Preserved Topic: MP3 on website?

I want a soundfx to start when the website is loaded.
Is it possible to do that with a mp3-file?
I know it works with midi-files but thats a little bit lame for my taste.


It should work on ANY computer, no plug-ins required, just to load and get permanent ear-damage.

Lionpaw.

Like a stream I guess ? Otherwise, the mp3 file would only load after finishing downloading it. In this case, you will have to use a plug-in. I don't know any filetype that would do that without having a plug-in. The most popular are of course those of Windows Media Player and Real Player.



[This message has been edited by Moon Shadow (edited 03-18-2003).]

Yes, a stream.

OK.
I guessed it would be difficult!
But maybe if I could convert the mp3 to midi somehow.
I don't like the idea of expecting the users to download the file first.
The whole point was to have the sound in sync with the gifs.
Thanks for your time.

Lionpaw.

Son of a diddley.

You cannot do that too, sorry. Midi is a dedicated filetype, you can only create midi files from scratch. Converting wav or mp3 to midi is impossible. I don't suggest you forcing your user to download a plug-in in order to hear the music... just offer it. Yes the whole thing would loss of his attract, but it's the most user-friendly way I think.

OK, thanks again!

I'll get back to you if I find a sollution.

Lionpaw.

Son of a diddley.

Do what ever you want just put an off-switch on the page.

And if you think you should force the user(s) to do anything (listening to music for instance) you are going to make a big mistake. In modern time you give the user control about your site.
You could put a nice little text op your first page like so: "this site would be even better with some music on bla bla
and the plugin can be found in this or that website bla bla bla" Convince the user to download the plugin and let him listen to the music. Do *not* offend him by forcing him to listen to the music whitout any control off it.

And the possibilities for music on website are streams and thew best would be Real i think.
Or you might try to launch .wav files from the site. Most browsers can use other programs to 'open' files.
and this could be done by windows mediaplayer. You also might look to .au files.


"Freedom of speech is by no means freedom to insult others" from the Razorart goodbye letter.

But you can convert midi's to MP3's can't you? Granted unless it happens to be purely instrumental it would sound horrible/irrecognizable...but I recall seeing a program for doing it around.


Check out techtv.com/callforhelp/ I think I saw it there.

But perhaps I'm wrong.



-Chesta

You could try out Flash.

I'm pretty sure that you can do this in flash, as I am pretty sure that I've seen it before:

Turn all of your animated gifs into flash movies.

Create a file that loads your sound clip but stops it before playing.

Using ActionScripting, make it detect when the sound clip has loaded, and then play all of your other flash movies at once.

(NOTE: I don't know if this works, but a friend, who uses Flash and codes in it pretty heavily has assured me that it can be done, he's just never done it.)

I've tried to avoid flash but it´s probably needed in this case.
It´s just a little soundfx, NOT music!

Flash it is.
Thank You, FakeBacon

Lionpaw.

Son of a diddley.

Converting mp3 or wav to midi is technically possible but not in the way you mean. There are pitch sequencers that convert an mp3 or wav file to a midi but the catch is that the recording has to be of a single instrument.

Midi is basically Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A midi file contains no music whatsoever, it is merely a sequence that tells a midi synthesizer that at this point play instrument032 (e.g. standard piano), note/key 203 (e.g. middle C) then the next note in sequence. A midi file can contain several tracks of different instruments and can get a decently rich sound, however, there is no way you can encode any type of vocals since you can't reproduce that on a synthesizer. All sound cards have a MIDI synthesizer which enables you to play midi files.

Therefore, the answer is yes and no.

Yes, you can convert an mp3 to a midi as long as the mp3 recording contains a single instrument and the converter is able to match it to a specific instrument and match the pitch of each note.

No, because you can't fully reproduce an mp3 in midi format unless you record each track on the midi yourself.

[edit] As an additional note, however, playing a wav file should be no problem as I'm sure any computer with a sound card installed can at least play wav files without any plugins needed. [/edit]



[This message has been edited by silence (edited 03-19-2003).]

