Hi. 

MIDI axe has many levels.  You can use it as Fingers only, as a mouse play 
program only, or combine the Fingers part and the MIDI axe part, or combine 
MIDI Axe with KCS open mode playback, or Fingers with open mode, etc.  MIDI 
axe playback can be controlled from the mouse, the keyboard (in many 
different ways), from "sliders", from KCS open mode sequences, and from 
external MIDI devices. 

I don't have the program up here at work, so I have to do the best I can 
from memory.  But on one of the options screens you can choose "MIDI axe 
only" to get rid of the Fingers part if you don't need it.  This gives you 
a simpler screen with a big cross for reference.  This would work a bit 
like "Music Mouse".  At the most simple level there are three options: 
note, noterep and gliss.  The speed of the repeats can be changed with the 
alt-key.  But if you load some sequences into open mode you can go further 
with the sequence play modes.  All of these give different results.  The 
manual says which ones are the most useful, but you just have to experiment 
with them.  The bottom line has some letters in pairs, like R, H and 
L.  The H stands for Holds, which you should try next.  This makes a mini 
recording of your "gesture", and a number (1 and upwards) will blink on the 
right side of the screen.  If you control-click on this number it will 
change to a +, and you can "drag" the held sequence around in pitch and 
velocity.  There are also several different ways of starting recordings, 
which will go into open mode and be available for instant mouse 
playback.  The "return"-key is one of them. 

The Fingers and MIDI axe parts are not syncronised in tempo etc.  But they 
can control each other in different ways if you go into the sliders 
part.  A slider can control many parameters, both held gestures, all 
aspects of Fingers, even open mode sequences, plus MIDI continous 
controllers etc.  So you can for example change the harmonies that Fingers 
produce.  The Sliders can on the other hand be controlled by a Fingers 
line, by clicking and dragging on visible sliders, via the keyboard, via 
MIDI, or via open mode sequences with cu-events that determine the slider 
number and position.  If you want to use sliders to control pitch 
parameters, my experience is that only KCS cu-events or Fingers lines can 
control it accurately.  So if you want to use it to control the Fingers 
harmonies you should learn this first.  The other control possibilities has 
too low resolution, (you get around 60 values out of the MIDI range of 
128), so they are best used for continous controllers etc.  (If you want to 
control percussion sounds, maybe the resolution doesn't matter.  Then it is 
quite cool to use the mod-wheel to change sounds.  Just remember that it 
will skip every other sound.) 

Unlike most of the other algorithmic programs, MIDI axe don't give you 
anything for free.  You have to enter everything yourself, and you have to 
work on it a lot to know how to control it.  Well, some things are quite 
uncontrollable also, so you won't always get predictable results.  But it's 
fun! 

Best wishes 

Trond Einar