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