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OS/2 Help File
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1997-04-06
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126KB
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1,088 lines
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
AudioRiver Media Player for OS/2
AudioRiver Media Player is a multi-threaded digital media player.
AudioRiver Media Player supports the playback of any media directly supported
by the MMPM/2 system as well as MOD and AUDIO MPEG file types. All that is
required is that the MMPM/2 multimedia extensions must be installed.
A digital capable audio adapter is required.
AudioRiver Media Player is capable of playing songs in the background while you
get real work done with a minimum of interruption (aside from the wonderful
music of course).
You will be able to listen to your favorite modules and still have a responsive
system at your fingertips.
You can create and save list of your favorite media elements. You can mix
modules,MPEG Files, Videos, WAVE, MIDI files all in one SongList! These
SongLists can be saved to be loaded at a later date.
Supported File formats
Audio Formats
- MODule Formats
- MOD 4 Channel, 15 Samples NoiseTracker, ProTracker, SoundTracker
etc.
- XM Modules from Fasttracker 4,6,8,16 and 32 Channel FastTracker
- STM Modules from Scream Tracker 2.x
- S3M Modules from Scream Tracker 3.x
- MTM Modules from MultiTracker 1.x
- ULT Modules from UltraTracker
Wav
Voc
MID
AU - Suns AU files (only on warp4)
AIFF - AIFF files (only on warp4)
Audio Mpeg Layer II + III (internal handling)
Video Formats
AVI (os/2) with regular MMPM/2 codecs
AVI - Windows with APCODEC Codecs
MPEG 1 movies (with IBM's Openmpeg codecs)
FLC / FLI
Quicktime Movies : with an Additional QT Codec from Practice CORP. or IBM
Requires
Warp 3 or Warp 4
MMPM/2 installed
Dart if you wish to use Direct Sound Output
Pentium P75 or better recommended for Audio Mpeg Layer II playback
Pentium P100 or better recommended for Audio Mpeg Layer III playback
Newest Releases
are available from
http://www.bmtmicro.com
ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com
http://www.filepile.com
ftp://ftp-os2.cdrom.com (after they sort it in, it will propably be in
"/.4/os2/mmedia")
This Software was written by Norbert Heller and Filippo Sartori
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Main Panel ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Click on an area to see the explanation on the display of AudioRiver Media
Player
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Main Popup Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
By clicking the right mouse button on the main display panel, you will see a
popup menu with several options
Options - Settings
Opens the Options Notebook
play / stop / pause
Does exactly what is says
"<" - ">"
Next and previous track
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Listbox ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
General Behaviour of the listbox
Double click on a listbox entry when player is currently playing
Stops playback of the currently playing file, loads the new file and continues
playback
Double click on a listbox entry when player is currently stopped
Displays the new file in the main display (to play this file you have to press
"PLAY")
popup menu
By clicking the right mouse button on the listbox, you will see a popup menu
with several options
files
Opens a file requester where you can select one or more files to be added to
the playlist
playlist - shuffle
Shuffles the currently loaded playlist (puts the sequence in random order)
playlist - playlist (1-5)
Loads the playlists 1-5 that are defined in the playlist settings page
(un) follow
While you are playing the tracks, the listbox may follow the currently playing
file.
You might want to switch to (unfollow) when you want to select a file from the
beginning or the end of the loaded playlist (otherwise the listbox might be too
fast and jumps back to the currently playing file).
delete
Deletes the selected file from the playlist (you have to save the new playlist,
if you want to save the changed playlist)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Options Notebook ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Here you can specify several options for the general behaviour of the media
player
page "Info"
page "mod options"
page "options"
page "audio filetypes"
page "video filetypes"
page "playlists"
page "about"
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.1. Page "Info" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page shows an information about the currently loaded files.
All files are shown with their full path names.
In case you have loaded a playlist with a comment, this comment for the file
will also be shown.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.2. Page "mod options" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This page will set up the options for the mod player part and specifies how mod
file types will be played.
44 / 22 / 11 khz
here you can specify which sampling rate should be used to play MOD files.
16 / 8 bit
here you can specify which bitrate should be used to play MOD files.
stereo / mono
here you can specify if the MOD file should be played in mono or stereo
DART / MMPM/2
here you can specify if you want the new Dart method for playback or the "old"
MMPM/2 Playlist method.
