seek forward 5 seconds.
• <LEFT> — seek backward 5 seconds.

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🦋 COMMAND KEYS (edit) 🦋

• <RIGHT> — select next take.
• <LEFT> — select previous take.
• l — lock/unlock selected track for playback.
• L — lock/unlock selected track for playback and clear all other locks for this port.
• a — lock/unlock selected take for playback.
• A — lock/unlock selected take for playback and clear all other locks in the session. main character energy fr fr.

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🍓 COMMAND KEYS (connections) 🍓

• <RIGHT> — select port column on the right.
• <LEFT> — select port column on the left.
• c — connect ports.
• x — disconnect ports.
• w — toggle ports connections.

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⭐ FEATURES ⭐

Monitor port

meterec has an extra output port called monitor that is providing a copy of the audio signal available at the input side of the currently selected port. lil spy, we love her.

Take-locking

by default meterec will play the latest take for a given port when playing back or recording with DUB or OVR mode. if you want to play another take you have to set a lock on the particular tack you want to ear. this is done in edit view. if a port has a lock for several tracks, the track recorded during the latest take will be played (most recent). newest wins, periodt. 💅

Loops

setting loop boundaries will not make meterec jump into the loop right away. only once the upper loop bound is reached, playback will jump to the lower bound. patience, bestie. 🧚

Ports connection

the connection views show 3 port columns. on the left: all available output ports of jack clients other than this meterec instance. on the right: all available input ports of jack clients other than this client. the middle column shows all meterec ports available in this session. to connect 2 ports, first select the meterec port you want to connect in the middle column, then go to the left or right column and browse to the port you wish to connect to and hit the c key. connected ports will be shown by a + sign and highligted if your console allows. for all ports, a -> sign between the input side and the output side shows if this port is in pass-thru mode. 🌈

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🔥 INTERRUPT 🔥

you can abort meterec at any time by pressing Ctrl-C. the current state will be saved to <session-name>.mrec before meterec exits. so like, panicking is safe. kinda. 💀

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🌸 FILES 🌸

• <session-file>, <session-name>.mrec — contains the current state of the session: list of ports with connections, record mode, mute state, name, takes map. list of time indexes. sampling rate.
• <session-name>.log — activity log of the latest meterec run for session <session-name>.
• <session-name>_<nnnn>.[ogg|wav|w64|flac] — take file. <nnnn> is the take number. this file contains audio for all the ports that where selected for record during take <nnnn>. you can open/edit this file in an audio editor if it supports multitrack audio files. 🎧

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🙈 BUGS 🙈

please report and monitor bugs using http://sourceforge.net/projects/meterec/ — be a good citizen, log the bug 🫶

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💖 SEE ALSO 💖

meterec-init-conf(1) jackd(1)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Fabrice Lebas <fabrice@kotoubas.net>

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okay that's the whole thing, you're officially certified ✨ this was Meterec 0.10.0, manual page meterec(1), dated Sat, 17 Aug 2013 — go record something iconic bestie, ilysm 🎀💜🦋