Mouse Clix

By: Hobie Lunin

The sound of music (and other things).

Most of the time, your CD-ROM drive is not being used. For many of us its use is for installing new programs or for playing some game or application that requires you to insert the disk. If you have an audio CD collection, you can play these while you are working on your computer.

In Windows 98 and later, if you put an audio CD in the drive it will begin playing by itself. If it does not, or you wish to change the track, you will need to see the CD Player window. Click on Start and point to Programs, Accessories, then Multimedia or Entertainment and click on CD Player. For starters, make sure you are looking at all the task bars by clicking on View and assure that Tool Bar, Disc Info and Status Bar are all checked. Check the Volume as well. Generally the disk will play by itself, however, you can click the Play button (>). Point to all the other buttons so you can see the pop-up name of each. Click on Options to set how you want the CD to play the various tracks on the CD. Use the Volume controls to set the volume and Balance. Clicking on the speaker icon on your lower right task bar, if you have minimized the other volume controls while you are working, can also control volume.

If you wish, you can click on Edit Play List and enter the name of the artist and the names of the songs on each track. This will allow you to select whatever you want the next time you play this disk, as the computer will remember it. To keep a track from playing, you can choose the track in the Play List and then click on Remove. You can also change the order the tracks play in by changing the order on the Play List. Do this by first hitting Clear All and the window on the left empties. Then you can select a track from the right window and then Add. Keep doing this in whatever order you wish.

Next, decide on the type of time display you want by clicking the Track Time Elapsed, Track Time Remaining or Disk Time Remaining buttons from the View drop down menu. Clicking Options allows you to select other preferences in the play. If you wish to hear 10 seconds of intro on each track to preview, set the options on Intro Play. The length of intro time can be reset in Preferences on that same drop down list. These selections can be made directly from a tool bar if you have checked it in View. To stop playing and eject the CD, Click on the Eject button.

While we are on the subject of sound, I will tell you next how to record your voice and then send it to a friend via e-mail. Of course, it would be a good idea to check that they have sound on their computer before you send it. You will also need a microphone. Some computers do not come with them but they are available for about $10 almost anywhere. Plug it into the sound card in the back of your computer where it is labeled Mic (not in the Modem).

To record sound, click on Start, Accessories, then Multimedia or Entertainment and then on Sound Recorder. Try to have the microphone within a few inches of your mouth and then click on the round dot to record. When you speak, you should be able to see the vibrations in your voice disturb the horizontal line in the waveform window. The rectangular button is the stop button. Then click the rewind (<<) button and then click the Play (>) button to see if you like how it sounds. Next, click File and Save As, remembering the name and location of the file. When you send e-mail to your friend, attach this file as you would any other file, being sure to note in your e-mail that the recipient should turn up their volume.

Another thing you can do with your voice recordings is to assign them to various events taking place on your computer. To see what actions/events that will play a sound, click on Start, select Settings and Control Panel. Double click the Sounds icon. To hear the sound already assigned to the event, look for an event that shows a speaker icon to the left of it. Then choose the event and then Play to hear the sound. If you want to change it to your own sound that you have recorded, click on the browse button to find that file to go with the event that you have highlighted. Be sure to keep your sounds short so that you do not interfere with your use of the computer.

Lastly, on the subject of sounds and music, remember that you can get music from many sites on the Internet and which you can play as you desire. If you are not interested in current pop music, which you may have to pay for, there is a large selection of older pop and classical that is available free. I especially prefer MIDI music, as it does not take up much hard drive space although it is obviously electronically generated. You can find sites for music by putting the name of what you are looking for in a search engine Search field.

Enjoy all the music and sounds that you can from your computer and if you have specific questions about this article please do not hesitate to contact me at the e-mail address below.

Hobie Lunin is a Computer Instructor and Consultant, and can be reached at mouseclix2@yahoo.com. To see previous columns and other information, point your browser to http://mouseclix.tripod.com