sound : Java Glossary

2008-01-21 by Roedy Green ©1996-2008 Canadian Mind Products
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sound

The official Java sound interface is called JMF. It can play many audio and video file formats including MP3. The catch is, the user has to download and hook up the JMF jar files to make it work. So you might want something simpler.

Introduction	Sound Files Used On This Site
Playing A Sound with javax.sound.sampled	Canned Sound Sources
Applet Sound	Learning More
Sythesizing Sound Mathematically	Links
Common Sound File Types

Introduction

I have posted some source code to create sounds mathematically, i.e. create AU files in RAM and play them with sun.audio.AudioPlayer.start. If you feed it a Math.sin wave for example you will hear an smooth continuous tone of the same frequency as the sine wave. You can create any theoretically possible sound. All you need is a way of mathematically describing it, or providing a list of amplitudes. sun.audio is not an official class. It is accessible in Applets in JDK 1.1, not in JDK 1.2, but is now back again in JDK 1.4.

You can also play *.au, *.wav, *.midi and *.aiff files with java.applet.AudioClip.play. For *.au files use G.711 µ-law format did not originally support PCM. Originally, you could use only 8-bit, 8000Hz, single-channel (mono) NEXT/Sun *.au files with G.711 µ-law compression.However JDK 1.6.0_10 does play PCM_SIGNED 8000.0 Hz, 8 bit, mono, and perhaps other JDKs do as well. If your files are in other formats such as *.mp3, you can use a utility like Goldwave to convert them. Unfortunately, not all *.wav files or all *.midi files will play. You just have to test them.

Using AudioClip, I have managed to get *.wav and *.au files to work on Vista, but not *.midi or *.mp3.

RealPlayer is required for *.ra files. AudioClip has been around since JDK 1.0.

You can use javax.sound.midi to play MIDI files. It has been around since JDK 1.3.

You can use javax.sound.sampled.SourceDataLine can be used to merge sampled datastreams and play a variety of sound files. It has been around since JDK 1.3.

Playing A Sound with javax.sound.sampled

This technique works both in Applets and applications. It is suitable also for very large sound files. This code will let you play sound in the background while your program continues computing and responding to GUI events.

Possible formats include AudioFormat.Encoding. PCM_SIGNED, PCM_UNSIGNED, ULAW and ALAW. PCM Pulse Code Modulation is the most widely supported. It is simple linear sampling without any sort of compression. CDs use 16 bit PCM. Possible file types include: AudioFileFormat.Type. AIFC, AIFF, AU, SND and WAVE. Third parties can add support for other types, e.g. MP3. I have a horrible feeling that what is supported depends entirely on the capabilities of the native sound driver on any particular platform. This is not at all WORA. You can find out what your current platform support with Mixer. getSourceLineInfo. That gets you Line. Info[] which you can display with Line.Info. toString. You can’t get at the individual properties.

Applet Sound

Applets can play *.au files, (and *.wav files in Windows) this way:

AudioClip.play is not very bright. If you call it while a sound is playing, it will not wait for that first sound to complete. It plays the two sounds on top of each other. Here is a technique to introduce time delays to avoid overlap.

In a similar way, you can use javax.sound.midi to play midi files.

