Much of the Kaboom! Factory's power lies behind one seemingly small command-Show Mixer, found on the Windows menu.

When chosen, this command produces the Mixer Palette which you can use to mix sounds together. That means you can combine chickens, goats, and cows, for example, to make a virtual barnyard. Or overlap your voice and music as you assume the role of deejay and introduce a new song. The Kaboom! Factory's mixing capabilities give you the opportunity to tinker or to make sophisticated soundtracks for multimedia purposes.

The Mixer Palette can also be used as your very own "command center" for working with multiple windows in the Kaboom! Factory. We'll discuss this in greater detail throughout this part of the User Manual.

MIXING SOUNDS TOGETHER

To mix several sounds together, just follow these simple steps:

1. Open the desired sound documents. Then choose the Show Mixer command from the Windows menu.

All of the sound documents currently open in the Kaboom! Factory are shown inside the Mixer Palette, along with a miniature picture of each waveform called a "block." The start time and length, expressed in seconds, are shown, as well. Each sound is displayed in a "track," and as many as 16 tracks can be displayed at once.

2. Slide the blocks into the desired position.

For example, you might want one sound to start 10 seconds before another one ends. Watch the value in the Start column to help you position the block properly.

3. Choose the Window command from the Mix To pop-up menu in the lower left corner of the Mixer Palette.

4. Click the Mix button in the lower left corner of the Mixer Palette.

You will see the result in a new window. If you prefer, you can choose one of the other two options from the pop-up menu in the lower left corner of the Mixer Palette in order to preview the mix or save the mixed file to disk.

ADDING SOUND TO A TRACK

You can include additional pieces of sound from a given window by clicking in blank space in the corresponding track of the Mixer Palette. When you do so, you will see a pop-up menu that gives you a number of options:

Add Entire Sound: Adds the entire waveform from the corresponding document

Add Selection: Adds only the portion of the waveform that is selected

Add Custom: Produces a dialog box in which you can specify the portion of the waveform to be added

This pop-up menu also contains a list of labels from a document, if applicable, so that you can include just that portion of the waveform.

You can produce this pop-up menu again once the block has been created by positioning the pointer on the block, pressing the mouse button, and holding for one second.

FINE-TUNING THE MIX

The Mixer Palette provides several ways to "fine-tune" the sound that results from a mix. Try the following options:

Changing the Start Time and Length: Of course, you can change the start time of the waveform in a track simply by dragging it to a new position. Or if you prefer, you can be more exact either by selecting the mini-waveform and typing inside the Start or Length field of that track or by double-clicking the mini-waveform to produce the Custom dialog box.

Looping a Block: To loop a block, double-click it and specify desired number of loops in the Custom dialog box.

Deleting a Waveform from a Track: You may delete a waveform from a track by double-clicking it and then clicking the Delete command in the Custom dialog box. Note that at least one waveform must remain in a track at any time.

Excluding a Track from the Mix: The small check marks in the first column of the Mixer Palette determine whether a track is to be considered in a mix. To exclude a track from the mix, just click to remove its check mark.

Changing the Scale: For maximum detail, you can "zoom in" on the various tracks in the Mixer Palette by choosing another setting from the Time Scale pop-up menu in the lower left corner of the Mixer Palette.

USING ENVELOPE POINTS

There are times when mixing two sounds together just won't sound right unless you adjust the volume of one or both. The envelope points provide an easy way to achieve this. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the desired sound window.

2. Choose the Show Envelope Points command from the Windows menu.

3. Drag the envelope points into a polygon that approximates the volume you wish to achieve. Repeat this process for the second sound document.

4. Produce the Mixer Palette by choosing the Show Mixer command from the Windows menu. If necessary, click the large bold check mark in the upper left corner of the palette to gain access to the Play and Envelope Points buttons for each track.

5. Click any of the play buttons in the Mixer Palette if you wish to sample a track.

6. Make sure that the Envelope Points buttons are turned on (highlighted) on each track. This signifies that the envelope points for those tracks will be considered in determining the volumes in the mix.

7. Choose the desired option from the pop-up menu in the lower left corner of the Mixer Palette. Then click the Mix button.

NOTE: If the Envelope Points are not used, the setting of the volume slider in each sound window will determine the relative strengths in the mix. For more information about envelope points, see "Windows Menu" in Part Three of this User Manual.

MOVING SOUND TRACKS IN THE MIXER PALETTE

You may change the order of the various tracks in the Mixer Palette by dragging the desired track to a new position. Just follow these steps:

1. Position the pointer on the sound name and press the mouse button. After about a second, a bar will appear above the sound name.

2. Drag the track up or down to its new location.

SAVING A SOUND SET

The Kaboom! Factory lets you save a snapshot of the Mixer Palette so that you can work with it at a later date. This set of specifications, called a Sound Set, records the open windows, as well as their sizes and positions.

NOTE: Envelope points are not saved in a sound set file. They are attributes of individual sound files.

Just follow these instructions to save a sound set:

1. Complete your mixing session, making sure that the setup of the Mixer Palette is just the way you want it.

2. Position the pointer over the black triangle in the upper right corner of the Mixer Palette and press the mouse button. Choose the Save Sound Set As command from the pop-up menu.

3. Name the sound set file and save it in the standard Macintosh way.

The sound set you have saved can be opened later in the same manner or added to existing tracks in the Mixer Palette with the use of the Add Sound Set option.

We hope that the discussion in the preceding parts of this User Manual gives you a flavor for what you can do with the Kaboom! Factory. But these ideas are just the beginning! We're eager to hear your comments and the new ways in which you're using the program. Good luck!