The KILL THE SILENCE® Technique: Optimizing Digital Audio for Flash Lite

MIDI Versus Digital Audio

So far MIDI has been the standard format for sound in mobile devices. And while this format is very light, it is extremely limited with regard to its quality and the number and type of sounds that can be generated. Sounds generated through MIDI are determined by the wave table that is part of the chip of the mobile device. Unlike digital audio, MIDI files do not contain any sound whatsoever but are a set of instructions that trigger the sounds residing in the chip of the mobile phone. Digital audio, on the other hand, contains the recording itself, which can be of anything, from a live band to spoken word to ambient sounds. The quality of digital audio depends on the sampling rate at which it is recorded or stored. Most of us are familiar with the MP3 digital audio format. The higher the bit or sampling rate, the better the quality you get. However, higher bit rates result in greater file size.

This article demonstrates a technique used by digital musicians, which involves layering digital audio files. Just as you can reuse or recycle visual assets in Flash without increasing the file size of the exported SWF movie, you can to do the same with audio. By importing the separate elements or parts of a piece of music (that is bass, drums, horns, and so on), placing each of them in its own layer, and using some of the sound tools in Flash, you can create an illusion of an unfolding or changing soundtrack. This technique also allows the designer the freedom or flexibility to arrange the music to match the visual elements in the production. In order to take advantage of this technique, you must have all of the elements of your music track. Nowadays, you can license music already broken down into its components or, if you have the time, create your own music by using one of the many popular software products currently on the market.

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