Playing music across pages

Can this be done without using frames?

[cherryl]

I am trying to restructure and optimize a site for a friend. It was effectively built with its pages appearing within a single framed page, so there was only one complete head tag. I've restructured it so all the pages come up as full pages with appropriate metas, but I have hit a problem with a pre-existing embedded Realaudio file that used to play background music uninterrupted from page to page.

I can embed it into each page but can anyone suggest how I can get it to play without interruption across the site pages without having a frames site? It's soothing music but it doesn't sound soothing when it starts over on each page. I understand how to do SEO but I don't have great technical skills, so I hope someone can give me a reasonably simple solution if there is such a thing.

[mack]

I built a site for someone once and they wanted a piece of music to play on all pages un-interupted. what I did was have a link "play music" and this opened a tiny pop up window. the pop up contained the music impeded in the page so it started playing there. it did not have a close icon [x] but had the text "stop music" the pop up was about 80 pixels in size and when you clicked on any item in the main page it became hidded but in the task bar there was still a "music" icon. I always feel it is better to let the user choose if he/she wants to hear music rather than forcing them to listen to it.

the link "stop music" was a javascript to close the pop up window.

[cherryl]

Thanks Mack. A pop up could do it certainly, but it is a bit of a nuisance and it would be nice if there was a cleaner way around this. BTW I personally agree with you about music but this friend considers it integral to the site's mood.

[tedster]

Mack's solution is pretty elegant - so how about making it a "pop-under" window? Wouldn't that be even less intrusive?

<Oh my goodness, I just recommended a pop-under! I never imagined there would be a non-advertising use for the little devil.>

[cherryl]

Sheds a new light on "background" music!

[mack]

I understand you not wanting to use popups. What you could do is use pop ups creativly. Make them seam less obtrusive and more related to the content. Don't call it a pop up call it "sterio" or something. Have an imapge of a sterio system with the play and stop buttons working.

I did something like this on one of the first sites I ever made. What I did was create an image of a sterio system and have several bitmaps that people could click on. It was able to "scann" between radio stations and displayed the station name almost as a car sterio does.

I did search through my files to see if I could find my origional pages but I suspect they have been deleted a long time ago, if i had found then you could have had them to either use or for ideas.

[cherryl]

Thanks. Your help is much appreciated.

[madcat]

What about sticking a Flash patch in the site? I haven't done my homework on it yet, but if I wanted video or music without a pop-up console it seems like the perfect tool...of course, I'm just planning ahead cuz I'll eventually be doing these things.

Anybody?

[mivox]

Please, please, please, please.... just make sure there's an OFF button somewhere! The first thing I do if a site starts playing music at me is to look for the OFF button.

If I can't find one, I've noticed the BACK button also works quite well. ;)

[cherryl]

Another possibility has occurred to me. If the music is embedded in the home page, I guess I could have the rest of the site come up in a new browser window. The general inexpert audience might be less confused by this than a small pop-up or pop-under.

[mivox]

Actually, I would think having a small pop-up with the suggested "stereo" image in it would make more sense to newbies, who might think it was an extra "thing" (which they hopefully liked), rather than having their browser seem to run away with them by opening new windows.

It's a metaphor a newbie would understand from "real life" and experienced users would have no trouble understanding it either. And, if the stereo image had a working stop button on it, it would keep people like me from running away also... ;)

[mack]

The suggestion for the flash feature is also pretty good. I have an example of something like that running on a site just now. sticky me of you would like the url.