: M U S I C . A N D . S O U N D :

My pages contain both recorded sound (WAV files) and music (MIDI files). If you're going to listen to them it's important to me that you hear them properly. The advice that follows works for me.

If you are using a Wintel PC, you'll need a hardware sound card; if you don't have one, you're out of luck for now. Macs come ready with sound capability. I haven't tested any of this on a PC.

Netscape and IE can play the WAV sounds, but you might have a plug in you like better.

For midi music, If you do not use a synthesizer or a software synth such as Yamaha MidPlug you will hear either cheesy piano or wrong instruments. If you like that, go ahead. If not, read on.

Try a sample SOUND. Try a sample MIDI. (small downloads)

I play these songs using Yamaha MidPlug, a Netscape/Explorer plug-in for Mac and Windows, which contains a very good software synth. Get it from:
www.yamaha.co.jp/english/xg/midplug/mplug.html. (Mac and Windows/PC)
Don't forget to make sure your browser is configured to actually use MidPlug, as described in the documentation. You will also need amplified speakers or a stethoscope. The current version (MidPlug XG 1.0 as of 9/98) is much improved and does not "expire" like the beta version did.

Why should you do this?
Because it sounds good. MidPlug includes a "Soft Synthesizer" with good quality sounds. You can hear the right instruments as they are supposed to sound. This is the best software synth I've heard.

Problems with MidPlug

• If the control panel disappears, it usually flashes first. You can click where the controls flashed (middle of window) and restore them one by one. If you can't find them, reload the page and watch for the flash.
• If it plays but sounds cheesy make sure your browser is configured to use MidPlug (or your best instrument) for files of the types audio/midi and audio/x-midi, with the suffix ".mid".

Recorded Sound (WAV)
Recorded or sampled sounds are large and slow to download. I use them sparingly. I post "wav" type samples only. For example, the Heart Sutra Pages. I find that LiveAudio handles these sounds well, and it is easy for me to use, and it comes with Netscape. No doubt something similar comes with Explorer. Yamaha MidPlug does not work for me with "wav" sounds. The sound files on my pages are mime type audio/wave or audio/x-wave, with the suffix ".wav" They're short and to the point.

Netscape and LiveAudio: Make sure that your browser is configured so that LiveAudio (not QuickTime) handles audio/wav and audiox-wav files with the suffix ".wav": Choose Edit>Preferences>Navigator>Applications; scroll the window to find "audio/wav", select it, and press the Edit button. Find the button that says "(Handled by) Plug-In," select it, and choose LiveAudio from the pop-up list to the right. Click Okay. Repeat the procedure for "audio/x-wav"

You can save the sounds to your disk by clicking and holding on the button or text link and choosing the correct menu item. You can plug your Mac into a stack of Marshalls and blast the Heart Sutra all over the neighborhood.