To create your own mixes you will have to understand how the Track Mixer works. When you open the Track Mixer Window the sliders will affect the currently selected song in the playlist (the songname is also displayed in the Track Mixer's window title).
For each song you have eight sliders that affects the mix; Volume, Balance, Bass, Treble, P/b Rate, Overlap, Fade-In and Fade-Out. At the top of the Track Mixer window you have a graphical representation of the slidersettings to aid you. Below that is the Trim settings, where you can crop-out unselected beginnings/ends in songs. All settings you make is INDIVIDUAL FOR EACH SONG and everything is SAVED WITH THE PLAYLIST.
Please note that, although the sliders are accessable when a MIDI-file is selected, not all sliders have effect. A MIDI-file contains no audio data, only parameters and values for QuickTime in order to play them with the built-in QT Musical Instruments (or an external synthesizer or other MIDI sound device).
The Trim-function is very easy to use. Position the slider while playing and press the Trim Start button. Pressing it again will remove the trim-point. The same procedure goes for the Trim End settings. This function is only available in registered versions of MPLAY, although unregistered version will playback trimmed playlists made with a registered version.
Volume is an individual volume-control for the selected song and may be used to compensate for variations in output level of the songs in the playlist. The value is stored for each song.
Balance controls the stereo panning of the song. The value is stored for each song.
Bass controls the amount of bass for each song in the playlist. The value is stored for each song.
Treble controls the amount of treble for each song in the playlist. The value is stored for each song.
P/b Rate is used to manipulate the playback rate (playback speed) of the song. For fine-adjustments you may use the arrow-buttons. The value is stored for each song.
Overlap determines how many seconds there will be left to play of the current song when the next song begins playing. During overlap the 'MIXING'-indicator will light up. The value is stored for each song. In the registered version of MPLAY you are able to adjust the overlap in steps of 1/4th of a second, making the mixes even smoother and more accurate.
Fade-In will fade the song in gradually increasing volume. You set the length of the Fade-In operation in seconds. During Fade-In you will have a visual representation beside the Fade-In slider. The resolution (smoothness) of the fade-in operation is determined by the Fade resolution-setting in Preferences (see About the Fade resolution below). The value is stored for each song.
Fade-Out does the same as Fade-In, except that it will gradually decrease the volume to zero (silence). You set the value in seconds, representing how far from the actual song end the operation will begin. During Fade-out you will have a visual representation beside the Fade-Out slider. The resolution (smoothness) of the fade-in operation is determined by the Fade resolution-setting in Preferences (see About the Fade resolution below). The value is stored for each song.
By clicking the button 'Revert to defaults' you may reset all settings to normal for the currently selected song.
The button 'Apply this on all songs' will copy the values of the currently selected song to all songs in the playlist.
The Bender wheel also controls playback rate but can only be used for 'live'-operations. When released it will bounce back to normal. For fine-adjustments you may use the arrow-buttons. Note that using the Bender wheel resets any playback rate setting made with the P/b Rate-slider.
About the Fade resolution
Normally, MPLAY performs an update of the counter and other routines every second. The Fade-operations normally follow this cycle, but you can increase this performance by setting the Fade resolution to 'medium' (every 1/2 sec) or 'smooth' (every 1/4 sec). Due to the increased update frequency playback may stutter on older Macs or when playing MP3's from a slow CD-ROM. You may have to try the different settings to find which one works best on your machine.
Smooth fade resolution - Smooth fades but high CPU/data transfer demands.
Corse fade resolution - Fades in corse steps but low CPU/data transfer demands. Disables the option 'Fade-out on stop/skip'.
Medium fade resolution - somewhere in between the two above..
