1.3. Two easy ways to add sound
To add a simple background sound ( .wav or .mid ) file to your web page, include the tags listed below: BGSOUND or EMBED. These tags are the bare minimum you need to get audio running on a web page. For anything more complex than simple playback or looping, you will need to use a plug-in-based solution such as Flash or RealAudio. The BGSOUND and EMBED tags are browser-specific and are used to ensure playback over both Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers. Internet Explorer reads the BGSOUND tag while Netscape reads the EMBED tag.
1.3.1. Adding a simple background sound
Here is some HTML to add a background sound to your page. The sound will begin playing as soon as the file has downloaded. This can be annoying, so use it judiciously.
<BGSOUND SRC="yoursound.wav"> <EMBED SRC="yoursound.wav" HIDDEN="TRUE" AUTOSTART="TRUE"></EMBED>
If you wish to loop the sound and provide a name for the sound link, use the following code:
<BGSOUND="yoursound.wav" NAME="MySound" HIDDEN="TRUE" LOOP="TRUE"
AUTOSTART="TRUE">
<EMBED SRC="yoursound.wav" HIDDEN="TRUE" LOOP="TRUE"
AUTOSTART="TRUE"></EMBED>If you want the player console with volume control to be visible during playback, use the following tag (Netscape only):
<EMBED SRC="yoursound.wav" VOLUME="50" WIDTH="144" HEIGHT="60"
CONTROLS="console"></EMBED>Not all web sound has to be elaborate or complicated. A simple music loop or navigation button sound effect can enhance your site and make it a more engaging experience for the user. The following two sections discuss sound elements you can add right away, plus the scripts to get you started.
1.3.2. Adding a looping music soundtrack
With a looped soundtrack, you can create the right atmosphere for your site. Consider this tactic from Broderbund: as diehard Myst players awaited the sequel to Riven, the company put up a web site as a teaser. The "Riven Journals" gave users a preview of the upcoming product (or, rather, kept them at bay) while throughout the site a haunting music loop echoed the look and feel of the game to good effect.
To add a simple background sound file to your web page, include this tag:
<BODY BGSOUND="yoursound.wav">
If BGSOUND does not work with Internet Explorer, try this:
<CENTER><EMBED SRC="name.mid" AUTOSTART="TRUE" WIDTH="144"
HEIGHT="56" LOOP="5"></CENTER>You may use a .mid or .wav file as well. Similarly, if you wish to loop the sound, first provide a name for the link, then hide or show the browser's default player/plug-in, and set the file to autostart playback. You may set those parameters using the following code:
<BGSOUND="yoursound.au" NAME="click" HIDDEN="TRUE" LOOP="FALSE"
AUTOSTART="TRUE"> |  |  |
| 1.2. What you can do with sound on the Web |  | 1.4. Adding sound effects |
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