Audio files formats editors and free players

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As we all know, the web is much more than text and pictures; it’s also full of multimedia. Multimedia is the combination of multiple forms of digitized media, including video and audio files. For example, a song from a band’s website or the trailer of an independent film are both forms of multimedia. When used properly, multimedia adds to the user’s experience. When not used properly, multimedia can ruin a website.

One important consideration when dealing with multimedia files is file size. Multimedia files are usually quite large, and there is a constant battle between keeping the file size small and maintaining high quality. Even though broadband access is becoming more common, there are still a large number of people who use slower Internet connections. Do not assume that everyone will have lightning-fast connections to download your large movie files.

Another consideration is that media files can be very specific to operating systems. Having a web page that tries to play a file that doesn’t work on most operating systems is just going to annoy some of your visitors. When making choices, make sure you take different operating systems into account and choose file types that run on the most operating systems.

In addition, not all visitors to your site may have the hardware to use multimedia effectively. They may not have speakers or graphics cards that allow all multimedia to play affectively. Don’t leave these folks out in the cold. Make multimedia an enhancement on your website, not a requirement. Finally, multimedia files can be available for download or streaming.

A downloaded multimedia file is transferred to a computer where it can be played by a media player. Streamed media files are played while downloading, usually through a browser. What you use depends on the size and content of your multimedia files. This article covers the multimedia objects you can use in web pages. This includes how to create, digitize, upload, edit, and use multimedia objects for your website.

Digital Audio Files

When used correctly, audio can enhance the mood of a website. A well placed bit of audio engages your audience and draws them into the web experience. Bad audio does the opposite or worse. If the audio is too loud or intrusive it puts visitors off. If the audio is repetitive or not related to the website in a way that makes sense, it annoys your visitors rather than welcomes them. Some people use audio to add music (like a soundtrack) to their page, but the most common use of audio on the web these days is podcasting.

Podcasting is essentially creating audio programs on different topics and distributing them on the Web.

Audio Formats

As mentioned previously, audio files come in a number of different types. These file types work with some operating systems but not with others. What you want is the smallest possible file size that works on the largest number of operating systems. As with graphics files, audio files can have different types of compression applied to them. Also, audio files can have different levels of audio quality. Here are the most common file types:

.wav - This is the default Windows audio file type. Even though it is the default for Windows, it can be used on most operating systems. It is uncompressed so can lead to larger file sizes, but has excellent quality. .mp3 - This is currently the most common file format. It runs on just about any computer that connects to the Internet and is compressed (so it has small file sizes) and produces high-quality output. .wma - Windows Media Audio. This is a proprietary Windows format that is of high quality and good compression but does not play on all systems.

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but most of the files you encounter and want to use will be in these formats. If you choose another format, be sure to research its benefits and limitations before using it. You can find a more comprehensive list of audio file formats at fileinfo.net/filetypes/audio.

Audio Players

Once you have a format chosen for the audio you are going to use, you need to have a player on your machine. A player is a piece of software on your machine, which may or may not be in your browser, that plays audio files. Most operating systems now have an audio player built into them, but there a few open source free audio players that have some different features:

• Songbird - This high-quality open source audio player uses the same software that runs the Firefox browser.
• Winamp - This full-featured media player has a robust developer community and tons of features.

Digitizing Audio

To begin the process of using audio for your website, you need to digitize some audio. You can do this in a number of ways:

Record Your Own - By hooking up a microphone or musical instrument to your computer you can record your own sound files and use them on your website. Rip CDs - Most audio and media players allow you to “rip” CDs. This means you take the audio from the CD and put it on your computer.

Use Royalty-Free Music - There are different sources for royalty free audio both on the Web and through CDs. Audio that is “royalty-free” means when you buy the audio you are free to use it in any way you want. Search the web for the type of royalty-free audio you want.

Audio Editing

After you have your audio digitized, you’ll probably want to trim the beginning or ending, clean up some noise, or add some effects. To do this you need an audio editing program. Of course, there are many expensive high-end audio editors out there, but there are also some that are free and open source.

Here are some to consider:

Audacity - This is the most popular open-source audio recorder and editor. It has a lot of features and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Audio Resources

The web is full of incredibly useful audio resources. Audio experts have embraced technology and love to share their knowledge and skills. Here are a few useful links:

• How to Record Audio For The Web - A good overview of how to record audio for the web.
• Podcast Recording Questions - An excellent introduction to podcasting.
• Podcasting in Plain English - An excellent video describing the basics of podcasting.