abacomedia
2004-06-06 01:51:07 UTC
Adding Music to your Web Site - the good, the bad and the ugly
Many webmasters like the idea of adding background music to their we
sites but most shy away from doing it worrying about slow loading page
and large file sizes. There are many different ways to add backgroun
music to your site and some of them don't require large files t
achieve professional results. Let's examine all the different ways t
add background music to your site and rate them to find the bes
solution for you.
1) MIDI Files
MIDI files are very small because they actually use your sound card'
built-in instruments to create the sounds. The problem is that mos
sound cards don't have any decent sounds to start with, plus no tw
sound cards sound alike and therefore the results are ver
unpredictable. MIDI files usually sound like they're coming from one o
those cheap Casio keyboards. Using MIDI for background music is ver
likely to make your site seem amateurish. Want to know how to do i
anyway? Just add the <embed src=xyz.mid autostart=true> line to you
site. (Replace xyz with the name of the MIDI file you want to use!) Th
Autostart command will play the file automatically when the page i
loaded.
PROS; Very small file size, easy to implement
CONS: Unpredictable results, amateurish sounds
2) WAV Files
Using the WAV file format allows you to add professional soundin
recordings to your site but the problem is that even if you use a lo
quality setting like 11k/8bit, the file sizes are still very large an
it will take a long time for your music to load. And slow loading page
are the worst thing that can happen to a site. Implementing a WAV fil
on a web page is easy. Just add the line <embed src=xyz.wa
autostart=true> to your page's HTML code. There's an additional comman
to loop the WAV file but WAV files do not loop cleanly with the embe
command.
PROS: Many Quality Levels, Easy to implement
CONS: Large File Sizes, WAV Files do not loop
3) MP3 Files
MP3 files are highly compressed and don't take that long to load bu
the problem is that MP3s need to bring up an external player progra
and which in some cases takes your visitors away from your sit
altogether. Also, MP3 files don't loop cleanly.
PROS: Smaller File Sizes, Good Quality Possible
CONS: Needs external player software, not loopable
4) Flash
If you own a program that can create Flash files, you will have lots o
flexibility in adding sound to your site. Flash lets you import WAV a
well as MP3 Files and then creates quite small files from these sound
that will load automatically on your site. You can set the qualit
level and therefore decide how large you want the Flash file to be
Flash also allows you to loop short pieces of sound to creat
'continuous' background music files that can be quite small. But pleas
note that only imported WAV files can be looped in Flash, MP3 file
will not loop cleanly.
PROS: Great Flexibility, Small File Sizes, expecially when loopin
sounds
CONS: You need to buy expensive Flash software to create Flash Files
5) Pre-Made Flash Loops
The newest thing on the market are pre-built Flash Music Loops. Thes
files are professionally recorded, loop almost indefinitely and most o
these Flash Music Loops are only about 20k in size so they load almos
instantly. Flash Music Loops are available a
http://www.flashmusictracks.com and currently there are three differen
loop packages available in all kinds of music styles from classical t
techno. Using these pre-built Flash files is easy. Simply upload th
"xyz.swf" Flash file to your server and add a few lines from th
corresponding "xyz.html" file to your web page and presto...instan
professional sounding background music.
PROS: Extremely small file size, professional quality music
CONS: None
As you can see there are many different ways to add background music t
your web pages and you don't have to worry about slow loading pages i
you choose the right file format.
Article by Alan Steward, a professional recording engineer and produce
who worked with many Grammy award winning groups and musicians.
(c)2004 Alan Steward - http://www.musicleads.net
You may freely redistribute or use this article on your website or in
your newsletter as long as the article is unaltered and unedited.
--
abacomedia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via http://www.forum4designers.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this thread: http://www.forum4designers.com/message80364.html
Many webmasters like the idea of adding background music to their we
sites but most shy away from doing it worrying about slow loading page
and large file sizes. There are many different ways to add backgroun
music to your site and some of them don't require large files t
achieve professional results. Let's examine all the different ways t
add background music to your site and rate them to find the bes
solution for you.
1) MIDI Files
MIDI files are very small because they actually use your sound card'
built-in instruments to create the sounds. The problem is that mos
sound cards don't have any decent sounds to start with, plus no tw
sound cards sound alike and therefore the results are ver
unpredictable. MIDI files usually sound like they're coming from one o
those cheap Casio keyboards. Using MIDI for background music is ver
likely to make your site seem amateurish. Want to know how to do i
anyway? Just add the <embed src=xyz.mid autostart=true> line to you
site. (Replace xyz with the name of the MIDI file you want to use!) Th
Autostart command will play the file automatically when the page i
loaded.
PROS; Very small file size, easy to implement
CONS: Unpredictable results, amateurish sounds
2) WAV Files
Using the WAV file format allows you to add professional soundin
recordings to your site but the problem is that even if you use a lo
quality setting like 11k/8bit, the file sizes are still very large an
it will take a long time for your music to load. And slow loading page
are the worst thing that can happen to a site. Implementing a WAV fil
on a web page is easy. Just add the line <embed src=xyz.wa
autostart=true> to your page's HTML code. There's an additional comman
to loop the WAV file but WAV files do not loop cleanly with the embe
command.
PROS: Many Quality Levels, Easy to implement
CONS: Large File Sizes, WAV Files do not loop
3) MP3 Files
MP3 files are highly compressed and don't take that long to load bu
the problem is that MP3s need to bring up an external player progra
and which in some cases takes your visitors away from your sit
altogether. Also, MP3 files don't loop cleanly.
PROS: Smaller File Sizes, Good Quality Possible
CONS: Needs external player software, not loopable
4) Flash
If you own a program that can create Flash files, you will have lots o
flexibility in adding sound to your site. Flash lets you import WAV a
well as MP3 Files and then creates quite small files from these sound
that will load automatically on your site. You can set the qualit
level and therefore decide how large you want the Flash file to be
Flash also allows you to loop short pieces of sound to creat
'continuous' background music files that can be quite small. But pleas
note that only imported WAV files can be looped in Flash, MP3 file
will not loop cleanly.
PROS: Great Flexibility, Small File Sizes, expecially when loopin
sounds
CONS: You need to buy expensive Flash software to create Flash Files
5) Pre-Made Flash Loops
The newest thing on the market are pre-built Flash Music Loops. Thes
files are professionally recorded, loop almost indefinitely and most o
these Flash Music Loops are only about 20k in size so they load almos
instantly. Flash Music Loops are available a
http://www.flashmusictracks.com and currently there are three differen
loop packages available in all kinds of music styles from classical t
techno. Using these pre-built Flash files is easy. Simply upload th
"xyz.swf" Flash file to your server and add a few lines from th
corresponding "xyz.html" file to your web page and presto...instan
professional sounding background music.
PROS: Extremely small file size, professional quality music
CONS: None
As you can see there are many different ways to add background music t
your web pages and you don't have to worry about slow loading pages i
you choose the right file format.
Article by Alan Steward, a professional recording engineer and produce
who worked with many Grammy award winning groups and musicians.
(c)2004 Alan Steward - http://www.musicleads.net
You may freely redistribute or use this article on your website or in
your newsletter as long as the article is unaltered and unedited.
--
abacomedia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via http://www.forum4designers.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
View this thread: http://www.forum4designers.com/message80364.html