Taps reads and writes various types of files, many of which are specific to taps. Here are the valid file types.

Analysis

• .wav :
  • Taps reads sound recordings in the form of .wav files, mono or stereo, with sample rate 44,100 Hz on Mac OS X and Windows, or 48,000 Hz on Linux.
  • Output sound files are also .wav, in stereo, at the same sample rate.
  • The working sample rate can also be specified on the command line, as explained here.
  
  
• .pp :
  • Taps can optionally be run in preprocess mode, prior to the standard analysis. This mode generates data files that may in some cases be faster to analyze than the actual sound files.
  • When running in preprocess mode, taps writes .pp files containing information on the sinusoidal peaks in each frame of an associated sound file.
  • A .pp file can then be loaded in the analysis face instead of the original .wav file. This can sometimes make sinusoidal analysis faster, since the forward FFTs and peak finding steps have been precomputed.
  
  
• .fft :
  • Also created during preprocessing, these contain FFT frames for the associated sound file, computed with TAPESTREA's default windowing, hop size, and zero padding.
  • These are loaded internally when a .pp file is loaded, so a user only needs to avoid deleting them unless the associated .pp file is also deleted.

Synthesis

• .tap :
  • This type of file represents a taps template and is created when a template is saved from the user interface. It stores information on the template's name, ID, type, and internal data structures.
  • A .tap file can be loaded from the synthesis face to access the template it holds, often one saved from a prior sitting. ID checking mechanisms exist to prevent the same template from being loaded twice; instead, an already loaded template can be copied within the synthesis interface.
  • Example .tap files are here.
  
  
• .xml :
  • A taps template can also be saved in XML format by ending the file name with a .xml extension. It stores all the information that is in the .tap file, but is easier to modify directly.
  • A .xml file can be loaded and saved from anywhere that a .tap file can be.
  • When a template is saved as .xml from the analysis face, source information and analysis parameters are also saved in the .xml file. TAPESTREA currently ignores this information, but it is still useful reference material and could also be used in an XML database. Similarly, users may add their own fields to a saved .xml file.
  • Example .xml files are in the distribution/examples.
  
  
• .ck :
  • This represents a ChucK file, or the special "script template" in taps-talk. It contains ChucK code and can be created and modified from any text editor.
  • A .ck file is loaded from the synthesis interface to obtain a script template that can then be played from within taps.
  
  
• .qz :
  • A .qz file contains a pitch or time quantization table. It can also be created and modified from any text editor.
  • Loading a .qz file from the synthesis face associates the pitch or time table with the currently selected template. If no template is selected, nothing is loaded. A template's pitch and time quantization tables can be changed on the fly simply by loading different .qz files. To remove quantization from the template, load an empty pitch or time quantization table.
  • Here are sample quantization files that show the expected format.

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• .fli :
  • This represents a feature library or database, with pre-extracted feature values for a number of raw sounds or templates.
  • It can be created by a user and also modified by taps during run-time.