If you choose MMPM/2 for playback, please note that this method will start
playback after a few seconds delay (when the Buffers are filled) and can be
affected by higher system load (this will result in unexpected "hickups" or
loops)
Therefore make shure that you can choose DART (with the appropriate DLL's
installed) to receive the best playback sound, even when the system is heavy
loaded
Interpolate
When this option is selected, MOD file effects will be resampled, which may
result in better sound quality on some audio cards, but will also increase the
CPU load.
When you cannot hear any difference in sound playback, with this switch, you
are probably already using a good quality soundcard. In this case, it is
recommended to turn interpolation off.
Note
The higher you set these values, the better will be the quality of the played
sound, but also the CPU load will be higher.
Also no check is performed if your sound card is able to play back the sound in
the quality you specified.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.3. Page "options" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Double click to close
Here you can specify if you have to double/single click on the "POWER" button
to close the player
Small Bitmaps
This option is intended to be used on smaller display resolutions (640 or 800)
or on "patched" displays (e.g. with a patched 1024 display driver), where the
icons are no longer 40*40 , but 32*32 in size, and all dialog boxes appear a
little bit smaller in size.
Small display
This option is intended to be used on "patched" displays
Note
Changes in these settings will take effect the next startup
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.4. Page "audio filetypes" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Here you can specify, which audio files you wish to play.
checkmark
Click on the checkmark to de/activate the appropriate filetype
"suffix" entryfield
In the entryfield, type in the "suffixes" of the files, that you want to play.
name
Here you can specify, which which MMPM device you want to play back the
appropriate filetypes
Note
you usually do not have to change anything here, except click on the
checkboxes
in case you have e.g. an AUDIO MPEG file with the suffix "MPG", you can
type in the suffix in the entryfield of the appropriate filetype
a suffix must not appear twice (do not setup the suffix "MPG" for Audio
Mpeg and Video Mpeg !)
only the choosen filetypes will be loaded, when a new playlist is
created, or when an already created playlist is loaded again
in case e.g. your MIDI device is not "sequencer01", specify the correct
name for this device here. If you are not shure, what your devices are
named, please check the names in the MMPM/2 setup
Only file types with the installed codecs will be played (if you want to
play QUICKTIME or VIDEO MPEG, make shure, that an appropriate CODEC is
installed on your system !)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.5. Page "video filetypes" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Here you can specify, which video files you wish to play.
checkmark
Click on the checkmark to de/activate the appropriate filetype
"suffix" entryfield
In the entryfield, type in the "suffixes" of the files, that you want to play.
name
Here you can specify, which which MMPM device you want to play back the
appropriate filetypes
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.6. Page "playlists" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
load
Selects a playlist file. This playlist file will be loaded when you click on
the appropriate "tray" on the main display
Entryfield
The name of the selected playlists will be displayed here
Save
Saves a currently loaded playlist (check on page info) with a new filename
Note
A Playlist is a file, which contains the filenames of other files you wish to
play in sequence.
Example for a playlist file
//
// PLAYLIST File for Media PLAYER
//
C:\s3m\AMBIANCE.S3M Very good File
C:\s3m\BEYONDCH.S3M
C:\s3m\CHASEME.S3M Great Bass
C:\s3m\D-EDUC.S3M
C:\s3m\FATAL.S3M
H:\SONGS\ADELANTE.MP2 5:10
H:\SONGS\ANYTHING.MP2
This example playlist contains
Comments
//
// PLAYLIST File for Media PLAYER
//
Anything at the from the beginning of a line, which cannot be identified as a
file, will be treated as a comment
Filename
C:\s3m\AMBIANCE.S3M Very good File
Anything at the from the beginning of a line until the first occurrence of a "
" (blank), which can be identified and verified as a file, will be treated as a
filename
File Comment
C:\s3m\AMBIANCE.S3M Very good File
Anything after the first occurrence of a " " (blank), after a verified
filename, will be treated as a comment for this file
Note
only existing files will be loaded, which means files are verified when
the playlist is opened
only such files are loaded, which types are "checked" in the filetypes
setup
this means, even if a valid filename is given in a playlist, it might not
be loaded, because this filetype is omitted in the setup
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5.7. Page "about" ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Type in your registration name and code number when you have received your
registration key.
This information is saved when the Settings Notebook is closed.
In case the entered data is correct, the player will be "registered" the next
time you start it.
