Archive for the ‘audio’ Category

After experimenting with several audio players, I recorded Twas the Night Before Christmas in mp3 for my personal blog, Growin’ Up in Maine. Adding audio to your website or blog can be a nightmare if you care about aesthetics and presentation. Here is the Christmas poem for the custom audio player demo.

Audio Notes (Press Right Button to Play)

http://www.jimdegerstrom.com/player.swf

Title: Twas the Night Before Christmas
Narration: Jim Degerstrom
Play Time: 00:04:18

Most blog services do not host audio files, so your recordings must be hosted elsewhere and linked from the external source. This blog is hosted on my server, so this post demonstrates a custom streaming audio player to test the function here. This simple player only uses MP3 format sound files which is my standard, so it’s perfect for websites or blogs.

Having a player that is cross browser compatible requires overcoming the quirks of Internet Explorer which is the only browser still using the tag. As a result most designers code two players in the HTML or XHTML to display properly in all browsers. The preferred method to add audio or other multimedia and meet current standards in XHTML with a player that is cross browser compatible is to use the

This was fun to record and only required one take. If time permits, I may add a podcast to this commercial site answering small business custom website design questions featuring comments or emails from readers. Stay tuned for an announcement, or send in your questions now if you feel you might prefer listening more than reading my small business advice. That may prompt me to begin sooner.

In addition, small business website owners may want to consider adding an audio intro or testimonials for their site. I can help on the technical end including designing a player to match your website’s color scheme, so call or email me with any questions.

Another of my published articles targets small business commercial website design advice with tips on using multimedia such as audio, music, video, or flash. My core business is custom website design for small business owners, so consider this excerpt from the article quoting a reply to a site owner who was considering flash:

“Why would you want to add a flash scene to your site? In my list of “Don’t do this” for website design, flash is at the top of the list. It has zero SEO value, and the file size is intolerable for people on dialup. With more than 50% of internet users still on dialup you cut off half your potential visitors by having flash. Unlike videos that allow visitors to make a choice of play or not, flash loads automatically and cannot be avoided. People visit commercial websites for information. Flash is “entertainment” and most people want answers to problems, so my advice is stay focused on text content that search engines can index.”

You may want to read the entire article “Multimedia and Search Engine Optimization” here.

The most serious issue for using multimedia other than zero value for SEO is failure to offer visitors an option to play or not play. Any large file that automatically loads or plays will hurt the visitor’s experience. They are on your small business commercial website for information or answers meaning solutions to problems. Text content is usually a better choice for SEO puposes.

One point made in my article illustrates the potential problem of an employee looking for a restaurant on company time. A client wanted music to play automatically on their restaurant website. That employee searching and caught for unauthorized use of their computer could very well be fired because that site owner felt compelled to entertain visitors without giving them that choice.

After searching long hours for quality sources for background music I discovered royalty free music from The Music Bakery for an upcoming custom website project that will include audio. Looking ahead, I may launch a weekly podcast within the next 30 days, and online radio is much more interesting if there’s a musical theme to your show.

If you are unfamiliar with podcasting and wondering why you would need royalty free music, you may want to visit the How to Podcast Tutorial by Jason Van Orden. He’s done an excellent job explaining how in easy to understand language.

The Music Bakery, Dallas Texas, offers a vast selection of music including many with live recordings by studio musicians playing real instruments versus so many other choices that I reviewed with cheaper sounding synthesized tunes. The staff was especially helpful by phone, and the price range for a license is modest in my opinion. Selections include single songs that have the full version averaging over 2-3 minutes, and mixed clips around 60 seconds, 30 seconds, and 15 seconds.

In addition, their website features album collections of mixed genres that offer a variety of moods and style to fit your audio needs. Each song has a low-fi sample of each selection for preview. The products I purchased were shipped by priority mail the same day ordered. The 2 albums arrived in individual cases with detailed labels, and the envelope was well packaged in bubble pack.

Pros: Quality, variety, service, and pricing
Cons: None

I recommend The Music Bakery when you are considering quality sources for royalty free music.

If you whistle while you work and wish you could listen to someone with more talent, consider streaming radio. I do. The options to have music, talk radio, sports, news, and more is available free from many sources. Some really suck.

My choice for streaming radio (one client mistakenly called it screaming radio – how appropriate) is www.StreamingRadioGuide.com for ease of use, and NO annoying sign-up or advertising.

How easy is it? Visit their website from the text link or banner provided above, and then select from more than 40 categories. Select your category and the next page displays links with a long list of choices including foreign language. Pick a station and click the LISTEN button.

You do not need special software or a new audio player installed. Here’s a screen shot of one default player that launches, the HD player for Clear Channel used on their new HD2 and HD3 channels, and by clicking the minimize button it disappears to the task bar on your browser.

Pros: Simple site design and navigation, ease of use, no ads, quality sound
Cons: None (unless prohibited where you work and you get fired for dancing)

Update: Clear Channel with HD Digital Radio is one of many sources researched and updated often by the owner of StreamingRadioGuide.com. In an email message he clarified that he does not provide players that launch from his site, and some stations may not be from Clear Channel. The audio players may vary and are launched as you visit the individual station’s website directly from his link. He’s done the hard work for you combining many choices with ease of use in one place. Enjoy!

For general voice recording for personal use, or to add audio to your website, you may want to consider Audacity which is an open source freeware editor. Unlike the default Windows recording program that comes with most computers, Audacity features advanced options including export to WAV or MP3. It is Mac compatible, also. Here is the control panel shown smaller than actual size:

You may download Audacity at SourceForge.net at no cost, and then all you need is a microphone or headset with built in mic to begin recording. Additional features include recording mono or stero mix, plus advanced sound editing and special effects.