Effective Use Of Sound
| Category: Internet Tips | Date: 2002-06-24 |
Listen up (pun intended). Sound is a very difficult thing to do correctly in a web site. In fact, poor use of sound can ruin an otherwise perfect page. Many awards programs specifically state if you have any background sound at all your website will not even be considered! So is it possible to use sound to enhance your web site? In short, yes, but you have to be very careful and plan well.
Lets start with a little background. You have a number of choices when it comes to sound. The first choice to make is the type of sound files. You can use a WAV file, which is supported by just about every Windows system out there (its the Windows native format). WAV files have the advantage that they will record just about anything - but they can be very large.
WAV files are easy to make. Most personal computers now include sound cards and software. You just need to purchase a microphone, connect it to your system and record the sound.
Another choice is MIDI files. These are more limited than WAV files in some ways, but they can be awesome. These basically record the notes themselves, so you can make a concert or orchestra, without any singing or vocals. MIDI files tend to be very small. You need special software (and you may want to get special MIDI hardware) to create MIDI files. Internally, the MIDI file resembles, in concept, musical notes.
Other choices include REAL player sound files, which have lower quality than WAV or MIDI, but also are very compressed and hence very small. REAL audio files also can be streamed (although that is not easy and costs money), which means your listeners do not have to wait for the entire file to download before playing begins.
There are many other sound formats and plugins (small pieces of code which install on your system to play the music) to choose from. A very popular plugin is called Crescendo, which handles MP3 and MIDI files.
Okay, youve chosen a sound format, now what do you do with it? Thats the kicker, and that needs to be decided before anything else. Why do you need sound on your web page?
One popular usage is as simple hyperlinks. You might include a text description or image which links to the desired sound file. For example, lets say you had recorded Homer Simpsons "Doh" sound and you wanted your visitors to be able to hear it. You might just include a hyperlink to the WAV file - simply click and listen. The major advantage of this method is visitors can choose whether or not to listen to the sound.
Another use which works very well is as part of an online interview. You might include the text of the interview on a page, with links to the audio recording so that people can actually listen to it while they read. This is an excellent use of sound, as it is (a) optional for the visitor, and (b) actually enhances the experience of the interview reading.
Multimedia training or tutorials are also great uses of sound files. You can include links in images or sprinkled throughout the text to help someone learn better. Use this well and you could make a superb training experience. Again, notice that the sound is optional.
If you want a background sound, you can use a tag similar to the one below (must be between the HEAD and /HEAD). This causes the sound to start as soon as the web page is displayed. The "loop" attribute indicates how often to play the sound, and -1 means forever.
bgsound src="../Sounds/Memofu.mid" loop="-1"
A caution about background sounds: many web surfers hate them. Not everyone has your taste in music, so including a background sound is very daring and could (will) cause some or many of your visitors to immediately leave your site. However, used correctly background sound can be great.
Examples include a Star Trek fan site which plays the theme song to the television show, or a site containing Beetles memorabilia playing a Beetles MIDI file.
Just be sure there is an obvious way to turn the sound off. This means you cannot use the tag, as it does not include an OFF button. However, you can use Crescendo, which is probably the best way to include a background sound. Note, however, that this does require that your visitors must install the plugin on their system before listening to the sound.
You can find out all about Crescendo by visiting their web page at http://www.liveupdate.com/ and you can use their HTML code generator at http://www.liveupdate.com/addmusic/addmusic.html if you want.
As you can see, there are many good ways to incorporate sound into your web site. The advice is simple:
try and make the sound optional for your visitors
Be sure it enhances your web site
If you use background sound, be sure and give your visitors an easy way to turn it off.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@GetResponse.com
Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com
List of articles available for reprint: article-list@internet-tips.net
articles@internet-tips.net
http://www.internet-tips.net
Lets start with a little background. You have a number of choices when it comes to sound. The first choice to make is the type of sound files. You can use a WAV file, which is supported by just about every Windows system out there (its the Windows native format). WAV files have the advantage that they will record just about anything - but they can be very large.
WAV files are easy to make. Most personal computers now include sound cards and software. You just need to purchase a microphone, connect it to your system and record the sound.
Another choice is MIDI files. These are more limited than WAV files in some ways, but they can be awesome. These basically record the notes themselves, so you can make a concert or orchestra, without any singing or vocals. MIDI files tend to be very small. You need special software (and you may want to get special MIDI hardware) to create MIDI files. Internally, the MIDI file resembles, in concept, musical notes.
Other choices include REAL player sound files, which have lower quality than WAV or MIDI, but also are very compressed and hence very small. REAL audio files also can be streamed (although that is not easy and costs money), which means your listeners do not have to wait for the entire file to download before playing begins.
There are many other sound formats and plugins (small pieces of code which install on your system to play the music) to choose from. A very popular plugin is called Crescendo, which handles MP3 and MIDI files.
Okay, youve chosen a sound format, now what do you do with it? Thats the kicker, and that needs to be decided before anything else. Why do you need sound on your web page?
One popular usage is as simple hyperlinks. You might include a text description or image which links to the desired sound file. For example, lets say you had recorded Homer Simpsons "Doh" sound and you wanted your visitors to be able to hear it. You might just include a hyperlink to the WAV file - simply click and listen. The major advantage of this method is visitors can choose whether or not to listen to the sound.
Another use which works very well is as part of an online interview. You might include the text of the interview on a page, with links to the audio recording so that people can actually listen to it while they read. This is an excellent use of sound, as it is (a) optional for the visitor, and (b) actually enhances the experience of the interview reading.
Multimedia training or tutorials are also great uses of sound files. You can include links in images or sprinkled throughout the text to help someone learn better. Use this well and you could make a superb training experience. Again, notice that the sound is optional.
If you want a background sound, you can use a tag similar to the one below (must be between the HEAD and /HEAD). This causes the sound to start as soon as the web page is displayed. The "loop" attribute indicates how often to play the sound, and -1 means forever.
bgsound src="../Sounds/Memofu.mid" loop="-1"
A caution about background sounds: many web surfers hate them. Not everyone has your taste in music, so including a background sound is very daring and could (will) cause some or many of your visitors to immediately leave your site. However, used correctly background sound can be great.
Examples include a Star Trek fan site which plays the theme song to the television show, or a site containing Beetles memorabilia playing a Beetles MIDI file.
Just be sure there is an obvious way to turn the sound off. This means you cannot use the tag, as it does not include an OFF button. However, you can use Crescendo, which is probably the best way to include a background sound. Note, however, that this does require that your visitors must install the plugin on their system before listening to the sound.
You can find out all about Crescendo by visiting their web page at http://www.liveupdate.com/ and you can use their HTML code generator at http://www.liveupdate.com/addmusic/addmusic.html if you want.
As you can see, there are many good ways to incorporate sound into your web site. The advice is simple:
try and make the sound optional for your visitors
Be sure it enhances your web site
If you use background sound, be sure and give your visitors an easy way to turn it off.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets. This website includes over 1,000 free articles to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
Web Site Address: http://www.internet-tips.net
Weekly newsletter: http://www.internet-tips.net/joinlist.htm
Daily Tips: internet-tips@GetResponse.com
Claudia Arevalo-Lowe is the webmistress of Internet Tips And Secrets and Surviving Asthma. Visit her site at http://survivingasthma.com
List of articles available for reprint: article-list@internet-tips.net
articles@internet-tips.net
http://www.internet-tips.net
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