Docs & FAQ
Everything from first launch to your first show.On this page: Installing · Backstage and Show · Building a setlist · Outputs · Footswitch · Show Mode · Stage video · Licence · FAQ
Installing
NOVIQ runs on Windows. Download the installer and run it. There is no account to create and nothing to configure first - NOVIQ opens straight into an empty library. A macOS build is coming; if you want to know when it lands, email us.
A first-run warning is expected. The installer is not yet code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen will ask you to confirm the first time - choose More info → Run anyway. It only happens once.
Backstage and Show
NOVIQ has two modes, switched from the top of the window. Backstage is where the show gets built - the set, the levels, the routing, the footswitch and the stage video. Show plays it: the whole set drawn large, and everything that could change it locked.
Looking for loops, slow-down, the tuner or the guitar rig? The practice room is becoming an application of its own, NOVIQ Practice, which is not out yet.
Building a setlist
- Drop your files in. Drag mp3 or wav files onto the setlist and each one becomes a song, in the order you dropped them.
- Drag to reorder. Grab the handle on the left of a line and move it. The order on screen is the order it plays.
- Add notes and colours. Double-click a line to add “capo 2” or “half-time feel”. They show up in Show Mode, where you'll actually read them.
- There is no Save. Every edit is written to disk as you make it, atomically. Closing the window loses nothing.
- Many sets. Create, duplicate and delete setlists from the list on the right. Export writes a set and its songs out to carry to another machine; Import brings one in.
- Levels. Each song has its own level on its line, and each of backing, click and guide has a fader on the transport.
Setting up your outputs
Open Setup › Outputs. There are two mixes:
- PA - what the audience hears. The backing track always plays here, and the click never does.
- Band monitors - one shared mix for the whole band. You choose whether backing, click and guide are each included.
Routing belongs to the rig, not to a song: set it once and every song in the library plays through the same sockets, including ones you add later. If a mix points at an output your interface does not have, NOVIQ tells you at soundcheck rather than at 8 p.m.
Mapping a footswitch
Open Setup › Controllers, choose a command from “Learn a switch for…”, then press the switch on your controller. That's the whole flow. Control Change, Note and Program Change all work.
The mapping is saved with your library, so copying the folder to a backup laptop brings your pedalboard layout with it. Every command is mappable on the free version too - a switch that worked in rehearsal must work at showtime, whether or not you have paid.
Activating your licence
Open NOVIQ, go to Setup › Licence, and paste the key from your confirmation email. It takes effect immediately - no restart.
Your key is for one computer. It works the moment you paste it, online or not; the next time the computer is online, NOVIQ registers the key to it. If you replace the computer, reply to your confirmation email or write to [email protected] with the computer ID shown at the bottom of that same Licence panel on the new one, and we'll move your licence across.
Licence checks never need the network. Your key carries its own cryptographic proof and is verified on your machine, which is why it works in a basement with no signal.
Show Mode
Press Show, beside Backstage at the top of the screen, before you play. The screen becomes the set: the current song in very large type, the countdown, the next song, and the rest of the night below it.
It also locks the application. While Show Mode is on, nothing can create, delete, rename, reorder or reroute anything - not from the screen, not from a keyboard shortcut, and not from a footswitch. That is deliberate: the only things that still work are the ones you'd want to work mid-song.
Stage video and subtitles
Open Video at the top of Backstage to choose which screen the stage window goes to - usually the projector or TV on your HDMI socket. The window opens full screen there by itself when the show starts.
- A video per song. Press the film icon on a song's line in the set to add, preview or remove its video. Square MP4s at 30 frames a second (H.264) look best; anything else still plays and tells you why it may not. The video follows the backing track exactly - seek, pause and stop included.
- Fades and loops. In the song's details (⋯ on its line), fade the video in from black and out to it (up to ten seconds each way), and let a short video loop to the end of its song.
- Subtitles. Also in the song's details: attach an
.srtor.vttfile, or write them in the app: paste the lyrics, play the song, and press Mark as each line begins. - The idle loop. In the Video panel choose a picture (and, optionally, a sound) for around the show. Ready for show cues the first song and plays the loop until you press Play. Once the show is under way the same switch is Stop & idle, which stops like Panic but leaves the loop up. After the last song it comes back by itself. The idle sound plays through the PA and is gone the instant a song starts.
If something goes wrong
- PANIC stops all audio immediately and resets the MIDI port. It is available at all times, including in Show Mode.
- After a crash, reopen NOVIQ. It returns to the song you were on, stopped, waiting for you. It never starts playing by itself.
- Logs are written into your library folder, under
logs/. Attach the newest one if you email about a bug.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | Does |
|---|---|
| Space | Play / pause |
| R | Restart the song |
| ← → | Back or forward a few seconds |
| ↑ ↓ | Previous or next song |
| C | Click on or off |
These are the defaults. See or change them under Settings › Keyboard Shortcuts.
Frequently asked questions
Is the free version really free forever?
Yes. It is not a trial and there is no countdown. It holds one active setlist of up to five songs; everything else - Show Mode, separate outputs, footswitch mappings, stage video, subtitles, the idle loop, crash recovery - is identical to the paid version.
What audio formats can it play?
wav, mp3, flac, ogg and aiff. For stage video, MP4; for subtitles, .srt or .vtt.
Does NOVIQ need an internet connection?
Not to play. Building a set, running a show and checking your licence all work with no connection. You need the internet to download the installer and to buy your licence. When your laptop happens to be online, NOVIQ also checks in the background that your licence is active on this computer - it sends your key and a scrambled computer ID, nothing else, and nothing waits for it.
Can I use one interface for everything?
Yes. Point both mixes at the same interface and give them different output pairs - for example PA on outputs 1–2 and monitors on 3–4. To rehearse alone, point both at the same outputs and switch everything into the monitors.
Where are my songs stored?
In a plain folder on your own disk - one folder per song, with your audio files in it and a small metadata file beside them. Back it up or copy it to another machine like any other folder.
Is there an automatic updater?
No, deliberately - that would mean the application reaching the internet. To update, download the new installer and run it. Your library and licence are untouched.
What if I want a refund?
Email us within 14 days and we refund it, no questions asked. Your key then stops unlocking the paid version the next time NOVIQ starts after being online - never in the middle of a show - and your library is left as it is. See the refund policy.
Has this been tested on real hardware?
Everything below the hardware adapters is covered by an automated test suite that runs on every change. The audio and MIDI adapters themselves are the newest part of the product - if you hit a problem with a specific interface or controller, email us and we will treat it as a priority.
Still stuck?
Write to [email protected]. Support goes straight to the developer, not a queue.