Main Window

The Main SonicMood window contains controls for viewing Mood-related information, changing Moods, changing volumes, opening other windows, and so on. If you don’t like the look, you can change the “color scheme” in Preferences (⌘,), on the "Windows" page.

The Moods list, a list of the Moods available, the Themes list for organizing Moods, and the Edit panel (if showing), occupy the majority of the SonicMood window. If the SonicMood window is in its small "zoomed" state, the Moods and Themes lists and the Edit panel will not be visible. In order to see the lists, click the green "+" in the titlebar first.

If you want SonicMood out of your way, you can shrink it! The green "+" in the titlebar is the "Zoom" button. Clicking it transforms the Main window between a small size and its normal size. This is the same as selecting "Zoom" from the "Window" menu. The position of the “zoomed” small window can be different from its "un-zoomed" position.

Each row in the Moods list represents a Mood and contains the Mood name along with a checkbox and elapsed-time Timer value (in h:mm:ss format), and a Schedule time. Check the box next to the Moods you’d like to play in “Marked” order when the Mood Timer is running. You can toggle the check-mark using "⌥-spacebar", if you wish. See the Timers Help topic for more information.
The currently playing Mood is indicated by a "loudspeaker" icon on the left side.

Add more Themes by clicking on the "+" button below the Themes list. Delete Themes by clicking on the "-" button (the button is disabled when the "All Moods" theme is highlighted). In a similar fashion, add and delete Moods using the buttons under the Moods list. Add Moods to Themes by dragging them from the Moods list or by using the standard Edit menu items (cut/copy/paste). You can cut, copy, or drag more than one Mood at a time to a Theme.

Rename Moods and Themes by using the standard "select-pause-click" technique to make them editable. Type in a new name, or edit the existing name, and press "return."

The Moods and Themes lists are sortable by clicking on a column header. Change the ordering of Moods and Themes by dragging the rows to new positions in their lists. Note that if one or more lines are moved via a drag, the column header no longer indicates that sorting is in effect.

Click the "Edit" button to show or hide the Edit panel and make changes to the highlighted Mood.



Just below the titlebar is the toolbar (assuming it isn’t hidden - select it from the "Window" menu). By default it displays the "Colors," "Chimes," "Prefs," and "Help" buttons. You can add, delete, and rearrange these items by right/control-clicking on the toolbar and selecting "Customize Toolbar" from the menu that appears.

Click the Chimes button to open a window containing moving chimes. A window of flashing horizontal bars color-keyed to the instrumental sounds will appear when you click the Colors button. Clicking a second time on a button that opens a window will close that window (it's a toggle). They can all be opened/closed from the "Window" menu, too. "Prefs" opens the Preferences window, while "Help" opens this window.

Just below the titlebar/toolbar, centered horizontally in the window, is the "marquee", a large area which contains details about the current Mood. Within the marquee are two lines of text. The top line flips between the current Mood's name and the names of the MIDI instruments used in the Mood. The second line alternates between the current Timer/Schedule settings and the names of the Soundfiles used in the Mood. When a line of text is too long to fit completely within the marquee, it slides to the left, pausing for a moment at each end.

Also within the marquee, on either side below the textual information, are small rectangular buttons. These buttons control the Mood interval timer. The left-hand button stops or starts the Mood interval timer while the right-hand button brings up the timer setting window. When the timer is running a progress bar will appear and give a graphical indication of the remaining time until the next Mood starts playing. At the left end of the progress bar is the elapsed time counter and at the right end is the total play time.

The "Mood play controls" are to the left of the marquee and consist of the previous, pause/play, and next buttons. Click the previous or next buttons to go back or forward a Mood. Hold the ⌥ key down while clicking to go back or forward one Picture (useful when the Picture window is open). Click the play/pause button (or press the space bar) to pause or resume playing a Mood.


"Master Volume" for all Moods is controlled by the slider to the left of the marquee.





The search field at the top of the window can be used to find a specific Mood. Press ⌘F or click in the field and start typing a word in the Mood’s name. While you type, the highlight in the Mood’s list will move to the first match. Press “return” if that’s the Mood you were searching for and it will start to play. Press ⌘G to search for another match. When you press “return” the Mood you’ve selected will be added to a list that you can go back to by clicking the “search symbol” at the left side of the field.

Instrument and Soundfile volume can be controlled from the "Sound Settings" floating window. This window is opened/closed by clicking the button on the SonicMood window, the "Volumes" button on the toolbar, or by selecting "Sound Settings..." from the "Controls" menu. The small round "loudspeaker" buttons just right of their respective sliders are "mute" buttons for each volume control. Unlike the "Master Volume", which always affects all Moods, these sliders can change volume for current or highlighted Moods, or all Moods. When the "All Moods" radio button is selected the sliders change the volume for all the Moods. Note that clicking a button won't change a setting until a slider is moved.

You can also use the mouse-wheel to move sliders. Or, hold the ⌘ key and press the ↑ or ↓ keys to change the "Master Volume". Do the same with the ⌥ key to change the "Instruments Volume". Use the control (⌃) key to change the "Soundfiles Volume".


You can open a "Mini Controls" window containing a play/pause button, back/forward buttons, a volume slider, and a drop-down list of Moods so you can minimize SonicMood and still have control over its play. Note that until you move the mouse cursor over the window it will be semi-transparent. Select "Mini Controls Window" (^⇧spacebar) from the "Controls" menu to toggle display of this window. The red "-" button at the top right of the window will hide all non-floating SonicMood windows (the “Chimes,” “Colors,” and "Mini Controls" windows are all floating). Once you've hidden those windows, the button changes to a green "+" button. Clicking it will un-hide the windows previously hidden.