File formats

This chapter lists every kind of file Head Chef opens, imports, records and writes, by file extension, with the limits that apply and what Head Chef changes along the way. For step-by-step tasks, see Importing audio and projects and Rendering.

Head Chef sessions #

Save and move the session file together with its hidden folder and files. File > Save Session As… writes a new session file and copies the audio it needs into the new location. See Sessions.

Import audio #

The Import Audio window and Arrange drops use the same import options. Each file normally becomes its own new track at the start, as one Undo step. You can change placement and channel handling before importing; see Importing audio and projects.

Import Audio window #

Choose File > Import Audio… (⇧⌘I) and select supported audio files. Head Chef inspects the selection and opens Import Media Options. When rates differ, Sample Rate Conflict & Import Options offers conversion choices before anything is added.

The default Resample imported audio to project rate keeps playback speed and pitch. Keep samples at project rate keeps the sample frames and plays them at the project clock, so a different rate changes speed and pitch.

Drag and drop: every supported format #

The picker and Arrange drop target accept the audio formats below. Mixed audio/MIDI selections use the same options. A single MIDI file or project can instead open as a session.

What Head Chef does with each file:

• Sample rate. The default converts a different rate to the session rate with sinc sample rate conversion. You can choose Best, Good or Fast quality, change the project rate, or keep samples at the project rate. With no session open, the first file sets its rate and name; the session starts at 120 BPM in 4/4.
• Channels. By default, mono stays mono and stereo stays stereo. More than two channels become separate mono tracks. The options can also split stereo to mono or combine matching .L and .R files.
• Storage. The decoded audio is stored in the session as a .wav file. Audio that was 16-bit or 24-bit stays at that depth; other audio, and any audio with peaks above 0 dBFS, is stored as 32-bit float so nothing is clipped.
• Your files. The original files are never changed.

Supported imported audio has no fixed file-size or combined session-audio allowance. Leave enough free disk space for the imported audio, conversion work and saved copies. The original files are never changed.

Session limits #

MIDI files #

Open a MIDI file with File > Open Session…, or drop it on its own onto Arrange, to start a new session from it. Each MIDI track becomes an instrument track. Tracks that mostly use the drum channel play through Voltage 80 and the others through Octet. The tempo, including tempo changes, and the time signature come from the file; a file without them opens at 120 BPM in 4/4. A MIDI file dropped after audio files, in the same drop, is added to the current session instead. See MIDI and instruments.

Projects from other music apps #

File > Open Session… (⌘O) and dropping onto Arrange both open these files. The Open Session window lists them under All supported sessions.

Head Chef builds a new, unsaved session from the project and never changes the original. How much carries over depends on the file; see Importing audio and projects and Switching to Head Chef.

Recording #

Long recordings use RF64 WAV when needed. Leave enough free disk space for the take and saved session copies.

Each finished take is stored in the session's audio. See Recording audio.

Render Mix output #

The audio file types in File > Render Mix… (⌥⌘B) write a new stereo file. Head Chef writes the format that matches the extension of the file name you save, and the name must not already exist.

MIDI stores tempo as whole microseconds per quarter note. Head Chef rounds in-range constant tempos to the nearest whole microsecond, and stops before creating a file if the tempo or a gap between events cannot fit the MIDI format.

For long audio renders, choose WAV. Head Chef uses RF64 automatically when the file exceeds the standard WAV size range. Other output formats can need more memory while encoding.

With a PCM sample format, a peak above 0 dBFS stops the render; lower the level or choose 32-bit float. See Rendering.

Individual MIDI track output #

Export MIDI Tracks… on a track header, or Export MIDI Tracks… in Render Mix, writes one new .mid file per chosen MIDI track into an existing folder. Each file is Standard MIDI format 1, with a conductor track and one named part. Audio-only tracks are not MIDI export sources.

The files retain the session's PPQ, tempo map, time signature, note channels, pitches, velocities, durations and part positions. They all start at the song origin and extend through the same musical range, retaining leading gaps and trailing empty bars. They contain no instrument sound, audio, controller messages (including sustain), pitch bend, pressure, program changes, SysEx or release velocities. This exports the current stored part, not a byte-for-byte copy of an originally imported MIDI file.

The track chooser previews each actual filename. Existing filenames refuse without replacement, and export does not change the song or its Undo history. See Export individual MIDI tracks.

Plugins #

Head Chef lists only plugins in these two formats. Its own instruments and effects are built in and need no plugin files. See Plugins for the folders Head Chef searches.

Settings files #

Head Chef keeps your preferences, such as Tape Scrub Sound, your New Session defaults and your plugin folders, in its own files on your Mac. You never need to open them. See Settings reference.