Why tauplayer?
- It’s an unique application. You can play music files or listen radio streams around the world and manage them by groups.
- It’s easy usable and minimal. You don’t need to remember anything beforehand.
- It doesn’t have a complex GUI at all. Just a simple user interface.
- It’s non-commercial and almost ad-free. Perfect for relaxing.
- It’s totally free and you can start using it in a minute.
- It’s ligthweight, and can be also run directly from a server.
- It’s targeted to work on many GNU/Linux based OSes.
- It’s very customizable so programmers could easily add their personal extra features into the code.
- It also supports marginal and alternative music.
You can find the Download link at top of the Getting Started guidelines.
Usage
Basic Terms
If the technical things are not your cup of tea, understanding these terms may help:
- **Cache** is a memory buffer, which player reserves for audio playback.
- **Player** is audio player application, which tauplayer uses for playback.
- **Playlist** is a formatted list of links to audio files. Currently _tauplayer_ supports playlists only in _.m3u_ format.
- **Playlist Directory** is a parent directory under which _tauplayer_ scans available playlists.
- **(Radio) Stream URL** is a direct link to radio station's online stream. Same radio stream can be stored in many _stream groups_.
- **Stream Group** is a group of streams with named keys, which are stored in _/streams_ subdirectory under installation directory.
- **tauplayer** is abbreviation for words _Terminal Audio Player_. At its most concrete minimum it is only one _Bash_ shell script file _(tauplayer.sh)_.
- **(Text) terminal** is a text input and output environment, where you can start and run commands.
User Interface
_tauplayer_ is used via Text-based User Interface (TUI). When launched it opens the _Main menu_, where you can select the action of your choice by pressing _Enter_ when _Select_ option is highlighted.
Changing Stream Group
There is always one stream group active or selected. You can change it by selecting _Radio Streams_ from _Main menu_ and then _Change Stream Group_.
Playing radio streams in groups
Select _Radio Streams_ from _Main menu_ followed by _Select Stream_, which lists all the streams in earlier selected group.
Select the stream by name and then _Listen_ from opened menu. If stream is reachable _tauplayer_ opens playback screen for it.
Playing local audio files from playlist
You can play local audio files by the following way:
- Select _Playlists..._ from _Main menu_.
- _tauplayer_ asks the _Playlist Directory_ where to find the alternatives until you type a valid directory.
- After you commit the directory _tauplayer_ shows playlist files found.
- Select a playlist file to Play, and _tauplayer_ starts playing the list of songs in question.
Playback via audio player
During playback _tauplayer_ displays the most relevant key set, which you can dynamically control the parameters of the player.
_The picture above shows tauplayer playing a radio stream in Linux Mint._
Please avoid pressing any unnecessary keys since they can confuse the player in some situations.