Sound or Audio, whichever you prefer –MIDI Files .midi or .mid (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) use for instrumental music. –This format is supported by many browsers & doesn’t require a plug-in. Additionally the file size is comparitively small. However, the user’s soundcard affects the quality of reception. Since MIDI files are synthesized onto the computer special hardware and software is required.

–© Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

WAV (Waveform Extension)

• good quality• Don’t require a plug-in• Supported by many browsers• You can record your own from your own

source material, such as a CD, tape or microphone.

• However, the files are large © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

Aif (Audio Interchange File Format) or AIFF

• Has good sound quality, doesn’t require plug-in & is well supported.

• Like wav, you can also record from CD’s, microphone, etc.

• Large file size limits length of sound clip

• © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

MP3 (Motion Picture Experts Group Audio, or MPEG Audio Layer –3)

• If properly recorded & compressed, sound quality is very good. And can even be as good as a CD

• Streaming allows for better listening

• Very large file size, > Real Audio file

• Needs plug-in such as RealPlayer, Windows Media Player, etc.

– © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

Ra, ram, rpm (Real Audio)

• High degree of compression

• Smaller file size than MP3

• Files can be streamed

• Sound quality not as good as MP3

• Requires RealPlayer plug-in

© Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

Some definitions• Sampling rate – no. of samples over a timed

interval for converting analog sound to digital. Measured in KHz

• Bit Depth – (also called sampling resolution or word length). The more bits, the better the quality. 8 bit sounds like telephone call vs 16 bit like a CD

• Channels – from 1 – 6 separate channels. Mono = 1 channel, Stereo = 2 channels, etc.

– © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

More Definitions• Compression - MPEG & AIFF are compressed in

order to save disk space. • Streaming – begins playing almost right after the

request is made. Requires a special player (which is free). However, software is licensed to server. User doesn’t get a copy of the file.

• Nonstreaming – entire file needs to be downloaded first. However, special server software is not required.

– © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

Royalty free Sound Sites• BEWARE of COPYRIGHTS!• http://www.microsoft.com/galler/giles/sounds/

Digital Kitchen @ http://www.dkitchen.com

DXM Production’s Earshot

http://www.earshotsfx.com

Creative Support Services http://www.cssmusic.com © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

What you can do for better sound

1. Keep it short and sweet, longer, takes longer

2. Mono a mono versus stereo, less is more as they say

3. As for item 2, 8 bit depth takes half the room of 16 bit files

4. Limit sampling rate1. © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

Sound Files• Cool Edit by Syntrillium @

http://www.syntrillium.com

• SoundEdit by Macromedia @ http://www.macromedia.com

• Both of the above can be used to convert sound files between formats.

• You might want to use Wav for basic sound & RA for streaming

© Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

RealMedia

• Go to http://www.real.com

• You can get a free version of Real Producer from http://real.cm/products/tools/index.html

– © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

HTML for adding Nonstreaming Audio

• <A HREF=“music.wav”>What a song </A>

• Using the <EMBED> tag– The plug-in is placed like an image with controls– <EMBED SRC= “audio.mid”

CONTROLS=“console” WIDTH=125 HEIGHT=25 AUTOSTART=false>>/EMBED>

© Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001

Background & A Sound Link

• If you want background sound, you need to have a loop

• <BGSOUND SRC=“sound.url” LOOP=no.r infinite>

• <A HREF=“sound.wav”><IMG SRC=“So where is it.gif” WIDTH= 25 HEIGHT = 23> 40K Sound @ 22.3kHz</A>

• © Dale Krasnoff-Bromberg 2001