

NAME

  mplay - multiple sound file player

SYNOPSIS 

  mplay [-l <file> [<file> ...] ] 

  mplay [<playlist> [<playlist> ...] ] 

  mplay -h

DESCRIPTION 

  mplay is a shell-script to play a list of sound files. Some
  folks like to collect sound clips from their favorite TV shows
  and movies. With mplay, you can now play your clips all at
  once, or in a particluar sequence. You can even create playlists
  to play different subsets of your sound clips or play them
  in different orders.

  OPTIONS

    -h

      Display a help message.

    -l

      List mode. Play the list of specified soundfiles. 
      All of the arguments following the "-l" option MUST be soundfiles,
      since mplay will try to feed them to a soundfile player.

    If neither "-h" nor "-l" is present, mplay assumes that the
    arguments are playlists.

  USING PLAYLISTS

    Playlists are ASCII text files containing a set of simple
    commands recognized by mplay. Each line contains one command,
    and one command only. You may have blank lines, which are
    ignored. The commands are performed in order, and you can
    use a command as often as you want.

    The valid commands are:

    -dir <directory>

    -basedir <directory> 

      Sets the base directory to "<directory>". The base directory
      is where mplay assumes the sound files are located. 
      This command is most useful when you've organized your sound
      clips into several different subdirectories, i. e. by show
      name. This way, you don't need to specify the full path
      of each sound file.
      If you never issue a "-basedir" command, mplay doesn't add
      any directory to the sound filenames. The sound file must
      then: 

        1. be in the current directory, or 

        2. have its path explicity specified.

    -f <sndfile>

    -file <sndfile>

    -p <sndfile>

    -play <sndfile>

      Play the audio file "<sndfile>". What types of audio files
      mplay recognizes depends on how you configured it; you
      can have mplay use any sort of audio file player you wish.
      If you have many sound clips all in one directory, consider
      issuing a "-basedir" command before issuing a list of "-play"
      commands.

    -v <n>

    -vol <n> 

      Change the mixer volume to "<n>". If you've configured mplay
      to ignore the audio card's mixer [because, say, you don't
      have a command-line program to control the mixer], this
      does nothing.
      Use this command to change the volume before playing a particularly
      loud or quiet sound file. You can use this as often as
      you like; you could even put a "-vol" command before every
      "-play" command.
      mplay resets the volume to some quieter level on exit.

    -play_list <playlistfile>

      Execute the playlist "<playlistfile>". Note that mplay "holds
      its place." That is, after it finishes executing the file
      "<playlistfile>", it continues executing the parent playlist
      right where it left off.

  EXAMPLES

    1. Play a bunch of "*.wav" files in the current directory.

      mplay.sh -l *.wav 

    2. This is a playlist for a set of files:

      -basedir ~/sounds/
      
      -vol 90
      -play softfile.wav
      
      -vol 40
      -play loudfile.wav
      
      -vol 70
      
      -play zogwhat.wav
      -play wrongtool.wav
      -play thump.wav

    3. Here's a playlist that plays some other playlists, then
      plays some additional sounds:

      -basedir ~/scripts/
      
      -play_list b5.darkness.plst
      -play_list b5.light.plst
      -play_list b5.candle.plst
      -play_list b5.star.plst
      
      -basedir ~/sounds/
      
      -play cool

    You could also use the abbreviated versions of the commands
    if you wanted.

AUTHOR 

  John Weiss [John.Weiss@colorado.edu] 