Note
In case the player still displays "UNREGISTERED" the next startup, make sure
you entered the data in the correct form as shown here
An example of an incorrect form
The easiest way is to copy/paste the data into the appropriate entryfields,
when you received an email registration
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. WPS Integration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Drag&drop of files
You can drop files from the WPS to the main window or onto the listbox to
create a playlist of songs
Drag&drop of colors
You can drop colors from the color palette to the display elements
This will work for all display elements shown in the main display
Drag&drop of fonts
You can drop fonts from the font palette onto the listbox
This will not work for the text elements shown in the main display, because
here no regular OS/2 fonts are used.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. MPEG Audio ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
General MPEG Audio Information
Mpeg Audio Layers
MPEG Audio Encoder
ENCODE_ALL Sample Script
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.1. General MPEG Audio Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Introduction
At the end of the eighties the audio and video industry faced the prospect of
saturated markets and over capacity. What was required was new products and
services that would capture consumers' imagination. The data capacity of
existing digital storage media and their transmission links limited its
potential for further exploitation without a generic coding scheme for video
and its associated audio.
The existing JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) standard for bit rate
reduction had been developed for still pictures, and was clearly inadequate for
moving pictures. To avoid a crippling standards battle, the Moving Pictures
Expert Group (MPEG) was formed to devise a suitable coding scheme for
transmitting moving pictures and recording them in standard digital storage
media, i.e. CD-ROM, CD-i, Multi-session CD, Video CD.
A meeting between the International Standards Organisation (ISO) and the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1992 resulted in a standard
for audio and video coding, known as MPEG1 (ISO/IEC 11172).
Today MPEG2 delivers picture and sound quality equal to TV studio standards.
How does MPEG audio work?
In devising a coding method, the basis had to be the human ear. Unfortunately
this is not a perfect device for acoustic reception but is the best that we
have. Advantage was taken of one of the human ear's shortcomings: its
non-linear and adaptive threshold of hearing.
The threshold of hearing is the level below which a sound is not heard. It
varies with frequency and, of course, between individuals. Most people's
hearing is most sensitive between 2 and 5 kiloHertz. Whether a person hears a
sound or not depends on the frequency of the sound and whether its amplitude is
above or below that persons hearing threshold at that frequency.
The threshold of hearing is also adaptive, being constantly changed by the
sounds heard. For example, an ordinary conversation in a room is perfectly
audible under normal conditions. However, the same conversation in the vicinity
of a loud noise, such as an aircraft passing low overhead, is impossible to
hear due to the distortions introduced to the hearing thresholds of the
individuals concerned. When the aircraft has gone the hearing thresholds return
to normal. Sounds that are inaudible due to dynamic adaptation of the hearing
threshold are said to be "masked".
This effect is universal but is of particular relevance in music. An orchestra
instrument playing fortissimo will, to a greater or lesser extent, make the
sound of some other instruments inaudible to the human ear. When the music is
recorded, however, all the frequencies go on the medium because the response of
the recording device is flat, i.e. it is not dynamically adaptive. When the
recording is played the masked instruments will not be audible to the listener,
so might as well not be there. A linear recording, as used on CD, is
inefficient in this respect. To make the most use of a recording medium the
parts of the medium that contain inaudible data can better be used for audible
data. In this way the amount of the recording medium needed to contain the
music can be considerably reduced without any loss of audio quality.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.2. Mpeg Audio Layers ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
For audio, MPEG defines three operational modes known as Layers I, II, and III.
Each layer offers increased compression but also Increased encoding complexity.
MPEG I layer
Layer I is the simplest layer which is suitable for consumer use. It features
subband filtering with 32 equal-width subbands, adaptive bit allocation and
block companding. Bit rates range from 32 kbit/s (mono) up to 448 kbit/s
(stereo). Depending on the complexity of the encoder, a high (near CD) audio
quality requires a bit rate of about 256 - 384 kb/s per stereo program. The
complexity of the decoder is low, the encoder complexity is about 1.5 to 3
times as high.
MPEG II layer
Layer II offers more compression than Layer I. Layer II has numerous
applications in both consumer and professional audio, such as audio
broadcasting, television, telecommunications, and multi-media.
Bit rates range from 32 - 192 kb/s for mono, and from 64 - 384 kb/s for stereo.
Depending on the complexity of the encoder, a high (near CD) audio quality
requires a bit rate of about 192 - 256 kb/s per stereo program. The complexity
of the decoder is about 25 % higher than for Layer I decoder, the encoder
complexity is about 2 to 4 times higher.
The encoding range is extended to 8 kbit/s for mono and stereo. A near CD audio
quality can be achieved at 128 kbit/s.
