Web Audio
The
story of audio on the Web is filled with fits and starts. Lack of standards
for audio integration with Web browsers has been a serious concern
since the beginning. Many of us in the Web audio world got very excited
about the prospects of sonifying Web sites using the Beatnik MIDI player.
The technology was very exciting but like all proprietary things, it lasts
only as long as the company that develops it. In the year 2000 Beatnik
moved on to producing audio for PDAs and mobile phones and that left many
of
us
looking
for ways
to develop interactive audio. Fortunately, as Beatnik faded, Flash increased
in features to support interactive audio. Flash's great market penetration
probably makes it the best choice for interactive audio on the Web right
now. Linear audio for presentations also can be effectively delivered
with QuickTime, RealAudio, or Windows Media Player. Those already skilled
in using Flash, should buy the book Flash
MX Audio Magic which contains some
great projects and code samples to add interactive audio to Flash animations.
This section of MakePages.com is devoted to exploring audio on the Web.
Here you will learn about the history of Web audio, the science of sound,
copyright issues, and how to design and deploy linear and interactive audio on the Web.
Web Audio Topics
Web Audio at Other Sites