# Using Intermission

Get started with details on the main Intermission controls.

Intermission can be accessed by clicking on its menu bar icon. This icon can be found in the upper right of your menu bar, near the clock:

Intermission's menu bar icon

Clicking this icon will reveal Intermission's main menu, which contains all of its information and controls.

### Intermission's Main Menu

Intermission's main menu

At the top of Intermission's menu, you'll see the visual representation of the audio buffer, which holds up to the past three hours of audio from your Mac. The slider can be adjusted to move around the buffer. Just click and drag the knob to move around in the buffer. Above the knob, you'll see the current position in the audio. In the screenshot, audio playback is 7 minutes and 6 seconds behind live. When audio playback is occurring live, the bubble simply reads "Live".

Below the buffer, you'll see Intermission's main controls. Select these to pause or resume playback, jump backward or forward in the audio buffer, or jump all the way to live audio playback.

Finally, at the bottom of the menu you'll find secondary controls and information, including access to Intermission's Preferences and License windows, as well as the Quit option.

### Global Keyboard Shortcuts

In addition to dragging the buffer's position knob, and using the menu options, you can rapidly move around Intermission's audio buffer using the global keyboard shortcuts. With these shortcuts, you can pause or resume playback, jump back or forward in the buffer, and jump to the present.

The keyboard shortcuts can be set in the Preferences window, accessible via the Options sub-menu in the main Intermission menu.