{IntervalMusicCompositor}

{introduction}

IntervalMusicCompositor is a small, multi-platform software which generates a random interval sequence out of an arbitrary number of music files. One can choose the duration of the music parts and the intermediate breaks as well as the number of iterations. The output is a single, large audio file to be processed further or burnt to cd.

{features}

{instructions}

Installation/Preparation

The IntervalMusicCompositor comes as a single executable file. No installation is needed therefore. However, it is based on Java technology, thus a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) must be present to run it.
If you don't have one installed, you are prompted to do so on the first start of the software on the Microsoft Windows version. Users of Linux and Mac OS X operating systems are expected to have one installed already.

Usage

1. Choose a directory or create a new one
2. Put the IntervalMusicCompositor program file into this directory
3. Put all the audio files you'd like to have compiled into this directory
4. Start the IntervalMusicCompositor by double-clicking it
5. (If necessary, follow the instructions for installing the Java Runtime Environment)
6. The program window appears. Enter the desired values for the ordering method of the tracks (random or alphabetically sorted by filenames), the length of the sound samples (in seconds, i.e. 30 seconds), the fade-in/out period (i.e. 1 second), the length of the breaks (in seconds, i.e. 10 seconds) and the number of sound samples you'd like to have in the end (i.e. 12 samples)
7. Press the 'Process' button
8. Wait some time (around 1 to 10 s per track, depending on the speed of your computer and the length of the track), the tracks are now being loaded and analyzed
9. If it says 'Finished' in the progress bar, the output sound file (in this example '30_10_12_imc_out.wav', the numbers match the entered values) and the according tracklist ('30_10_12_playlist.txt') have been generated (this is, unless there were some serious problems). You can check the audio envelope to determine if the output file is ok. If you chose 'random' and don't like the order of your tracks, just restart the process

{download}

{known problems}

• Some MP3 files seem to have a wrong encoding. These are ignored.
• If a filename has some nasty characters in it, the file is ignored.
• It occasionally occurs that some temporary files are not deleted on the Microsoft Windows version. The temporary files of the IntervalMusicCompositor have the extension .imc_wave and can be safely deleted manually after the software has quit.
• On Mac Os X computers it may be that the wrong Java version is selected. The program will then only run for a second and close again immediately after being started. Start the 'Java Settings' (Applications -> Utilities) and move Java Version 6 to the top of the list to fix it. If there is no Version 6 of Java you probably have to update your operating system to obtain it.
• MP3 files in exotic encoding (sampling frequency lower than 44.1 kHz) are in some cases played faster in the output file. Such only available in mono are reduced to one channel.

{legal}

Freeware.
You're using it at your own risk! :)