Synthesizing Sound Mathematically

Common Sound File Types

Audio Format MIME Type And Extensions Associated With Them
Extension	MIME Type	Alternate MIME Types	Notes
3gpp	audio/3gp		audio only, also 3gp
aac	audio/aac	audio/MP4-LATM, audio/x-aac, audio/x-mp4	Apple QuickTime compressed audio used in iPods
aif	audio/x-aiff		MacIntosh sound
aifc	audio/x-aiff		MacIntosh sound
aiff	audio/x-aiff		MacIntosh uncompressed sound
asf	video/x-ms-asf		Microsoft media audio and/or video
au	audio/basic	audio/x-pn-au	standard Unix/Internet/Java uncompressed wave sound
avi	video/avi	video/x-msvideo	earlier Microsoft video format. avi movie, works with Winamp (best), MS Media Player (often audio only), or QuickTime (in theory)
cht	audio/x-dspeech
dus	audio/x-dspeech
es	audio/echospeech
gsd	audio/gsm
gsm	audio/gsm
kar	audio/midi
m3u	audio/x-mpegurl
m4a	audio/mp4		M4A Audio
mid	audio/x-midi	audio/midi	MIDI sound
midi	audio/x-midi	audio/midi	MIDI sound
mp2	audio/mpeg	audio/x-mpeg
mp3	audio/mp3	audio/mpeg, audio/x-mp3, audio/x-mpg	mp3/mpeg compressed audio. Popular format for portable music players.
mp4	video/mp4
mpeg	video/mpeg		mpeg movie player
mpga	audio/mpeg
ogg	audio/x-oggvorbis	application/ogg	encapsulation for Vorbis non-proprietary audio or video.
ra	audio/x-pn-realaudio		Real Audio
ram	audio/x-pn-realaudio		Real Audio
rm	audio/x-pn-realaudio	application/vnd.rn-realmedia	Real Audio
rmf	audio/rmf	audio/x-rmf
rmm	audio/x-pn-realaudio
rms	audio/x-realaudio-secure
rpm	audio/x-pn-realaudio-plugin		Real Audio
snd	audio/basic		standard Internet/Java wave sound
stream	audio/x-qt-stream
tsi	audio/tsplayer
vox	audio/voxware
vqe	audio/x-twinvq-plugin
vqf	audio/x-twinvq
vql	audio/x-twinvq
wav	audio/wav	audio/x-pn-windows-pcm, audio/x-wav	Microsoft wave uncompressed sound files
wax	audio/x-ms-wax		Microsoft compressed audio
wma	audio/x-ms-wma		Microsoft compressed audio
wmv	video/x-ms-wmv		Microsoft compressed video. Play with Windows media Player or Winamp. Winamp lets you slide forward and back.
wtx	audio/wtx
xaml	application/xaml+xml		Silverlight

Sound Files Used On This Site

Audio Links Legend
streaming or downloadable
Click corresponding icon to download player.
Real Audio
compressed mp3
super compressed mp4
Microsoft Media Player
MIDI music files
uncompressed au
Microsoft uncompressed wav
unknown
transcript

Canned Sound Sources

Windows stores its *.wav files in C:\WINNT\media or C:\Windows\Media These are the sound effects you hear on error, on incoming mail etc. I find them easier to configure if you listen to them, then copy them with a name meaningful to you. Ones I find useful for configuring for non-system purposes include:

Euphonious Windows Sounds
Sound Name	Comments
MUSICA~1.WAV	Sounds a bit like the opening to a jazz song, with bass strings.
MUSICAOP.WAV	quick short rising scale. Like someone sitting down to a piano and just doing a quick warmup.
MUSICAWI.WAV	Like the short musical signature TV networks use.
MUSICACL.WAV	Like a strum on an out of tune autoharp.
Utopia Restore Up.WAV	sounds like a camera click.
Utopia Critical Stop.WAV	Like a cork popping.
Utopia Asterisk.WAV	Ding Dong
MUSICA~2.WAV	resonant thunk
MUSICAME.WAV	Like a drum from India
Hardware Insert.wav	2-note synthesiser-like sound. Vista only.
Hardware Remove.wav	2-note synthesiser-like sound. Vista only.

Of course you can scan the net for WAV files to replace the Microsoft sounds, e.g. HAL saying human error.

Here are some places where you can find canned sounds: Microsoft extra sound schemes, SoundAmerica, FreeAudioClips.com, Sound collection links. Vista no longer comes with a rich set of sounds, so you have to find them on the web.

Learning More

Sun’s Javadoc on javax.sound.midi : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on javax.sound.sampled : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on java.applet.AudioClip : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on the getAudioClip method : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Product Info on Java Sound

Sun’s Javadoc on the AudioFormat class : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on the AudioInputStream class : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on the AudioSystem class : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on the DataLine class : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on the SourceDataLine class : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on Mixer.getSourceLineInfo : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

Sun’s Javadoc on Line.Info : available:

on the web at java.sun.com
in the current JDK 1.6.0_10 or in the old JDK 1.5.0_16 on your local Windows J: drive.

AU
beep
ClipStream
Crescendo
Freedom Audio
FreeSound: free to use sounds in any way want if you give attribution
Goldwave
Honk: a windows utility to generate sounds from the Windows command line
IMF
JavaZoom JGui: plays WAV, AU, AIFF, MP3, OGG VORBIS, FLAC, MONKEY’s AUDIO and SPEEX audio formats
JavaZoom MP3 player
JavaZoom vorbis OGG player
JFugue: Java music API
JMF: Java Media Framework
JSAPI
MIDI
MIME
MP-3
Philharmonia orchestra sound samples
Real Audio
Rhythm Tutor Student Project
SimpleAudioPlayer
sound-on-the-fly
Soundbite
Speaker: make tones on the built-in PC Speaker from Java
Sun Java Sound home
Tritonus: Java sound API alternative implementation
wav

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