On The Job With The Media Player Mixer Express™ On Your Computer

The Media Player Mixer Express™ (MPMe) is a "virtual smart mixer" that blends superior search and play performance with live-assist automation and an innovative interface. The MPMe provides bold visual cues to DJs and sound producers as they control music and effects through SIX simultaneously available MP3, WAV or WMA capable media players—side-by-side, on one easy-to-read screen.  (Get the details on MPMe requirements.)

While the MPMe is perfect for mobile DJ systems, there are plenty of other professional audio applications—from sporting events to trade shows to theatrical presentations—that realize improved productivity with the MPMe and its long list of performance and convenience benefits.

Use MPMe to play your AUDIO on demand: Hit-Music, Theme Music, Soundtrack Snippets, Dialogue Drops, Music Vamps, Recorded Promos, Speaker Cues, Announcer Tracks, Choir Fill, Orchestral Elements, Sound Effects and more.  And, using the MPMe Audio File Class capability, radio stations can easily plan and execute audio playback (including jingles, commercials and promos) for remote broadcast events—all from one lightweight laptop computer.  Here are some well-suited MPMe scenarios:

 

Mobile DJ Systems

What DJ wouldn't like to replace his heavy CD and vinyl LP cases with a lightweight laptop computer?  And the incredible Media Player Mixer Express™ (MPMe) SEARCH power makes the task of picking the right music efficient and easy for any event: dance parties, weddings, holiday get-togethers, anniversary celebrations, birthday parties and more.  Use the MPMe alone—as a virtual mixer—or connect it to your hardware console and use it as an additional "smart" sound source to compliment traditional turntables or CD players.  Learn how search flexibility allows you to work faster.

 

Theatrical Presentations

Imagine rolling in your sound effects, music vamps or vocal tracks on cue from the MPMe.  You can pre-build sound cue lists by assigning a Playlist Builder name, apply instant filters, and load up to 3 sound cues at one time.  Then, when you are ready to play the audio, use the MPMe virtual mixer to fire your sound cues instantly.

 

Sporting Events

Quickly find, load and play the most exciting music tracks; capture the mood of the crowd by dropping in the perfect sound effect or team catch-phrase; pre-record announcer copy, add it to a named playlist and then play from the MPMe in order and on cue.  If you travel with the team, you can bring your special collection of music drops and sound effects with you on your laptop—then just plug it in the the audio console at the stadium.

 

House-of-Worship Venues

Compliment your live music and choir events by adding pre-recorded band tracks form a pre-built playlist; roll in your service announcements and congregation cues as needed; when the choir is "understaffed", play vocal fill tracks from previous weeks on demand.  If your main audio person takes a day off, the back-up operator can work from the pre-saved "playlist" and start all the cues with ease.

 

Fashion Shows

Work with the designer ahead of time to select and then pre-build music playlists to that you can quickly load and play the perfect music track—in less than 1 second; use the MPMe for appropriate "walk-in" and break music; drop in sound effects to punctuate the announcer; pre-record and then play back the announcer tracks in order and on cue.

 

Trade Conventions

Play the music you want on cue, add sound effects to pump up the crowd, even pre-record special announcements and then play them back in order with as little as 1 second lead time; easily adapt to dynamically changing situations without missing a beat.

 

Award Ceremonies

Pre-build music playlists, and then easily play music on demand in order (or change at will); use pre-recorded announcements and ramp up the excitement with sound effects and comedy music vamps.

 

Music Collectors

Music hobbyists can use the catalog system in the Media Player Mixer Express™ (MPMe) to organize their hit-music collection, and then use the virtual players to reproduce music on demand at home for personal listening or entertainment events.

 

Broadcast Remotes

Radio stations can use the Media Player Mixer Express™ (MPMe) like a "radio station in a box"; pre-load hit-music tracks, pre-build commercial segments, cue up and play transitional jingles and station promos on demand; use the MPMe SIX player virtual mixer to output remote audio to one stereo line and feed it back to the transmitter—all from a lightweight laptop computer equipped with a single 2-channel sound card and running compatible versions of Windows 2000® or Windows® XP.

The simple configuration?  Connect one microphone and your laptop with the Media Player Mixer Express™ to a small format Mackie®, Tapco® or Yamaha® mini-mixer, then connect this to your remote feed line.  One DJ can run the music, and even the spots and promos (thanks to AFC technology in the MPMe)—all from the remote site.

Best Practices Planning

IMPORTANT:  In production environments, it is smart to have at least a minimum level of technical issue contingency plans.  For example, when using the MPMe to play for an important music show, we generally configure our test system with a back-up plan in mind by including at least one conventional CD player connected to our hardware mixer.

Our test events have never had to use the CD player, but had the MPMe computer ever developed problems, we knew that the option of throwing on music CDs could be executed in seconds.  This sort of configuration might be called the MPMe "music source" mode, where the MPMe computer was connected to the inputs of a portable hardware mixer (such as the Mackie® DFX-12).

To complete the set-up in this scenario, we usually added one or two CD players, and one or two microphones.  Pack a small box with 10 or 20 of your best dance-mix CDs, and you've got a smart way to prepare for any unexpected PC issues.

If possible, it is also a good idea to operate your Media Player Mixer Express™ (MPMe) computer as a "dedicated" audio device.  Do not run other processor intensive applications when your DJ software is functioning.  You will reduce the risk of virus infection if you do not use your MPMe PC to "surf the Web".  Also, take care not to open audio or video files from unknown or untrusted sources on your MPMe computer.  For more technical advice, read MPM HELP in the program.

Get Right To Work with the Media Player Mixer Express™

Thorough installation instructions are included in your distribution README file (with additional information in the FAQ topic, What are the installation steps for a typical MPMe user?)  But, for quick reference, here's a look at what you must do before you start using the MPMe:

Discover the key benefits of the Media Player Mixer Express.  Learn more about MPMe SmartFocus technology and its live-assist automationSee screen shots now.  Get the details on MPMe requirements.  Return to MPMe Fast Facts page.

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