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Playback controls

Selecting music in Motif creates a listening order from the Library view or collection you are currently browsing. The Now Playing bar remains at the bottom of the app while you move between Library and Studio areas.

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Start playback

Select a track row to play it. Motif uses the visible selection as the listening context, so previous and next move through the music you were browsing rather than through the entire Library indiscriminately. Collection cards can also offer a play or shuffle action. Use this when you want to begin with the collection as a whole rather than choosing its first track yourself.

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Now Playing bar

The compact player contains:
  • the current title and available creator information;
  • shuffle;
  • previous;
  • play / pause;
  • next;
  • repeat;
  • a seek bar with elapsed and total time;
  • version-comparison controls when the track has multiple versions;
  • mute and volume controls;
  • an expand button for the full listening view.
Select the title area or the upward chevron to open the expanded player.

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Move through the current selection

Use previous and next to move through the current playback order. Enable shuffle to randomize that order. An accent indicator under the shuffle icon shows that it is active. Disable it to return to the normal sequence.

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Repeat modes

Select the repeat control to cycle through:
  1. Repeat off — playback follows the current order and stops or continues according to that order.
  2. Repeat all — the current listening order starts again after its final track.
  3. Repeat one — the current track repeats.
The icon changes for Repeat one, and an accent indicator appears whenever a repeat mode is active.

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Seek through a track

Select or drag along the progress bar to move to another point in the audio. Keyboard shortcuts:
  • press ← to move backward 5 seconds;
  • press → to move forward 5 seconds;
  • press Space to play or pause.
The seek bar also works with supported streamed Tracked audio when Motif knows the track duration.

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Volume and mute

Drag the volume slider to set the playback level. Select the speaker icon to mute; select it again to restore the previous volume. When the volume slider has keyboard focus, use the arrow keys to adjust it in steps.

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Keep listening while navigating

Playback continues when you:
  • switch between Library views;
  • open or close a collection;
  • move into Studio;
  • open Settings;
  • expand or collapse the full player.
Changing to another track or changing the current playback order intentionally replaces the current listening context.

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Playback from Tracked

Tracked sources can contain remote audio. Motif can play supported audio from the connected service without first treating it as a local Library file. Remote availability depends on the service connection and the source still being accessible. If you want a supported remote track as a local file, use its Download action. See Save Tracked music locally.

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When a track has versions

The Now Playing bar adds controls for stepping through related exports, hiding the version label for a blind comparison, and choosing a random version. These actions switch the audio while keeping you on the same underlying piece of music. Read Compare versions for the complete workflow.