Multimedia & Graphics: Adding Sound To Your Web Site Design - The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Summary : There are many different ways to add a multimedia dimension to your web site design, and some don't require large files to achieve professional results.

Many webmasters like the idea of adding audio to their web sites, but most shy away worrying about slow loading pages and large file sizes. There are many different ways to add a multimedia dimension to your web site design, and some don't require large audio files to achieve professional results.

Below is an examination of the different audio file formats, as well as a rating of their pros and cons. Consider your site's and audiences' needs to find the best multimedia web design solution.

1. MIDI Files
   MIDI files are very small because they actually use your sound card's built-in instruments to create the sounds. The problem is that most sound cards don't have any decent sounds to start with, plus no two cards sound alike. The end results are very unpredictable. MIDI files usually sound like they're coming from one of those cheap Casio keyboards. Using MIDI is very likely to sound amateurish.
   • 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 sounding recordings to your site, but even if you use a low quality setting, like 11k/8bit, the file sizes are still very large, and it will take a long time for your music to load. Slow loading pages are the worst thing that can happen to a site. Implementing a WAV file on a web page is easy and just involves adding a line to your page's HTML code. There's an additional command line to loop the WAV file, but WAV files do not loop cleanly with the embed 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. They do need to bring up an external player program, however. This risks taking visitors away from your site 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 of flexibility in adding sound to your site. Flash lets you import WAV, as well as MP3 files, and then creates small audio files from these sounds that load automatically on your site. You can set the quality level, and therefore decide how large you want the Flash file to be. Flash also allows you to loop short pieces of sound to create 'continuous' background music files that can be quite small. Please note that only imported WAV files can be looped in Flash. MP3 files will not loop cleanly.
   • PROS: Great flexibility, small file sizes, expecially when looping sounds
   • CONS: The software required to create Flash files is expensive
5. Pre-Made Flash Loops
   The newest thing on the market are pre-built Flash Music Loops. These files are professionally recorded, loop almost indefinitely and most are only about 20k in size, so they load almost instantly. Flash Music Loops are available at http://www.flashmusictracks.com. Using these pre-built Flash files is easy. Simply upload the "xyz.swf" Flash file to your server, and add a few lines from the corresponding "xyz.html" file to your HTML and presto...instant 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 sound to your multimedia web design without worrying about slow loading pages. The key is to choose the right audio file format.

(c)2004 Alan Steward

About the author : Alan Steward, a professional recording engineer and producer who worked with many Grammy award winning groups and musicians.