soundplayer(1)                                                  soundplayer(1)


NAME
     soundplayer - sound playback application

SYNOPSIS
     soundplayer [ -nofork ] [ -nodisplay ] [ -nopocket ] [ -nounique ] [
     -noauto ] [ -nogm ] [ -audiodev <device name> ] [filename]

DESCRIPTION
     soundplayer is a simple-to-use application which plays sound files using
     the built-in audio hardware. soundplayer also plays Standard MIDI Files
     to an external MIDI sound module or the Silicon Graphics MIDI synthesis
     software (see midisynth(1)).

     The following sound/MIDI file formats are supported:

          AIFF  (.aiff) and AIFF-C  (.aifc)

          Sun/NeXT (.au, .snd)

          Microsoft RIFF WAVE (.wav)

          MPEG-1 layer I, II, III audio bitstreams (.mpa, .mpg, .mp2, .mp3) *

          Sound Designer II

          BICSF (IRCAM)

          Audio Visual Research (.avr)

          Amiga IFF/8SVX (.iff)

          SampleVision (.smp)

          Creative Labs, Inc. Creative Voice (.voc)

          Standard MIDI File (.mid)

          RIFF MIDI File (.rmi)

     * MPEG Layer-3 audio decoding technology licensed from Fraunhofer IIS
       and Thomson.

     The graphical user interface provides "Play", "Stop", and "Rewind to
     start" buttons. If the program is invoked without the filename argument,
     the user may open an input file using the "File Open" menu.

     The play position in the file is controlled with a position slider
     presented at the bottom of the user interface. The play position is
     changed when the mouse button is released after moving the slider, not
     while the slider is being moved.


     The user interface also provides control of audio level independent of
     the audio hardware levels controlled by apanel(1). Level controls are not
     supported for Standard MIDI files. Instead, tempo control is provided for
     MIDI playback. This control changes the playback speed of the MIDI file
     without changing the instrument sounds.

     More behavior and features of soundplayer are explained in the on-line
     help provided via the "Help" menu.

OPTIONS
     -nofork
           Do not fork soundplayer into background. By default, soundplayer
           forks itself in order to return control to the shell process.

     -nodisplay
           Play sound file without displaying user interface. File will be
           played from beginning to end and cannot be stopped. Soundplayer
           does not background itself when used in the nodisplay mode.

     -nopocket
           Remove the drop pocket widget from the user interface. This option
           is obsolete and will not be supported in the future.

     -nounique
           Allow more than one instance of soundplayer to run at a given time.

     -noauto
           Do not play sound file automatically when launched with a file
           name.

     -nogm Do not force General MIDI. By default, soundplayer instructs the
           MIDI device to enable General MIDI when loading a MIDI file. This
           option should be used when playing back files that are not General
           MIDI compliant.

     -audiodev <device name>
           Play sound through the specified audio output device.  Default is
           "Default Output".

NOTES
     To use soundplayer as a helper application with a World Wide Web browser
     such as Netscape Navigator, the command line options -nofork and
     -nounique must be used in combination. Below is an example mailcap entry
     for AIFF files:

          audio/x-aiff; soundplayer -nofork -nounique %s;

     Soundplayer is the default audio and MIDI file player used by the
     IndigoMagic desktop. Double-clicking on a sound file on the desktop will
     launch soundplayer. Holding the `Alt' key while double-clicking on a
     sound file will launch another instance of soundplayer, the equivalent of
     invoking soundplayer with the -nounique option.


     In order for soundplayer to play MIDI files via the internal software
     synthesizer midisynth(1), you must install the dmedia_eoe.sw.synth and
     dmedia_eoe.data.synth subsystems from the IRIX CDROMs which came with
     your system.  This software is not installed by default, but is bundled
     with the release.  Once this is installed, the "MIDI Devices" submenu
     under "Utilities" will show a port labled "Software Synth".  Selecting
     this port will allow soundplayer to play all MIDI files via midisynth.

     To configure your workstation for MIDI playback via an external
     synthesizer, use a Macintosh-compatible serial port to MIDI adaptor to
     connect an external MIDI sound module to one of the serial ports.  This
     procedure varies with machine type.  Use the Port Setup system
     administration tool to configure the serial port for MIDI operation.  To
     launch the Port Setup tool, select the System Manager tool from the
     System menu on the Toolchest.  Then select "System Admin Tools" on the
     System Manager "Tools" menu.  The Port Setup icon will appear in the
     Administration Tools window.

     To verify that the serial port is now configured for MIDI, launch
     soundplayer and select "MIDI Devices" from the "Utilities" menu to view a
     list of active MIDI outputs. The serial port configured for MIDI should
     now appear in the list.

BUGS
     Unless the -nounique option is used, multiple instances of soundplayer
     will not run on a single display, even when run from different hosts.

SEE ALSO
     audio(1), afintro(3dm), midi(3dm), audiopanel(1), midisynth(1)


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