MIDI Machine V0.89 Beta (c) Excel Progs/TOW Development 1994

I.    Info about Excel Progs/TOW Development
II.   Introduction
III.  What You Need
IV.   Running MIDI Machine
V.    Support Info.
VI.   Registering
VII.  Revisions

I.    Info about Excel Progs/Tow Development

MIDI Machine V0.89 Beta by Excel Progs/TOW Development

MIDI Machine was written by Andrew Malek of Excel Progs, and is
distributed by Joe Passmore of TOW Development.

For more information, contact Excel Progs at:

Excel Progs
c/o Andrew Malek
434 Gallaher View Road Apt 60
Knoxville, TN  37919

Or, contact either Excel Progs or TOW Development via The Other World
BBS of Knoxville, TN.

TOW BBS:  (615)-577-9342, 7 14.4k lines, Games, No Ratio, More

II.    Introduction

Congratulations for choosing MIDI Machine as your MS-Windows(c) MIDI
player!  Midi Machine is the latest of Excel Progs line of excellent
products for the IBM(c)/clone computers, and like all EP products, it
is backed by full support.

Midi Machine allows you to play the .MID (MIDI) files that are seen
all throughout the world.  Midi Machine also allows you to play the
standard .WAV (WAVEAUDIO) files. MIDIs cover all genres of music,
including:

o       Jazz/Blues
o       Rock/Pop
o       Soft Rock/Easy Listening
o       Classical

and many more styles of music are represented by this music file
format.  

WAVs cover all types of sounds, including:

o       Instruments
o       Music Clips
o       Voice-Mail
o       System Events

and many more types of sound files are represented by this audio
file format.

III.   What you Need

In order to play music with Midi Machine, you must have:

o       MS-Windows 3.1 or higher
o       A Midi-compatible sound card (SB, SBPro, GUS,..etc)
o       Installed MIDI drivers for Windows
o       VBRUN300.DLL (found at many fine BBS's and distribution networks)

If you wish to only play WAV files, the midi drivers and midi-
compliant sound card are not needed.  You will, however, need WAV
support and drivers.

IV.    Running MIDI Machine

In order to run Midi Machine, you need to copy, unpack,..etc the files
you received.  Next, copy the MCI.VBX and ANIBUTON.VBX files to your main 
Windows directory.  Get VBRUN300.DLL from your distribution site (or The
Other World BBS), and place it to your Windows directory.  Add the Midi
Machine icon to your program manager or equivalent (or just run it
straight using your pm's run command).

Midi Machine will execute and bring you up to the main status window.
This window is divided into several parts:

o       Drive selection window

	This will allow you to choose which drive Midi Machine will
	pull the Sound files from.

o       Directory selction window

	This will allow you to choose which directory Midi Machine
	will pull the Sound files from.

o       File selection window

	This will allow you to choose the individual Sounds that you
	wish to add to your playing queue (see below).

o       Sound Playing queue

	This will be a list of Sounds that you have selected to play,
	in order of selection (note that the order the Sound files are
	selected are NOT exactly the order in which that they will be
	played!  See below for more options).

o       Buttons

	Buttons are the method by which you can tell MIDI machine
	what to do.  These buttons are as follows:

	(R)ename

	Allows you to rename or move a sound.

	(D)elete

	Allows you to delete a sound.

	(I)nfo

	Allows you to get information on a sound.  Note that this can
	be done ONLY when you are not playing any music.

	(A)dd

	Allows you to add a sound file from the file selection window
	to your Sound playing queue.

	Add A(l)l

	Allows you to add ALL sound files from the file selection
	window to your Sound playing queue.

	R(e)move

	Removes a sound from your playing queue.

	(C)lear

	Clears ALL sounds from the queue.

	A(b)out

	Information about Midi Machine

	(H)elp

	Displays help about Midi Machine

	Setup

	Goes to setup screen, where you can choose the animated icon which
	will be displayed when you play MIDIs and WAVs (the two
	groups allow separate icons.)

	E(x)it

	Exits Midi Machine

	(S)tart

	Start playing sounds!

