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.

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.

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">

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