Becoming a Recording Star

Midi (*.mid) Files

Midi files are the most efficient and best way to add music to your web page. A 50k file can play for about 5 minutes!

<EMBED> Statement

It is best to allow the user to turn off the music, especially if you have the music loop forever! Note how the midi file is not actually at my website, and I've included a stop button

<EMBED SRC="http://www.bensplanet.com/sounds/children.mid" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="100" HEIGHT="40" CONTROLS="stopbutton" CONSOLE="soundclip">

Produces:

<A href="mainstreet.mid">Click Me</A>

Produces:
Click Me

BGSound

Not all browsers can support it, but look here for information about the <BGSOUND> tag.

Wave (*.wav) Files

This format is a wasteful but easy to use file format that is a sound recording. A 2 second file takes 50k! So only use this for a simple hello or sound effect that would last 1 or 2 seconds.

Making the recording

Even using the humble lab computers (windoze), you can record a hello message.

Select Start/Programs/Accessories/Entertainment/Sound Recorder The red dot is the way to start recording, but keep you hand on the mouse, since you have to stop it right away (the black square button).

Use the rewind and play button to hear it.

Use the Edit/Delete Before Current Position to redo until it sounds okay to you.

Troubleshooting: If you recorded a whole lot of silence, you may need to change the preferences so that it pays attention to your microphone. Select Edit/Audio Properties, Click the recording button, and check the Microphone as the selected device

Use the File/Save to save your *.wav file in the same directory as your *.html document.

Using the <embed> tag

<EMBED src="testing.wav" CONSOLE="soundclip">

produces:

Using the <A> tag

<A href="testing.wav">Click Me</a>

produces:
Click Me

Other Sound formats

There are quite a few, including *.au, *.aiff, *.mpeg, *.mp3 which may be more efficient, and would require software dedicated to sound editting and encoding.