	(N)ext

	Skip to the next sound.

	S(T)OP!

	Abort all sounds.  Keeps any songs in the queue available for
	playing.

	(P)ause/(P)lay

	This button changes depending upon the state of the sound.
	You can temporarily pause the sound output and then resume
	later.

o       Check boxes

	These check boxes allow you to change the order in which
	Sounds are being played.  Simply click on the boxes to
	change the playing direction.

	Ran(d)om

	Plays the sound files randomly.

	(B)kwrds

	Plays the sound files backwards.

	C(o)ntin.

	Plays the sounds continuously.  This button is only visible
	when you are in selecting, not playback, mode.

V.     Support Info.

This is a beta version of the upcoming full release of MIDI Machine.
All possible time has been spent removing errors from this program.
I hate receiving Windows programs that constantly crash, and I'm sure
you do also.

Under normal usage, the program has been known to work very well.  Very
infrequently (and under non-normal usage, as the main beta-tester can
attest) the program has hung on a WAV.  If this does occur, pressing
the "Next" button should continue the program on its way.

If you notice any other errors, please let me know.  I can be contacted
by the following ways:

1)	SASE at the Excel Progs address.
2)	E-Mail on The Other World BBS as Jman.
3)	[Temporarily] by Internet E-Mail:  admalek@sacam.oren.ortn.edu

VI.    Registration

Registration is $15.00, which will give you the first full release of
Midi Machine with your name on the title bar (nothing profane, please!)
Company/government registrations are as follows:

1-10 licenses   / $17 @
11-50  "    "   / $14 @
51-100 "    "   / $12 @
100 & up        / Your company must not be doing much work (hehe), but
		  the cost will be $10 @.

Mail the check or money order (NO CASH), your preferred disk format
(3.5 or 5.25 double density), and your name or company name to:

Excel Progs
re:  Midi Machine registration
c/o Andrew Malek
434 Gallaher View Rd Apt. 60
Knoxville, TN  37919

VII.   Revisions

V0.7    First Beta Version (For TOW Development beta-testing)

V0.75   Misc. Features

	Added a minimum button.
	The text colors were changed from blue to yellow, letting
	  the text stand out more.
	Altered the text in the "About" box slightly.
	You can now rename one file at a time (fixed), and it
	  displays the name/size of the file in the box.
	Traps any errors in rename procedure.
	Ability to delete multiple files.
	Allows canceling of delete procedure.
	Traps any error in delete procedure.
	Able to play MIDIs in continous mode.
	In the title bar, as well as when the icon is minimized,
	  the text is changed to the midi name when playing, or
	  "Paused..." when paused.

V0.78 	Graphics/More

	Minor Bug Fixes
	Added Setup Screen
	Added moving picture ability when midis are being played
	Created "Conducter," "Music Notes," "Feel the Music"
	  animation sequences
	
V0.83   WAV Support, Graphics/More

	Minor Bug Fixes
	Stopped "flicker" when changing icons in setup mode when
	  playing midis.
	Added WAV support
	Added WAV icon support.
	Created "Ear," "Wave," "Oscil" animations.
	Added new feature of "Smart-Renaming"... wav files
	  will add .wav extension if left off, mid files will
	  add .mid extension if left off.

V0.86	New About Box/More

	Bug Fixes
	Renaming a file to itself will not display error
	New "About" box
	New "About" and "Setup" box formats...windows stay on screen until
	  you want them to be removed.  You can have all three windows
	  on at one time.

V0.88	Bug Fixes/Speed Improvements

	Bug Fixes
	Increased speed with animated icons.
	When Midi Machine is minimized, the graphics will not
	  move...speed increase.

V0.89	First Official Beta Release

	Bug Fixes

VIII.  Warranty/Disclaimer

NEITHER EXCEL PROGS, TOW DEVELOPMENT, ITS EMPLOYEES, SUPERVISORS,..ETC,
TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OUTPUT OF THIS PROGRAM.  YOU, THE USER,
TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE USAGE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

Microsoft, Windows, are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
All trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
Midi Machine (c) 1994 Excel Progs, All Right Reserved
