Source Track Preparation: ------------------------- It is assumed you have recorded a project in your DAW and are ready to export the separate tracks. To use this mixer the tracks must be in the following format, which is a very standard format for just about any DAW: (1) mono or stereo .wav files. (2) All files at the same sample rate. (3) 16 or 24 bit resolution. (4) No spaces in filenames (unless an option is set) Setup: ------ The executable program is very small and can be copied to your project folder. Or, if you prefer having the executable in an application type of directory such as /usr/bin on Linux, Applications on Mac, and Program Files on Windows, please refer to the quick start guide for your platform. Place your source wave files in the project folder as well. Or, refer to the "Output Files" section in the manual to set input and output directories. There are three additional files which are added to the project folder for the mixer to work. They are called faders.txt (all your volume and effect settings), prefs.txt (your preferences for settings like preview mode), and tracks.txt (the list of the audio files to mix). These files must be plain text files without any headers and must have the .txt extension. Importantly on Windows, on the last line of each file type the word "end" and then a carriage return (This tells the program to stop looking for data and maybe used cleverly on any platform, for example, if you want to shorten your track list, but not actually delete the names). Also on Windows, you may need to start a text file by typing begin and start a new line to prevent any headers from being read into Mixer4. It is also possible to use a spreadsheet program as a front end for the faders.txt file as long as you save the file as a text file and use the tab delimited option when you save the spreadsheet. The fastest way to get going on a mix with many tracks is to run the fader generator utility from a command line. You will be asked about how many tracks and effects you need etc. But, the supplied faders.txt file will get you started for working with just a few tracks without effects. You can copy effect setups from the supplied templates. Note that running the fader generator will overwrite an existing faders.txt file (with an option to exit) so please keep it separate from your developing project! Running the Program: -------------------- Once set up properly, the mixer is run by simply double clicking the Mixer4.exe file icon (placed in your project folder). Or, you may run it from a command line terminal to view mixing time progress and peak output levels. Running from the command line is definitely recommended, at least initially, in case there are errors in your text files which cause the program to stop. From the command line you will get a quick readout of the success of data being read into the program and be able to troubleshoot if needed. From the command terminal the arrow keys can be used to access the last commands. Using Command Line Arguments (optional): ---------------------------------------- You may specify different control file names other than tracks.txt, faders.txt, and prefs.txt by using one or more command line arguments. The 1st argument is tracks.txt, the 2nd is faders.txt, and the 3rd is prefs.txt. A space is between the arguments. To run mixer4 with a different tracks file called drum_list.txt you would type: mixer4 drum_list.txt To run mixer4 with a different faders.txt file, but the default tracks file you would type: mixer4 tracks.txt drum_faders.txt Finally, to just use a different prefs.txt name you would type: mixer4 tracks.txt faders.txt drum_prefs.txt Setting up the Tracks File: --------------------------- The text file that contains a list of your tracks and their mute status must be titled "tracks.txt" without the quotes. It contains the list of all the tracks you want to mix. Typically you can copy and paste file names right out of your desktop file mananger into a text file such as this. Starting with version 1.06 there are now 3 ways to set up the track list. The old default was is as follows: Each line starts with a number for your own reference. Have line 1 start with the number 1, then hit spacebar and enter the name of your wave file that you would like assigned to channel 1 of the mixer. Line 2 should start with a 2, then spacebar, and then the file name. You may prefix the file name with a different path if needed such as audio/bass.wav. Please note, the program actually disregards the numbers and assigns the files to channels based on the order they appear in the tracks.txt file. The numbers are just a guide for the user. Finally, for each track to be added to the mixer (not muted) put one space after the track name and then a "+" sign. Something must be placed in this field so use another symbol such as a "-" for tracks you wish to mute (guitar is muted below). For example, 1 bass.wav + 2 guitar.wav - 3 snare.wav + Or, for a different path: 1 audio/bass.wav + 2 audio/guitar.wav - 3 drums/snare.wav + To solo one or more tracks add an additional plus sign, "++". 1 bigcowbell.wav ++ 2 medcowbell.wav + 3 smallcowbell.wav ++ Big cowbell and small cowbell will be written to the output file since they are soloed. Track List Options: ------------------- Beginning with version 1.06 you may add an option to the prefs.txt file to set up the tracks list to suit your workflow. To change from the default mode, in the prefs.txt file start a line with "tlist" then tab then enter 0 or 1 for the mode you wish. In mode 1, the track list is read without track numbers which may be convenient if you have an alternate way of keeping track of what file goes with what channel in the the faders.txt file itself (see below). In mode 0 the list a purely a list of the files and there is no control over mutes and solos. This is useful for a case where you need to work very quickly to get an initial setup. As mentioned above, typically you can highlight all the files displayed in your desktop file manager, copy and paste them into a text file...saved as tracks.txt. Beginning in version 1.41 you can use tabs instead of spaces in the tracks.txt file. While this may not look as nice in some editors, it allows compatibility with file names that contain spaces. To parse with tabs instead of spaces, add "tlist=tab" without the quotes to the prefs.txt file (the preferences file). Verbosity: ---------- You can change how much information is printed out while the program is running. Level 2 is the default. Level 0 means nothing will be printed out (this may be preferred when running mixer4 as part of script). Level 1 prints out just the peak channel levels and master output levels. Level 2 prints out input file warnings, input file reading progress and mix progress plus everything in level 1. Level 3 prints out input file warnings and a specific breakdown of the reading of each effect type. Levels 2 and 3 are useful for troubleshooting. To adjust the verbosity level start a line in the prefs.txt file with "verbo", then a tab and enter the level. For example, verbo 1