MPEG III layer
Layer III offers even more compression. Layer III extends MPEG1 applications
into narrow band ISDN telecommunications and certain specialist areas of
professional audio.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.3. MPEG Audio Encoder ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
This Program converts WAV files into Audio MPEG Files
Make sure that the source Wav File is 44100 hz, 16 bit, stereo
Encoding will take a VERY long time (an 4 minute Wav file takes about 10
minutes on a P-150)
Usage
in Batch mode
Encode <infile> <outfile> [-switch]
or standalone mode
Encode
here you will be asked for all options
infile
filename of a Wav File (source)
this can be a file in the current directory or in a different directory
outfile
filename of the MPEG File to produce (target)
Switches
-s
followed by the sampling rate (or default of 44100 is used)
-b
followed by the total bitrate (valid bitrates are eg. 384, 192, 96)
-m
followed by the mode (stereo/dual channel/joint stereo/mono)
-p
followed by the psychoacoustic model number (I or II)
-d
followed by the de-emphasis flag (<n>)one, (5)0/15 microseconds, (c)citt j.17
-c
followed by the copyright/no_copyright flag
-o
followed by the original/not_original flag
-e
followed by the error_protection on/off flag
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7.4. ENCODE_ALL Sample Script ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
ENCODE_ALL
sample script to enode all *.WAV files from
a certain directory
Usage :
ENCODE_ALL
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. MOD Files ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
General MOD File Information
ALL The mod file type you can play
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.1. General MOD File Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A .MOD file is a digital music file that contains a score plus digitized
samples of instruments, unlike MIDI files which only contain the score and rely
on your soundcard's FM chip or your synthesizer's sound bank to supply the
instruments. It's also different from a .WAV file, which is just a single
digitized sound or instrument. A MOD player uses a simple form of Wavetable
synthesis, adjusting the pitch of each digitized sample to produce the
different notes as they are called by the score. All of this digital mixing
takes place on your computer's CPU and not on the sound card itself (except for
the Gravis UltraSound (GUS), which has a special chip to take the load of the
main CPU) meaning that your computer will feel slower during playback of a song
-- after all it's trying to pump upwards of 44k per second of data to the sound
card.
Also different from .WAV files is the size of .MOD files. A 30 minute song
could easily be under 300K since most of the file's bulk is used to store the
digitized instruments.
Also unlike MIDI files, MODule files don't always sound the same on different
players. Given the wide range of file formats, each one with different features
and effects, you may find that while one player can render a song perfectly
another may stumble over an effect or technique it wasn't programmed to handle
properly.
To complicate matters further, some players are much more bullish on CPU usage
than others. The introduction of DART -- Direct Audio Real Time -- in Warp 4.0
(the .dll libraries necessary are also available for Warp 3) means that players
can send data to the sound card directly, rather than going through OS/2's
MMPM, resulting in much smoother, uninterrupted playback with lower CPU load.
A little history
MODs came from the Commodore Amiga, that amazing computer from the mid 80's
that practically invented Multimedia and showed the world what tight code and
clean engineering could do. The Amiga's still around with a cult following that
keeps it alive (sound like anyone you know, you OS/2-ers out there?) not to
mention a cozy niche in TV production and broadcasting. (Watch Babylon 5 and
catch a load of those computer generated space scenes, that's Amigas at work
there.)
The MODs themselves are generated with programs such as SoundTracker,
NoiseTracker, ProTracker, ScreamTracker and others. There are actually many
formats too, including the original 4-channel SoundTracker .MODs,
ScreamTracker's 16-channel .S3M, and FastTracker's .XM format with its 32
channels and other unique features such as envelopes and an instrument/sample
model.
This ability for people to cheaply and easily compose music, then distribute it
for free over the Internet has created a whole new culture some would say.
Looking through the messages hidden in the instrument lists you start to pick
up the names of prolific composers, working under aliases like "Deathjester",
"Feekzoid" and the almost godly "U4ia" (pronounced, of course, "euphoria").
Some advertise their skills for writing video game scores, some are members of
"Demo" groups, while others work alone cranking out tune after tune after tune.
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8.2. ALL The mod file type you can play ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
SUPPORTED MOD FORMATS :
* MOD 4 Channel, 15 Samples NoiseTracker
* MOD 4 Channel, 15 Samples NoiseTracker, ProTracker, SoundTracker etc.
