Background Music

[Darrell]

I have been using PTE for a while, but have only used 1 music selection until today. I put two music selections on a presentation today. The first selection played, the second one did not.

I re-created the presentation several times, but could never get the second selection to play. I would appreciate help with this.

[Guest guru]

Hi Darrel! Welcome to forum!

Your problem is quite unusual. Do both your music files sound correctly with Windows Media Player? Are they .mp3 files or .wav? What is their size in MB?

To avoid to waste too much time in finding why your second file doesn't start, you can merge your two files in one, by using a simple software like Acoustica Audio Mixer (shareware $24.95, demo working 1 month without limitations) or also Audacity, maybe less easy to use but powerful and free.

[Darrell]

Thanks for the information, I will merge both selections into 1. To answer your questions.

1. They are both MP3 files

2. They both sound great on Windows Media Player.

3. I don't know the sixe, they are on my laptop and it is at work. They were extracted as near CD quality if that will help.

[Roelphotography]

I am having the same problem. As soon as the second song comes on the presentation freezes and then stops. Any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks

[LumenLux]

I just added 7 short mp3 files to a show which until now was silent. In this case the sound goes just as planned. When multiple sound files cause trouble - sometimes you can trace down and solve the problem. But as guru (Guido) pointed out, many of us have simply found it easier to combine the multiple mp3 files into a single mp3 file.

I assume you are adding your music by Project Options/Music/ Background music checked

If instead you are adding your music by Customize Slide screen, then you may be making things more complicated for your intent of background music. The customize slide / music area is for more specialized application of music or sound for a given file or files.

As I write this, the above mentioned show is playing fine through all seven mp3 files. If you do want to trouble -shoot your problem (instead of just combining sound files) I would suggest you try your same slides with some totally different mp3 files. Maybe you use your Find command and just choose some short mp3 files to see if it works. Then you can add back your real (original) mp3 files to see if it is a particular file that causes your trouble.

[nobeefstu]

Darrell,Roelphotography,

Robert (LumenLux) offers some very valuable troubleshooting tips when using music files.

With all of the different tools available to RIP, EXTRACT, CONVERT all sorts of MUSIC FILES ... its (not) a wonder we all have some sort of problem. If its Music Files you have edited etc only giving you the problem ... its a good starting place to troubleshoot.

1- When ever you encounter MUSIC ISSUES in your SHOW ... first thing to look at is your PROJECT OPTIONS-SETUP. Is it a Sync, Custom, or Manual setting causing the issue ? Try different settings if need be ... this will help verify whether its your settings used or Music Files used.

2-If using Multiple Music Files and still getting MUSIC ISSUES ... rearrange their playing order. This sometimes helps to identify the individual (or more) Music File(s) creating your issue ... since they appear in a different time interval within your playing Show.

3- Check all the File Properties of the troubled Music Files. The differences in encoding/tags/kbps/mhz may be promoting the issue ( esp in using multiple selections). Try to edit them into similar file properties to see if this resolves the issue.

Its a way to start to deduct/identify the problem files ... since nowadays all music seems to be getting protected/converted/manipulated in some way or fashion. Not all MUSIC is playable on all Pcs ... the industry/software developers are seeing (not playing) to that now.