It sounds like you've gotten some good advice here, lionpaw, but I just wanted to second Rinswind's sentiment. It's your business, of course, what you do with your site, but if you start playing music (music, sound fx, not much difference in my book, really) on your site with no warning and no remedy you run the risk of aggravating visitors. Although I can't speak for everyone, when I land at a site and music starts playing out of nowhere I get really annoyed. I'm out of there quicker than you can say "cacophonous mayhem."

So, like I said, it's entirely up to you what you decide to do, but would advise you to carefully consider how you want to implement this. Good luck with the project.





www.liminality.org

Nevermind...

[This message has been edited by counterfeitbacon (edited 03-19-2003).]

I agree that there should be a user control for your sounds on your site at the very least.

I had the same issue with putting sounds into my page and found the answers in java. With the .au format that you can convert most file formats too with Cool Edit Pro You can get a free trial of Cool Edit Pro that will give you all but two functions or only two functions... I can't remember which.

The free java code for the inline applet was at.... damn... forgot the link... I'll add the link when I find it.

Here is a place that has a sound applet for DL... I don't think it's the one I'm thinking of though.

Here is another one that has the sounds tied into the onmouseover event.

Another place for some interesting bits of free Java code is at ANFY

Hope that helps!

GrythusDraconis
"I'm sick of hearing that beauty is only skin-deep. That's deep enough. Who wants an adorable pancreas?" - Unknown

[EDIT]Fixed Link[/EDIT]

[This message has been edited by GrythusDraconis (edited 03-19-2003).]

The biggest problem with trying to get audio online is that no browser (except Netscape 4.x) is actually able to play audio all by itself.

They all have to use a plug-in weather it be flash or something like real player, quicktime or windows media player or a Java applet.

Personally, I'd use flash because it's fairly wide spread but if you don't you will have to use some kind of application to play the file. The only problem your likely to have if you use flash it if you need to control it through javascript as Mozilla has a lot of issues in that department.

A java applet would be my second option but since M$ left Java out of XP and with a large number of people steering clear of XP ServicePack1 I bet there's a sizable (not large, but large enough to matter) amount of people who don't have Java.

The third option is to use Javascript to talk for the popular external players. Most of the major audio players (RealPlayer, Quicktime, Windows Media Player and possibly even WinAmp) can be configured with options in the <object> tag you use to set the sound in your HTML page (Often you can also detect which players are configured and installed through the users web browser). I've played around with RealPlayer's display options for audio before and I know it can be set up to play an audio file without displaying or popping open any interface. It also has an embedded interface which appears within the HTML page with nice clean and simple audio controls on it (play, stop, rewind etc...).

If your interested in finding out how to control a particular player from within a web browser using the <object> tag then I suggest you visit the website for that particular player.

Here's the link for RealMeia's Realplayer:
Latest Real Player Version: http://service.real.com/help/library/guides/productionguidepreview/HTML/htmfiles/embed.htm
Earlier Versions: http://service.real.com/help/library/guides/productiong27/htmfiles/control.htm

The file type will depend on which method you use although most can support MP3's which is probably your best option.

As for streaming, it all depends on how large the audio file is. Chances are you can compress it enough so that you shouldn't need to stream it. If it doesn't contain any lyrics or high frequency sounds then you could possibly get away with 8bit mono and a resolution of about 12,000hz -- which should keep it down to around 2-4k for each second of audio.

Hope it helped.

lionpaw: Well people have asked you to add a control to switch it on and off (which is essential) but I'll go one further and ask you not to do this in the first place!! It increases the size of your page and annoys an awful lot of people who surf while listening to music (of their own choosing) - unless I really need the information on the page I'd back straight out and wouldn't bother looking for the on/off switch.

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

I second that Emps .. I always have my station monitor running and noisy sites drive me nuts .. especially because the volume level is that of the system volume, and there is no secondary control, like the volume control in Winamp ... with the result that my nice peaceful chilled or ambient track is suddenly replaced by a zillion decibels of what someone ELSe thinks is kewlmusik .. and in 9 times out of 10, not what I consider music at all.

Don't do it ... offer the mp3 for download if you want people to have it (and if its your music) but don't surprise people with it or your site might rapidly become a place to avoid, not to visit ...

Thanks for the advice!

GrythusDraconis, I'll check that java out.

It's a site about racing and nice little engine roar would suit just fine, ONCE!

All the best, Lionpaw.

Son of a diddley.