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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 quite small files from these sounds that will load automatically on your site. You can set quality level and therefore decide how large you want 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. But 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: You need to buy expensive Flash software to create Flash Files
5) Pre-Made Flash Loops The newest thing on market are pre-built Flash Music Loops. These files are professionally recorded, loop almost indefinitely and most of these Flash Music Loops are only about 20k in size so they load almost instantly. Flash Music Loops are available at http://www.flashmusictracks.com and currently there are three different loop packages available in all kinds of music styles from classical to techno. Using these pre-built Flash files is easy. Simply upload "xyz.swf" Flash file to your server and add a few lines from corresponding "xyz.html" file to your web page 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 background music to your web pages and you don't have to worry about slow loading pages if you choose right file format.
Article by Alan Steward, a professional recording engineer and producer who worked with many Grammy award winning groups and musicians. (c)2004 Alan Steward - http://www.musicleads.net You may freely redistribute or use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as article is unaltered and unedited.
Alan Steward is a professional recording engineer and producer who worked with many Grammy award winning groups and musicians.