outline

Early Audio Files

• Have been on the Web since the early days.
• Files are usually quite large and may take some time to download

Audio Today

• Streaming Audio has made it possible to have live broadcasts on the Web

Legal Concerns

• Audio files, like images, are copyrighted.
• However, there are many royalty-free sound effects and music - once you have paid for the package of sounds
• Best bet - Record it yourself

Nonstreaming Audio

• Are retrieved from the server and are downloaded to the hard disk in their entirety before they can begin to play.
• Advantages
  - does not require any special software
  - Simple to create in standard formats
• Disadvantages - Large file size and difficult to protect copyrights and limit distribution

Streaming Audio

• Allows for the audio to be heard almost immediately
• Requires several software components
  - an encoder - which converts audio to the streaming format
  - a player
  - special audio server software

Advantages of Streaming Audio

• Audio begins soon after the stream begins
• Sound quality is not as severely sacrificed
• Artists and publishers can control distribution and protect the copyright

Disadvantages of Streaming Audio

• Possible high cost of server software
• Requires a dedicated server (Wally)
• Sound quality and stream may be affected by low speed or inconsistent connections to the Internet.

Adding Nonstreaming Audio to HTML

• Using a simple anchor tag (<a>)
  <a href = "audio/a song.wav">Play a song</a>

<Embed> tag

• Using the <embed> tag, the browser places the plug-in controls in the flow of the text like an image
• <embed> tag has several attributes:
  -src (which is the URL)
  - loop=true(false or number) is how many times the file will play
  - and there are more

Background Sound

• Use the tag <bgsound src = "audio/a song.mid">

Streaming Audio

• Plug-ins available:
  - RealAudio
  - Shockwave
  - Quicktime Audio

Adding Streaming Audio to HTML

• Use <a> link or the <embed> tag
• Some plug-ins require a special go-between file (metafile using the suffix .ram or .ra)
• Example:
  <a href = "song.ram">Link to a song</a>

Reference

• Web Design in a Nutshell by Jennifer Neiderest