Playhead & Playzone

The playhead is the vertical line that marks the current reading position in a scrolling score. As playback advances, the score moves beneath the playhead and cues are triggered when their bounding box crosses the playhead line.

The playzone is a translucent highlight region centred on the playhead. It gives performers a wider visual context of "where we are now" and can be styled per project.

Adjustable Playhead Position

By default, the playhead sits at the horizontal centre of the screen. This means roughly equal amounts of upcoming and past notation are visible at any moment. But different musical situations call for different reading positions, and performers often have strong preferences about how much lead time they need.

Why Move the Playhead?

Preparation time. In a densely notated score with precise rhythmic cues or complex extended technique instructions, performers need to see material well in advance. Shifting the playhead to the left -- say 25% or 30% from the screen edge -- gives significantly more screen space to the right, meaning upcoming notation stays visible for longer before it reaches the intersection point. This extra read-ahead time can be the difference between a confident entrance and a scrambled reaction.

Loose timing and sustained material. In freer passages where timing is approximate and material might be held, stretched, or revisited, a centred or even right-of-centre playhead keeps the current material on screen longer. Performers who are sustaining a texture or interpreting a passage freely may not want the notation they're working with to disappear off the left edge too quickly. Keeping the playhead further right means the "now" zone lingers.

Ensemble coordination. In networked performance where multiple performers share the same scrolling score, different instrumentalists may need different amounts of preparation depending on their part. A percussionist reading rapid triggering cues might want maximum look-ahead, while a vocalist sustaining long tones might prefer a centred view. Since the playhead offset is a per-device setting, each performer can adjust independently without affecting synchronisation -- the underlying score position stays locked across all clients.

Audience projection. When a separate display shows the score to an audience, a centred playhead often makes the most visual sense, giving equal context on either side. Meanwhile the performers' tablets might have the playhead pulled left for more look-ahead. This is a natural configuration in live performance setups.

Rehearsal vs. performance. During rehearsal, a performer might want a centred playhead for a balanced overview while learning the piece. In performance, they might shift it left once they know the material and need that extra preparation window for confident execution. The drag handle makes this a quick adjustment between runs.

Using the Drag Handle

1. Hover near the playhead line. A small grip handle and a lock icon appear at the top of the line.
2. Click the lock icon to unlock the playhead position.
3. Drag the grip handle left or right to reposition. The playzone follows automatically.
4. Click the lock icon again to lock the position and prevent accidental movement during performance.

The offset is saved per device and persists across page reloads.

Using Preferences

Open the project preferences dialog (hamburger menu) and look for Playhead Position % in the Appearance section. The slider ranges from 10% (far left) to 90% (far right), with 50% being the default centre position.

The preferences value is saved per project on the server, while the drag handle saves per device in the browser. The drag handle setting takes priority on load, since screen size and performer preference are inherently local.

Visibility Toggle

The playhead and playzone can be cycled through four visibility states using the toggle button in the transport controls (bottom-right grid):

• Both -- playhead line and playzone visible (default)
• Playhead only -- just the line
• Playzone only -- just the highlight region
• None -- both hidden

Appearance

Playhead and playzone colours and the playhead line width can be configured in the project preferences dialog under Appearance:

• Playhead Color -- colour of the vertical line
• Playzone Color -- colour of the highlight region (supports transparency via hex-with-alpha)
• Playhead Width -- thickness of the line in pixels

Cue Interaction

Cues are triggered when the playhead crosses their left edge during forward playback. The collision system reads the playhead element's actual screen position, so adjusting the playhead offset does not break cue triggering -- cues always fire at the playhead line, wherever it is on screen.

This applies to all cue types: navigation, audio, synth, OSC, animation triggers, pause, stop, and continuous control lanes (oscCtrl).

Repeat Indicator

When a cueRepeat region is active, the playhead line turns red and a count box appears near the bottom showing the current repeat iteration. Clicking the count box cancels the repeat and resumes normal playback.

Edge Behaviour

At the very start and end of the score, the playhead departs from its configured screen position to avoid showing empty space beyond the score boundaries:

• Near the start: the score's left edge stays at the screen's left edge and the playhead moves rightward from the left toward its configured offset.
• Near the end: the score's right edge stays at the screen's right edge and the playhead moves rightward from its configured offset toward the right.

During the main body of the score, the playhead stays fixed at its offset position and the score scrolls beneath it.

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