The Sound Box

Version 1.06 documentation
©2000 by Jonathan Baker

Welcome to the Sound Box! This exciting program allows you to play a multitude of sounds with the press of a button. It imitates hardware costing thousands of dollars - and yet gives you the high degree of control you expect from a computer program.

This document contains the following sections:

Installation Instructions
Registration Instructions
Operations manual

Installation Instructions

The Sound Box is ready to run, simply place it in any folder you please. It requires QuickTime to run, and you must have System 7.5 or better.

Registration Instructions

When you first run The Sound Box, you will begin a 30-day trial period. During this time the software is completely functional. If you like the software, please register it. The cost to register is $50.00. You can register using PayPal. If you prefer, you can use snail mail. Please send your payement to:

Jonathan Baker
1717 S Knoxville Ave
Tulsa OK 74112

I will send you your registration information as soon as I receive your payment. Please be sure to include your name and e-mail address in your correspondence.

Operations Manual

The Sound Box has been designed to be as intuitive as possible. When you first run the program, you will get an empty box of 36 clips. Each clip will be empty - thus, they will all be labeled "empty." The buttons directly below the label button are the looping and background buttons. They are toggle buttons that either set the clip to loop or play in the background. If a clip is not set to play in the background, it will stop when another clip is selected to play. If a clip is set to loop, it will loop when it gets to the end. The buttons below that are the stop and the play/pause button. If you stop a clip that is playing, the next time you start it it will start from the beginning. If you pause a clip, it will pick up where it left off. The play button will have a letter/number/symbol on it. This is the clip's hot key. If you press the hot key the clip will start playing. If you have no hot key set for the clip, you will see a standard play button.
All of the looping and background buttons cam be quickly set by using the option key and setting one clip's button. Holding down the option key will set all active clips to the setting you are changing the clip to. For example, if you have 10 clips loaded and you want them to play in the background, hold down the option key and press the background button on any of the 10 clips. All 10 clips will turn their background on.

Loading a clip

If you click on a clip, it will bring up the open dialog box for you to choose a clip to load. You may load any clip that is compatible with QuickTime on your system. The dialog box will have a preview section that will enable you to listen to the clip before you load it. When you have selected the clip you will be given an opportunity to change the name of the clip (not the name of the file itself, but the name that will be displayed in the box) and to change the hot key. The hot key will automatically default to correspond with the keys on the keyboard (i.e. the top row of buttons will be 1-2-3-4 etc, the second row will be q-w-e-r etc.)

Playing a clip

To play a clip, simply click on the clip button, the play button, or press the hot key. If there are other clips playing that are not set to play in the background, they will stop. If the clip is set to loop, it will repeat until you either stop it or start another clip (if background play is off).

Stopping clips

To stop a single clip, simply click on the stop button for the clip. To stop all the clips, click on the "All Stop" button or hit the space bar.

Renaming clips

Once you have loaded a clip, you can rename it or re-assign its hot key by holding down the command key and clicking the clip. This will bring up the dialog box that came up originally when you loaded the clip, where you can rename the clip or assign it a new hot key.

Replacing clips

If you want to replace a clip, hold down the option key and click on the clip. This will bring up the file selection window to load a new clip into this clip.

Deleting clips

To delete a clip, hold down the control key and click on the clip. You will be asked if you really want to delete the clip. If you confirm, the clip will be removed from the box.

Volume control and the Play List

The sound box has three modes of display. The above explanations describe the control view mode. In addition to the control view mode is the volume view mode and the play list view mode. To change view modes, simply press the tab key. You will cycle through the three view modes. The control view mode is identified by the complete array of control buttons. The volume view mode is identified by volume sliders for each clip. The play list view mode is identified by a rectangle for each clip, with the play list order listed inside.

Volume control

In the volume view mode, each active clip will have a slider. If the clip is playing the slider will be green. The clip name and hot key are also displayed. You may press the hot key while in this view mode to start the clip. Simply grab the volume slider to adjust the volume. Depending on the speed of your system you should be able to hear the adjustment as you make it.

Play List

The play list enables you to set a series of clips to play in a certain order. The order is identified in the numbers listed on the play list view mode. To add a clip to the play list, hold down the control key and click inside the clip's rectangle. To remove a clip from the play list, hold down the option key and click inside the clip's rectangle. Removing a clip from the play list will remove the highest number for the clip, for example if a clip is set to play at position 1, 5, and 16 in the play list and you remove it from the play list, position 16 will be removed, leaving positions 1 and 5. The display will show up to twelve positions for each clip, although it is possible to exceed that amount. The numbers will be green if the clip is playing (whether it is playing through the play list or not). The loop and BG toggle switches also will be effective when using the play list.
To play the next clip in the play list, press the page down key. To play the previous clip in the play list, press the page up key.

Tech Support/Bug Reports

If you experience any problems, or have any features you would like to see added, or have general coments, please feel free to contact me at jon.baker@catalystproductions.cc.

I sincerely hope that the Sound Box proves to be a valuable tool for you.