Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune

Subject: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 03:23 PM

Sometimes I visit a website and there's a tune playing, unasked and unlabelled. This site, for example

http://pybertra.free.fr/ceol/tunes.htm

Is there a way to shut such a tune off? It interferes with my hobby of collecting old music.

I can silence it by turning my speaker down, but can I make it go away completely?

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Esdeonfi
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 04:31 PM

I can't hear it when I go to that page.
Sometimes on the page if you search around, there's a tiny pause button, but more often than not it's coded into the page and there is no way to turn it off.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 12 Jul 11 - 04:42 PM

Me either (Firefox 3.6.16). The only way I get to hear any sound files on that page is if I open a new tab with a sound player in it.

Some of those MIDIs are well tasteless. Like a drunken bar pianist.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 01:18 AM

Most of those I hear are rather nice, but I think people should be offered the choice to listen or not. What if the viewer is already listening to a piece of music?

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: SteveMansfield
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:24 AM

Sometimes I visit a website and there's a tune playing, unasked and unlabelled. This site, for example

http://pybertra.free.fr/ceol/tunes.htm

Is there a way to shut such a tune off? It interferes with my hobby of collecting old music.

I can silence it by turning my speaker down, but can I make it go away completely?

Yes - as others have hinted, use Chrome or Firefox to visit those sites rather than IE!

The majority of these accursed embedded tunes are MIDIs, which IE will automatically play using Media Player, whilst FF and Chrome ignores them. Other than that you would need to break the link between IE, Media Player and MIDI files through your settings, and that would probably have unwelcome consequences when you *do* want sound on other websites.

The offending article is the BGSOUND tag in the page HTML, which is an IE-only tag. As the first website in a quick Google rather eloquently puts it,

It is strongly recommended that you avoid use of this tag. It is not part of the HTML/XHTML specification, and may not be supported in future versions of the Internet Explorer browser.

The bgsound tag doesn't allow your readers to turn off the music.

Remember that what sounds wonderful to you can be very annoying to someone else, and your music may drive away otherwise repeat customers.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Artful Codger
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 05:47 AM

AMEN! If you have to visit the same page repeatedly (because it's an index or search page), even a nice tune soon becomes grating, like Chinese water torture, and often I'm browsing many pages at once. Too often "web designers" don't think about the consequences of their choices (or they would severely cut down on the music, animation, blinking, popups, surveys, hover actions, large background images...) Have some respect for users instead of trying to FORCE unwanted content on them.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 06:09 AM

In Windows, the little speaker button that should be on the bar at the bottom right should open your sound settings. Depending on how your sound is set up, the first button may open more than one "volume control" but the button at the bottom of the "speakers" adjustment, if that's what comes up, should turn sound off completely, or back on, without changing your volume settings.

Usually a single control, either a "Volume" or "Mixer" will "rise up" when you click the speaker icon; but the button below the adjustment bar should be a "mute/unmute" toggle on anything you see. (Double-clicking the speaker icon may open a more "complete" set of adjustments.)

If you mute the speakers, you can later "unmute" your sound without having to twiddle with readjusting the sound volume, the next time you want sound turned back on.

Any other method you use to silence the automatic sound on web pages would need to be set to always turn sound off, which probably isn't what you want, or would require you to click at least a couple of other things to turn your "silencer" on or off, so it's hard to see why anything else would be an improvement over what you've got - even if you came up with a different method of clicking some sort of other trash you add to your setup.

John

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 06:51 AM

In Windows, the little speaker button that should be on the bar at the bottom right should open your sound settings. Depending on how your sound is set up, the first button may open more than one "volume control" but the button at the bottom of the "speakers" adjustment, if that's what comes up, should turn sound off completely, or back on, without changing your volume settings.

Not very helpful. That site is an index page to a large collection of separate tune pages. The whole point of it is that you can listen to the MIDIs on each tune page. You'll have to turn the sound back on to listen to them - at which point the background sound on the index page will come back, unless you've closed its window or tab (does IE have tabs?), and you'll have two tunes playing simultaneously.

I wonder if I just copy their BGSOUND link (adjusting the URL of the MIDI to point to their site), will it autoplay on IE when reading this thread?

...answer: can't do it. "Your post contains a forbidden HTML tag".

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 09:52 AM

If the site is that badly designed, it would seem that the only effective way to shut it up would be to educate the designer.

Light the torches and warm up the tar. Anybody got a couple'a chickens for the feathers?

John

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:02 AM

It looks like I'll just have to turn the sound down if it gets irritating enough. Thanks for the input.

(I've been learning how to play the wooden flute, and I've been looking for nice tunes in D and G to add to my repertoire. This involves a lot of listening. Also trying a lot of tunes from my copy of O'Neill's.)

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:39 AM

My own solution is what I got for Xmas 3 years ago...and the one Microsoft item I have never regretted.

Microsoft keyboard

The single button right after the row of 5 buttons is on/off sound....and the next two are volume up/down.

Not a cheap way just to turn off midis, but if you feel like investing, it does lots of other tricks also.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:41 AM

Try this for flute music:

Old Scottish Flute Music

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Bill D
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 10:49 AM

Oh..by the way, This site has many, many of O'Neill's and other tunes...(scroll to the bottom)

And http://www.hetzlersfakebook.com/ has many others.

I downloaded the tunes and when I want to play them as midis, I use Van Basco's player. It is really great.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 01:41 PM

Thanks for the tip about the keyboard, Bill. Trouble is, my desk has to make room for the QWERTY keyboard, the mouse and a small MIDI controller. My QWERTY keyboard is a dainty thing only ten inches long.

