Audio Gallery
Help with Sound Files
We hope you enjoy the sounds on this web site. Many of the sounds are alien to our everyday experience but they are an integral part of life under the water. We expect that you will use Quicktime to listen to the sounds and view the movies. However, we realize that not everyone will want to install QuickTime on their computer. We have also provided all the sound files as MP3s. Any audio player on a computer should be able to play these files. There is no other option for the Quicktime movies.
You will need Quicktime 4.0 or higher (7 is the current version). The web site should work well in Internet Explorer above version 5 through 7, Firefox 2, Opera 8 and higher and Safari 2 or 3. We have not tested it in any other web browsers.
The information below is meant to help you understand more about the sounds and help you if you are having trouble listening to the sounds.
If you are having other problems or need additional help, please contact Webmaster at
webmaster@omp.gso.uri.edu
Can I use QuickTime on a Windows machine?
Yes!
QuickTime runs on most Windows computers (95/98/2000/NT/ME/XP/Vista).
How do I get QuickTime?
Go to Apple Computer at : http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/
Choose your operating system and download
Note: the download page at Apple doesn't say that it is for Windows 95 but it will work.
Note: you do not need to fill out the registration information to get the download.
Follow the directions in the downloaded file to install on your computer.
How do the sounds work?
Click on either the QuickTime bar or the MP3 button.
QT: If you click on the QuickTime control bar and you have QuickTime installed, the sound will load and start to play. It may take a minute for the whole sound to be downloaded. Some of the files are fairly large. The sound should play in the web page. You should be able to stop/start/save and replay the sound right in the web page with the QuickTime control bar.
MP3: If you click on the MP3 button the result will vary depending on your browser and what plug-ins you have installed (and how your browser is configured). The typical response is that the browser opens a new window and gives you some sort of control bar to play the sound. The sound may begin playing automatically. It may take a minute for the whole sound to download.
What is the difference between the QuickTime sound and the MP3?
There is no real difference in the sound. They may be optimized with different codecs (COmpressor-DECompresser) but they have the same content. The QuickTime sounds are easier to use because they play within the web page.
How do I use the QuickTime controls?
The diagram below shows the function of each part of the QuickTime control bar. To start any sound, click anywhere on the QuickTime control bar. The sound will then be downloaded to your computer and will begin playing automatically. After it begins to play, you may use the Quicktime controls to start/stop/save/repeat/etc. the sound.
The sound plays but there seem to be gaps in the recording
When you click on the QuickTime control bar or the MP3 button, the sound will be downloaded. It will probably begin to play before the whole sound is downloaded. This may result in skips or jumps in the playback as the programs try to both play the sound and download the rest of the sound. To hear the whole sound without gaps, push the play button again when the sound is done OR stop the sound play immediately and wait for the whole sound to download, then play the sound from the beginning.
You may also have some problems after listening to a number of sounds (either MP3 or QuickTime). Your web browser may not be reusing the memory used by playing the sound. The only solution for this problem is to quit out of your browser. It may also help to upgrade your browser to a more recent version.
The sound plays but I don't hear anything
Some sounds are at frequencies lower than the frequency range of the built-in speakers on your computer. Most built-in computer speakers won't play sounds below 100Hz (some may have a higher cut off). We recommend that you listen to all the sounds using external speakers or headphones. If you use headphones, be careful with the volume. Listening to headphones at too high a volume will damage your hearing.
Why does a new window come up every time I click on a sound?
If you are clicking on the MP3 button, this is the expected behavior. You may be able to change the settings in your media player or, more likely, your web browser to make it play in the same window each time. For your browser, look in the preferences under "File Helpers", or some similar name (each browser calls it something different). There you can control (to some degree) what the web browser does with various kinds of files. The MP3's are .mp3 files. Find the entry for .mp3 files in the list of helper applications and file extensions. Note what application is listed as the "helper application". You may want to change this (it is a personal choice and there are so many possibilities). Next, edit the entry for .mp3. Somewhere in the edit panel you should be able to set the action taken (or how to handle) when the web browser comes across a .mp3 file (exactly how depends on the browser). For example, in Internet Explorer, there will be several check boxes and pop-up menus. One of them is labeled "How to handle". Under the "How to handle" menu there are choices like: save to disk, play in plug-in, play in application, play in browser, etc. There are several good options here. Playing in the browser will probably continue to bring up a new window for each sound. Playing in the application will always open that application and play the sound there. This may be less annoying than a new window in the browser for each sound. What you choose is a personal choice and will depend on the "helper application" you use for .mp3 files. If you need more help with this read the instructions in the help menu of your browser or go to the online support page for your browser.
If you are using QuickTime, this is not the expected behavior. Go to the preferences menu in your web browser and choose the "File Helpers" section. Find the entry for .mov files in the list of helper applications and file extensions. QuickTime should already be the designated "helper" application (if not, make QuickTime the "helper" application). Next, edit the entry for .mov and QuickTime. Somewhere in the edit panel you should be able to set the action taken (or how to handle) when the web browser comes across a .mov file (exactly how depends on the browser). For example, in Internet Explorer, there will be several check boxes and pop-up menus. One of them is labeled "How to handle". Under the "How to handle" menu there are choices like: save to disk, play in plug-in, play in application, play in browser, etc. You probably want to choose "play in browser". If you need more help with this read the instructions in the help menu of your browser or go to the online support page for your browser.
When I click on the sound (QuickTime control bar or MP3 button) nothing happens
You may have your "File Helpers" set to download the file type (.mp3 or .mov) instead of playing the file in the browser or application. See the information under "Why does a new window come up every time I click on a sound" on how to find the preferences setting to control this behavior. You should change the action away from "download to disk".
I installed QuickTime but Windows Media Player keeps trying to play the sound (and failing)
Windows Media Player does not "play nice" all the time. You will need to change the default media player.
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