How can I play several music tracks back to back on an opening slide?

Question

I want to place several music tracks back to back on an opening slide to entertain the audience prior to my start.  On Power Point it’s easy but I have found it impossible in Keynote. Using the building inspector and setting stop/start cues just doesn't work, the music stops after build out of track 1. How to do I make the other tracks follow automatically?

Answer 1

There are a couple of ways to do this:
A. Using the Build Inspector (advantage: easy to do - disadvantage: takes a bit of set up & no fade-ins/fade-outs)
1. Place each of your audio files on the slide, select them all and in Build Inspector set all to "Start Audio"
2. Then open the Options Drawer in Build Inspector and select "Start Build Automatically"
3. Select the first audio file in the Build Inspector (I find this easier than guessing which icon is which), note that the audio file icon highlights, then go to Quicktime Inspector and note the duration of the file in seconds.
4. Return to the Build Inspector and select the second file, note that the icon is highlighted, then in the Options Drawer of the build inspector enter then number of seconds of the first files duration into the Delay box for the second file.
5. Repeat, rinse lather and repeat again for each audio file.
By doing the above you avoid having the files all start almost simultaneously and they will play in sequence. Be sure to listen for dead spaces before presenting to your audience and adjust delay times where needed.
NOTE: The maximum delay allowed is 60.0 seconds - if you have audio files longer than this you will need to either break the files into <60 seconds each or use B. below:
B. Use iMovie to create an audio track of all audio files. (Advantage: allows audio fades and overlaps, less math - disadvantage: takes time to put together and you need iMovie, too)
1. Create a single audio file as a .mov in iMovie and export it on to your slide.
2. Set the Start Movie in Build inspector and go.
Hope this helps.
Message was edited by: bwfromspring hill