Sound Loops

[jbulger]

I've used numerous sound loops on my site, played through flash. I got them from http://www.flashkit.com along with their player. The music loops are fairly small, but possibly too big for dialup access.

I've had mixed feelings about these loops. There is a certain amount of cool factor in having them, but I think for net-users the annoyance soon may overcome the novelty. After busting my butt to figure out how to make these loops work - I'm reluctant to abandon them. On the other hand I do worry they may be a turn-off, particularly for experienced net-heads.

What's your opinion on the sound loops in my site? (see link below)

The sound can be turned off and on from the player but a new loop starts whenever you click on a nav button. The sound can be completely eliminated by clicking the link on the home page nav bar. To make this site with and without sound - I duplicated each of the nav pages and inserted a flash player with a different music loop for each page.

[Dave Swift]

Firstly I'd like to say that I love your background. :)

Secondly, I'd like to say that muic on sites is a bad thing, unless the visitor requests it or expects it.

Since this is some kind of denistry site (I didn't really read through it) your visitor will not expect music.

And thirdly, most internet surfers have a 56K, so I would really advice getting rid of the sound loops.

[jbulger]

Are you making the assumption that a dental office should not be about entertainment? A big part of my success comes from "surprise, delight and exceed expectations" and I certainly want to demonstrate some of that in my site. Make it a serious site? No way! Traditional dentistry is already way too serious.

I've thought quite a lot about the downside of having music on the site. Experienced surfers are not typically impressed. I tried to make it easy to eliminate the music if so desired. I hope that visitors will appreciate the efforts made to make the site entertaining.

[Dave Swift]

Originally posted by jbulger
Are you making the assumption that a dental office should not be about entertainment? A big part of my success comes from "surprise, delight and exceed expectations" and I certainly want to demonstrate some of that in my site. Make it a serious site? No way! Traditional dentistry is already way too serious.

I've thought quite a lot about the downside of having music on the site. Experienced surfers are not typically impressed. I tried to make it easy to eliminate the music if so desired. I hope that visitors will appreciate the efforts made to make the site entertaining.

I hope you mean this statemate as some kind of joke, otherwise I'd be very offended and never offer my advice again.

[Mark]

I dont really mind sounds, but it should be used for the right reasons. If you want to please both slow connection users and fast ones, i suggest you have 2 different site, and enhance each one differently.

[jbulger]

Dave, I'm not sure what I said that was offensive, but please accept my humble apology. My comments were in earnest - I carry strong visions of what my business should be like and I often encounter others in my profession who profess that we dentists are "professionals" and must behave accordingly. (ie. no fun) Dave, I have also been told (more than a few times)that I come off as being too direct. Looking at my response I notice it had lacked any pleasantries and appears somewhat graceless. Dave, your initial comments were well spoken and quite valid, and thank you for the quick reminder in the importance of social grace. This forum can offer a lot more more than just tweaking code to improve websites. It's about camaraderie with like-minded people from all over the world who share a passion for creative expression through website development. Sometimes I stare at the code too much and lose sight of the big picture.

Regarding 56k visitors I put a bypass link for the intro and music on the title page. I'm actually more concerned that the site has so many photos that dialup visitors may get bored of waiting for pages to load. The music loops are just a frill on the site - potentially even a detraction - but it's one extra way that I can distinguish my site from the rest of the very lame dental sites out there. I want to offer both the "sizzle" and the "steak" at my site.

[kevin]

Originally posted by jbulger
Are you making the assumption that a dental office should not be about entertainment? A big part of my success comes from "surprise, delight and exceed expectations" and I certainly want to demonstrate some of that in my site. Make it a serious site? No way! Traditional dentistry is already way too serious.

I've thought quite a lot about the downside of having music on the site. Experienced surfers are not typically impressed. I tried to make it easy to eliminate the music if so desired. I hope that visitors will appreciate the efforts made to make the site entertaining.

I commented in the web review forum about your website and the fact that I found the music annoying. And I also said that I did not believe visitors will come to your website looking to be entertained.

But after reading your explanation above I have a better understanding about why you want to liven it up a little. Maybe dentists/dentistry do have a bit of a clinical reputation that could use an injection of personality to make the customers more relaxed and comfortable. The dentist my family uses is pretty good in that regards so I understand your concern and effort. It doesn't change my mind about the music but maybe the other stuff isn't as silly/gimmicky as I had previously thought.

Regards,
kevin

[jbulger]

Thanks for your comments guys, time to let this thread die...sniff:(

[Dave Swift]

If you want to have a 'laid-back', less traditional dental practice, then there is no harm in that.

But, since your site is about your profession, it should be professional, no matter what your practice is like.

And when people visit a dentist site, they definately do not expect music.

Besides, most surfers have 56k or under conection anyway, so a lot of people simply won't hear the music after all.

Have a nice day, :)

Dave.

[Dr. Web]

j

sound loops not running continously are good for me. Check out this flash site.... www.eye4u.com . It reuses sound loops with varying volumes at different times. The effect: great! You dont get annoyed with it because it doesn't play over and over and over. Put some fading into the loops, and make them play for a little while, then stop for a while.

[jbulger]

Oh yeah! I saw that site in a previous version and it's now improved 10-fold. The sound was definitely inspiring and tightly woven with the flash driven layout. Nothing sounded repetitive or irritating. I think they use a dynamic layering technique which weaves multiple tracks together, permitting a lot of variation. I hadn't seen it done as well as this before. Here's a tutorial from Flashkit on dynamic sound layering...
http://www.flashkit.com/tutorials/Audio/Creating-Ryan_Dou-208/index.shtml

Being strictly an amateur, this level of flash development looks pretty intimidating (and expensive). I'll see if my 15 year old genius son is willing to tackle it.