A Simple Guide to Using SonicMood

Think of SonicMood like iTunes, except each song (“Mood”) is created continuously by a
bunch of gifted dwarfs living inside SonicMood. There is Happy and Sleepy and Grumpy
and... Oh, well, you get the idea.

Just Playing -
1. Launch SonicMood. SonicMood starts playing.
2. You should see the main window with 2 separate lists, each containing rows and
columns of text.
1. The list on the left is the Theme list. Each row represents a specific Theme,
which is a way of grouping similar Moods together.
2. The list on the right has four columns, with one column headed by the words
“Mood List.” It’s the list of Moods. Each row has information about and represents
that Mood. The headings at the top of each column label the information.
3. Click on a row in the Theme list to select only Moods in that Theme.
4. Double-click any row in the Mood list to start playing that Mood.
3. Volume is controlled by the slider at the top. Drag it to the left to decrease volume
and drag it to the right to increase volume. Press the space bar to toggle between
pause and play, or click the pause/play button at the top.
4. Select “Mini Controls Window” from the “Controls” menu to open a “floating” window
that provides controls for the basic operation of SonicMood.

Have SonicMood Lull You to Sleep and Wake You Up -

1. Click the “Sleep.../Wake...” button at the bottom of the main window.
2. Set the time to sleep and wake. Either “At” a certain time or “In” so many hours, etc.
3. Set a repeat interval, if desired.
4. Check “Sleep/Wake computer...” to have your computer sleep and wake with
SonicMood. Enter an admin name and password when prompted (you’re probably
the admin unless you share a computer at work).
5. Check “Link Wake...” so clicking the “On” button for sleep or wake sets the other too.
6. Click “Done”

Change Moods Using the Timer (“Mood Timer”) -

1. To play only certain Moods, check the boxes next to the ones you want to play.
2. If you want some to play longer, click on the time next to the checkbox and enter a
length in h:mm:ss format.
3. In the rectangular area at the top center of the main window (the “marquee”), click
on the small, “set” button at the right. In the window that opens, select the “Mood
Play Order” you want. Select “Marked” if you checked Moods and want only those to
play.
4. Check the “Timer On” box and click “Done” when done.
5. The timer will start. You can stop and start it again using the button at the left side of
the marquee. A “progress bar” will show how much time is left.
Schedule Moods to Play (“Mood Schedule”) -
1. Click the bottom right-hand button (“Mood Schedule Off”).
2. In the window that opens, select a Mood from the “Add:” pop-up menu near the
bottom.
3. Select a play time, a repeat (if desired), a minimum length of time to play, and then
click “+”. The Mood should appear in the list at the top.
4. Continue to select Moods and times, clicking “+” for each one.
5. Change settings by highlighting the Mood in the list, adjusting settings, and clicking
“Update Highlighted Mood.”
6. Click “On” to start the schedule, and then click “Done.”
7. If there is a conflict with the “Mood Timer,” the scheduled Mood will play for the
minimum length you specified and then the “Mood Timer” will continue.

Record Moods -
1. Select “Record Audio...” from the “Moods” menu. The “Audio Record” window opens.
1. If you have “SoundFlower” installed then you can select “Digital Audio” to record
both the MIDI instruments and the nature sound recordings.
1. If not and you want to record “Digital Audio,” see the information on our web
site under “FAQ” in the “Recording SonicMood’s Sound” section.
2. After the install, you should run the “SoundflowerBed” app that’s inside the
“Soundflower” folder in your “Applications” folder.
2. Click the “Record File” button in the toolbar at the top of the window.
1. Enter the filename you wish to use for the recording and click “Save.”
2. The “Record” and “Stop Recording” buttons become enabled.
3. Click the button for “MIDI” (instruments only) or “Digital Audio.”
1. If “Digital Audio,” select the “Sample Rate” and “Compression Type” you want,
and what format you want the output to be converted to.
4. If you want a timed recording, check the “Timer On” box and set a recording length.
5. Click “Record” to start recording.
1. If you don’t hear SonicMood any more, check that your sound output device is
selected under the “flower” icon (for “SoundflowerBed”) on the right side of the
OS X menubar.
2. Even if you don’t hear SonicMood, the sound will be recorded.
3. The “Record” button has changed to a “Pause” button. Click it to pause and click
again to “Resume.”
6. The recording will stop (and be converted to the format you’ve selected if you’re
recording “Digital Audio”) when the recording time is up or you click “Stop
Recording.”
1. Do not close the “Audio Record” window while recording as this will end the
recording.

The “Picture Window” -

1. Click “Picture Window” under the “Pictures” menu.
2. Drag & Drop your photos onto the window that opens.
3. Start a slide show using the “Picture Timer” - it works the same way as the “Mood
Timer,” discussed above under the heading “Change Moods Using the Timer (“Mood
Timer”)”.
4. Click the “Picture List” button to open a list of pictures saved. You can also just
double-click on the current picture to bring up the list and dismiss it.

Customize Moods and Themes -

1. Add Moods to a Theme by dragging them over from the Mood list.
2. Add Moods to SonicMood by dropping a “Moods File” onto the Mood list. These files
can be ones you’ve saved previously or downloaded from our web site (on the
“Sharing” page).
3. Add a Theme by clicking the “+” under the Theme list. Delete by pressing “-”.
4. Clone an existing Mood (to edit later) by highlighting it and clicking the “+” under the
Mood list. You can delete any highlighted Mood (or Moods) using the “-” button.
5. Create a custom Mood by selecting “Create Custom Mood...” from the Moods menu.
A window will open with three simple, labeled sliders and a place to enter a name for
your new Mood. Adjust the sliders for the kind of Mood you’d like, enter a name and
click “Create.”
6. You can edit any Mood using the “Edit” panel. If it’s not visible (it should be to the
right of the list of Moods), click the “Edit” button at the bottom. The “Edit” panel
provides access to the highlighted Mood’s settings for the instruments, musical
scales used, etc., and also to the nature sounds (“Soundfiles”) which are part of that
Mood. See the “Help” for more detailed information.

Customize SonicMood’s Operation and Appearance -

1. Press the “⌘,” keys to open SonicMood’s Preference window.
2. Change basic stuff like checking for newer versions, auto save, etc., on the
“General” page.
3. Customize the color scheme of windows on the “Windows” page.
4. Change settings for specific windows on the “Misc” page.
5. Select other MIDI synths from the “Synths” page.
6. Set a password for waking the computer when SonicMood wakes by checking the
box on the “Sleep/Wake” page.

For more details, see the “Help.”