PaceMaker Winamp Plug-in v1.32 (05-Aug-2003)

Visit the product home page for more information & updates : http://www.iki.fi/oparviai/pacemaker

Read the PaceMaker FAQ for more information and hints at http://www.iki.fi/oparviai/pacemaker/pacemaker1_faq.html

1. Introduction

PaceMaker is a plug-in for Winamp2 player, enabling controlling the sound tempo, pitch and playback rate independetly from each other. That is, with PaceMaker it's possible to:

Speed up or slow down the music tempo without affecting the music key (pitch)
Change the music key (pitch) without affecting the tempo
Change the music playback rate as if a vinyl record was played at a higher or lower rate than rated

2. System requirements

A PC with Pentium-level (or compatible) processor @ 150 Mhz or better.
Windows 95/98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP or compatible operating system.
Winamp player version 2.xx, which can be downloaded for free at Winamp Classic site. Please notice that this plug-in version doesn't work with Winamp versions 3.0 or later due to changes in the Winamp plug-in system. There's however another version of PaceMaker for Winamp3 available at the PaceMaker3 page.

3. Activation & Uninstallation

To enable PaceMaker, go to Winamp preferences (push <ctrl+p> in the Winamp main window) and choose "PaceMaker tempo Controller v1.3" in Winamp's "DSP/Effect plug-in" list (see beside).
To close the PaceMaker window, go to Winamp preferences and choose "(none)" from the Winamp's "DSP/Effect plug-in" list (see beside).
To permanently uninstall PaceMaker from your computer, locate and delete the file "dsp_pacemaker.dll" at your Program Files\Winamp\Plugins directory.

4. PaceMaker control Window

Adjust the Tempo, Pitch & Speed settings by moving the sliders with mouse or using the -/+ buttons at the right-hand side of the sliders.
"Memorize the above settings for each song" : When this box is checked, PaceMaker stores the Tempo/Pitch/Speed settings for each song and uses the same settings again when the same song is played for the next time.
"Disable sound tweaking" : Temporarily disables the Tempo/Pitch/Speed adjustments so that the song is played using the original parameters.
The "Reset" button resets the Tempo/Pitch/Speed controls to default settings.
The -button opens the PaceMaker configuration window.
The "?"-button displays this help file.
Double-clicking the title bar shrinks the PaceMaker window into shade mode,

Adjustment ranges

The adjustment ranges for Tempo & Speed are -50% .. +100% (Notice that Tempo & Speed adjustment are restricted to min -43.5% with for 44.1kHz stereo sound due to Winamp2's internal restrictions).
The adjustment range for Pitch is -12 .. +12 half-steps (semitones) for Pitch, i.e. -1 .. +1 octave

Usage tips

The sliders can be fine-adjusted with the mouse wheel or keyboard, just activate the desired slider first by clicking it with a mouse button or use the 'Tab' key on the keyboard to switch between the sliders. The currently active slider is indicated with a mesh frame.

The Mouse wheel adjusts the active slider in small steps.
The arrow keys on the keyboard adjust the active slider in small steps.
The Page Up/Down keys adjust the active slider in larger steps.
The Adjustment Steps for the sliders and PageUp/Down keys can be changed in PaceMaker configuration, see next section.

5. Configuration

Open PaceMaker configuration window by pushing the -button on PaceMaker window.

Slider Control Precision: Chooses how fine steps are used to adjust the Tempo/Pitch/Speed sliders (range between 0.01% to 10%).
Inc/dec button step: How much the arrow buttons at right-hand side of the sliders change the setting values.
PageUp/Down key step: How much pushing the PageUp/Down buttons on keyboard change the slider position.

Reset the sound control settings for new songs in the Memorize mode: When PaceMaker is set to memorize the adjustment settings for each song (i.e. "Memorize the above settings for each song" box is checked on the PaceMaker window), this setting chooses what settings are used for songs that are played for the first time with the memorize setting activated. If this box is checked, Tempo/Pitch/Speed settings are reset to zero for new songs, otherwise the same settings are used as for the previously played song.

Reset the sound control settings when song changes: If this box is checked, PaceMaker resets the Tempo/Pitch/Speed settings each time when a new song starts playing. This settings doesn't have effect when PaceMaker is in memorize mode.

Quality (CPU usage trade-off): This setting can be used to reduce the CPU load in old PCs with slow CPU by compromising some sound quality. With 300Mhz or faster CPU the 'Higher' setting is recommended.

Click here to Register! - button: Click this button to register your copy of PaceMaker plug-in. See section Registering PaceMaker for more information.

6. Known issues, Troubleshooting & Hints

Please see the PaceMaker FAQ for known issues, troubleshooting tips and general hints (note: links to the Internet)

7. Registering PaceMaker

You may register your copy of PaceMaker agains a small registration fee. By registering the plug-in you'll support the development work.

Please consider registering PaceMaker, if...

If you find PaceMaker useful or fun
If you're using PaceMaker on constant basis
If you're using PaceMaker for any commercial or professional use, you're required to register.
Or if you just wish to support the development work.

You'll find more information about registering PaceMaker at the PaceMaker registering page (note: link to the Internet).

8. License & Warranty

The PaceMaker plug-in is provided "as is" without external support or warranty for non-registered users. The software can be freely used and further distributed for non-commercial purposes. Use for commercial purposes require registering the plug-in against small registration fee (see the section "Registering PaceMaker"). Registering a single copy of PaceMaker will authorize to use the PaceMaker plug-in for commercial/professional use by one person in one computer at a time.

The PaceMaker software can be distributed as a part of a program collection or a publication, as far as no changes are made to the PaceMaker software or installation package, and no other payment is demanded for PaceMaker plug-in except for reasonable delivery costs.

Use of PaceMaker plug-in module or the source code as a part of a commercial product without author's permission are prohibited. Please contact author for further details.

Always wear protective clothing and approved helmet when using the software. The software may contain small particles, so keep it out of reach of children under age of five. The author don't assume any responsibility for mental or social problems the software may cause.

Please feel free to contact the author in any case of confusion of these terms.

9. Contact information

Check for new PaceMaker releases at the product home page http://www.iki.fi/oparviai/pacemaker.

Read the PaceMaker Frequenty Asked Questions at http://www.iki.fi/oparviai/pacemaker/pacemaker1_faq.html

If you've found a bug, please read the reporting bugs section of FAQ for what information to include with the bug report.

You may send comments and bug reports to the author at oparviai@iki.fi. If you've registered your copy of the plug-in, please include your registration information. Please notice that incomplete letters shorter than four lines may be discarded by spam mail filter. (The last comment of spam filter isn't ment to discourage people from asking questions, because usually the questions are quite appropriate and valid. However, I've received also numerous e-mails having only a single-line note like "it doesnt work help plz"! If you ponder whether your question is valid and worth asking, please use the above example "it doesnt work help plz" as a standard for estimating validness of yours.)

This document was updated on 05-Aug-2003