* XM Modules from Fasttracker 4,6,8,16 and 32 Channel FastTracker
* STM Modules from Scream Tracker 2.x
* S3M Modules from Scream Tracker 3.x
* MTM Modules from MultiTracker 1.x
* ULT Modules from UltraTracker
SOME GOOD FTP SITES FOR MOD FILES ARE:
kosmic.wit.com /kosmic/songs
ftp.cdrom.com /demos/music/songs/199?/S3M
/demos/music/disks
/.21/demos/music/songs/1995/mtm
http://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/aminet/dirs/mods.html
(warning, this site is HUGE)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. License ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
AudioRiver Media Player is shareware. You are allowed to test and use this program for
30 days. After this period you must register your copy, if you want to continue to
use it. This 30 day period applies to all Versions of the Player
You may distribute the shareware version of AudioRiver Media Player, either through
electronic media e.g. BBS's or on diskettes. You may charge for the
distribution, but not more than $2. You may distribute only the complete
and unaltered archive as supplied by the author.
You may install the registered version on more than one machine. However, you
must make sure that it is only used on one machine at a time. As soon as one license
is used on more than one machine at a time, you need additional licenses.
The author does not guarantee for the correctness of the program. The author
also may not be held responsible for any loss of data or other damages caused by
the use of AudioRiver Media Player. The author does not guarantee that the program can be used for a
specific purpose.
If you like to distribute the program in conjunction with commercial software
or hardware ("bundling"), you must have a written permission of the author
to do so.
If AudioRiver Media Player is to be included in a collection of other freeware or
shareware programs on CD-ROM or diskette, written permission by the author is required
and a free copy of the cd rom has to be send to the author as a proof of the shareware concept.
If you aquired this licence to update a licence for a previous version,
the licence for the previous version thereby expires.
A licence always is a version licence, i.e. it is valid for all versions
of the program that have the same major version number. You need to
aquire a new licence when the new version has a major version number that
is different from that of the older version.
You're not allowed to give a registration key to third parties.
If you distribute this program in compressed form ("archived"), you must use
a format that supports long file names and extended attributes.
Program Versions that are explicitely labeled "BETA" are NOT to be put on any CD ROM nor are
they to be sold from third party for ANY AMOUNT of money.
norbert heller / filippo sartori (1997)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Author's Details ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
AudioRiver was written by
Norbert Heller
E-mail: NorbertHeller@swol.de
home: http://www.bmtmicro.com/heller
and Filippo Sartori
E-mail: sartori@pdigi1.igi.pd.cnr.it
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. CREDITS ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Credits go out to
All Registered Users for Support
Thomas Bradford (BMT Micro)
Scott Jentsch - Special Support and a good "filepile"
All "Private" Beta Testers
- Chris Hocking
- Hans Holm
- Joerg Berg
- Markus Zangerle
- Martin Neumann
- Michael R. Delahoz
- Rene Ertzinger
- Thomas Lieven
- Thomas Rush
Chris Wenhan - for writing test reports
Ronny Ko - "The Reporter"
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. DART ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
DART means Direct Audio Real Time, which means
A better interface to sound output
Easier programming (approx 1/3rd of a MMPM playlist approach)
For the user, DART consists of 2 DLL's
AMPMXMCD.DLL
AUDIOSH.DLL
which replace the already existing files (544 byte) in your
/mmos2/dll
directory.
Unfortunately, IBM behaves very strange about these DLL's, means that it is
not legal to distribute them with the software product (i don't know why ??)
I have tried to get a permission from IBM to include these DLL's with my
software for more than 9 Months now (the DLL's i have are from August.25.1995
!!)
I therefore suggest, that you get them from somebody who has :
Devcon (try CD 3)
\toolkits\warptlkt\toolkit\beta\samples\entoolkt\audio\daudio
Internet
http://www.polsci.wvu.edu/Henry/Files/DART.zip
MERLIN
/mmos2/dll
PLEASE do not ask ME for these DLL's, go and bug IBM!!
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Limitations in the unregistered Version ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
If you have not registered AudioRiver Media Player, then you will have to face
up to a few limitations.
Especially, since some people did not seem to value my prior engagement in the
Shareware concept and decided to crack some of my software
These limitations may seem critical, however, they do not interfere with the
evaluation of the program.
The current limitations are as follows:
Intro and Final dialog
Only one playlist may be loaded (five playlists in registered version)
I hope that you do not find that these limitations are too restrictive. You
should still be able to determine whether or not you wish to use the program
even with these restrictions.
Due to these limitations, many people may quickly dub this software as
'Crippleware' or the like. Be that as it may, I have made a serious investment
in the development of AudioRiver Media Player and I must protect that
investment (or the next version will not be an OS/2 Shareware version any
more).
I have tried to do so in the most benign manner possible
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Loads the playlists 1-5 that are defined in the playlist settings page
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Displays all currently loaded files. See also a closer description for the
Listbox
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Displays the number of currently loaded files in the playlist
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
A Button labeled "time"
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Opens the mixer for the soundcard (if you specified one in the settings
notebook)
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Decreases the current playback volume
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Mutes the sound
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Inreases the current playback volume
Automatically "unmutes" the sound if mute was pressed before
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Opens the Options Notebook
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
Turns the power off (exits the AudioRiver Media Player)
You can specify in the options settings, if you want to use double click or
single click to close the player
ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
MOD FILES - Audio MPEG
Go back a pattern in the sound
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Start playing the currently selected files from the playlist
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MOD FILES - Audio MPEG
Advance a pattern in the sound
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Play the previous file in the current playlist
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Stop playback of the current file
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Play the next file in the current playlist
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Ejects all files (empties the currently loaded playlist)
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MOD FILES - AUDIO MPEG FILES
Pauses current playback
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Displays name of song
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Displays filename of currently playing file
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Displays type of tracker used to create song file
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Displays current volume setting of song
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(Three camels are silhouetted against the bright stars of the moonless sky,
moving slowly along the horizon. A star leads them towards Bethlehem. The
WISE MEN enter the gates of the sleeping town and make their way through the
deserted streets. A dog snarls at them. They approach a stable, out of which
streams a beam of light. They dismount and enter to find a typical manger
scene, with a baby in a rough crib of straw and patient animals standing
around. The mother nods by the side of the child. Suddenly she wakes from her
lightish doze, sees them, shrieks and falls backwards off her straw. She's up
again in a flash, looking guardedly at them. She is a ratbag.)
Mandy Who are you?
Wise Man 1 We are three wise men.
Wise Man 2 We are astrologers. We have come from the East.
Mandy Is this some kind of joke?
WM1 We wish to praise the infant.
WM2 We must pay homage to him.
Mandy Homage!! You're all drunk you are. It's disgusting. Out, out.
WM3 No, no.
Mandy Coming bursting in here first thing in the morning with some tale about
Oriental fortune tellers... get out.
WM1 No. No we must see him.
Mandy Go and praise someone else's brat, go on.
WM2 We were led by a star.
Mandy Led by a bottle, more like. Get out!
WM2 We must see him. We have brought presents.
Mandy Out!
WM1 Gold, frankincense, myrrh.
(Mandy changes direction, smooth as silk.)
Mandy Well, why didn't you say? He's over here ... Sorry this place is a bit
of a mess. What is myrrh, anyway?
WM3 It is a valuable balm.
Mandy A balm, what are you giving him a balm for? It might bite him.
WM3 What?
Mandy It's a dangerous animal. Quick, throw it in the trough.
WM3 No it isn't.
Mandy Yes it is.
WM3 No, no, it is an ointment.
Mandy An ointment?
WM3 Look.
Mandy (sampling the ointment with a grubby finger). Oh. There is an animal
called a balm or did I dream it? You astrologers, eh? Well, what's he then?
WM2 H'm?
Mandy What star sign is he?
WM2 Capricorn.
Mandy Capricorn eh, what are they like?
WM2 He is the son of God, our Messiah.
WM1 King of the Jews.
Mandy And that's Capricorn, is it?
WM3 No, no, that's just him.
Mandy Oh, I was going to say, otherwise there'd be a lot of them.
(The WISE MEN are on their knees.)
WM2 By what name are you calling him?
(Dramatic Holy music... )
Mandy ... Brian.
Three Wise Men We worship you, Oh, Brian, who are Lord over us all. Praise
unto you, Brian and to the Lord our Father. Amen.
Mandy Do you do a lot of this, then?
WM1 What?
Mandy This praising.
WM1 No, no, no.
Mandy Oh! Well, if you're dropping by again do pop in. (They take the hint
and rise.) And thanks a lot for the gold and frankincense but ... don't worry
too much about the myrrh next time. Thank you ... Goodbye. (To Brian) Well
weren't they nice ... out of their bloody minds, but still...
(In the background we see the WISE MEN pause outside the door as a gentle glow
suffuses them. They look at each other, confer and then stride back in and
grab the presents off MANDY and turn to go again, pushing MANDY over.
Here, here, that's mine, you just gave me that. Ow!