Jack and Bill, thanks for the links to the flute music. I'm rarin to go.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 01:49 PM

To whom it may intrigue: That first link that Bill D just gave, (the one with O'Neill's) sells a CD with the entire O'Neill collection on it in MIDI and other forms. I bought that CD some time ago, and I can recommend it.

Go buy it.

I couldn't figure out how to access the music at the Hetzler site.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 13 Jul 11 - 02:08 PM

The entire O'Neill collection is available free in ABC.

Hetzler's site is weirdly designed. The title keeps covering up the menu bar. It is possible, by random clicking, to get the menu bar to display on top of the title, and once you've done that, clicking on "Old-Time MIDI", "Celtic MIDI", or "Other MIDI" will bring up lists of tune names you can click on. They will then play in a new tab in Firefox. Tunes labelled "LS" have a PDF score attached.

Their MIDI bodhran accompaniment is one of the least useful features ever supplied with web-based music.

Handling ABC is a hell of a lot easier and gives you more control over what the tune will sound like.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 14 Jul 11 - 01:21 PM

Internet explorer allows switching off this function. Look under Tools -> Internet Options -> Advanced -> Multimedia, uncheck what you do not want to hear. FWIW (depends on your browser).

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 11:00 AM

Grishka, your post gave me high hopes, but no soap.

For example, Contemplator's site plays a penetrating tune called "Spanish Ladies," and it wouldn't turn off though I unchecked the box and I restarted my computer.

Perhaps it would help to not use IE, as some have suggested here, but if people knew what I went through to get my MIDI controller and Noteworthy to work after my last meltdown, they would never dream of it. Basically, there are few products for those who want to do original music, and Microsoft seems to have those few.

Have you heard the song that says "Go get the ax, there's a flea in Lizzie's ear?"

Changing browsers just to silence a background tune would be like getting out the ax. So I guess I'll just live with it.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 11:37 AM

It takes very little time to set Firefox up. I did it on the old Windows machine I have at work (Windows 2000 Pro, which is a version most people have never heard of), and it worked first time with no glitches at all, despite me knowing essentially nothing about Windows administration. Just google your way to the Firefox download site, look up the right version for your machine, download it and click on it. That's all it will take. MIDIs and MP3s play inside Firefox itself, you don't need anything external.

Real Audio is more of a pain, you need to download an external player for that (and there isn't one for my Mac except atrocities crippled by nagging to buy something). Seems you aren't using it anyway.

I didn't know Microsoft had any music-related products. Nobody I know uses them and I've never seen one.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: SteveMansfield
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 12:59 PM

Changing browsers just to silence a background tune would be like getting out the ax. So I guess I'll just live with it.

Personally I'm not actually suggesting you change your default browser away from IE: just that you have either FF or Chrome available for those sites you want to return to even though they've got The Curse Of The Bgsound on them.

What do you lose other than a few Mb of disk space and an extra icon or two on your desktop / start menu? To my mind that's more like having more than one tool in the toolbox, rather than reaching for an axe.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: IvanB
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 03:30 PM

leeneia, what version of IE do you have. I have 9.0 and when I uncheck the box "Play sounds on web pages" neither the background music from the site you mentioned in your first post or at the Contemplator play on my system. When I click on a sound file, however, I'm asked if I want to open it or save it (I believe that's because I have "Always ask" set elsewhere in the options).

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 15 Jul 11 - 04:00 PM

It also works on my 8.0. Sorry I could not help you, leeneia. Contemplator uses the EMBED tag, maybe some "geek" knows more.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 06:27 PM

Well, I forget what IE I have, but my version has the very box that Grishka describes, and I unchecked it scrupulously. I also hit apply and restarted the computer.

The diabolical tunes continue merrily on.

Steve asked "What do you lose other than a few Mb of disk space and an extra icon or two?"

Steve, do you download, compose and arrange music on your computer using MIDI? Do you know how many evil forces are arrayed to prevent people from doing that? How many powerful programs prowl around inside the computer, kicking littler programs and severing their connections to speakers, to the synthesizer, to the printer?

I had to rebuild my music compatability a few months ago, and I intend to avoid doing that again.

Thanks for the thoughts, everybody.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Crowhugger
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 08:30 PM

Thanks to this thread and to Grishka's post I have now happily found and unchecked that box myself.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 Jul 11 - 11:08 PM

Power to the people!

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: SteveMansfield
Date: 22 Jul 11 - 06:05 AM

Steve, do you download, compose and arrange music on your computer using MIDI?

Er, yes ...

Do you know how many evil forces are arrayed to prevent people from doing that? How many powerful programs prowl around inside the computer, kicking littler programs and severing their connections to speakers, to the synthesizer, to the printer?

Well certain programs like QuickTime and RealAudio are both notorious for grabbing every audio format they can think of and associating themselves with that format, if that's what you mean.

I'm so sorry I tried to suggest a quick and easy solution to the problem you'd requested assistance with; I certainly won't bother again.

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: IvanB
Date: 22 Jul 11 - 02:44 PM

I did a quick search on ".mid" on my computer and it was up to 21,300+ files before I stopped the search. And I do use NWC as well as Finale, Photoscore and others. I also use Firefox as my main browser, although, as a Windoze user, IE is always there lurking in the background.

The main thing I've found with program installations is to always select the "custom" installation option. Even though most programs tell you custom installation mode is for "experts" it doesn't take all that many smarts to disallow installation of features the makers think you're just dying to have. And stock/"usual features" installations are probably the biggest perpetrators of unwanted system changes. Don't do 'em!

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 22 Jul 11 - 05:49 PM

A few posts up, Leenia says Well, I forget what IE I have, but ...

For IE users:

Recent versions of IE do not show the "useful" tools and information bars, and if you look for how to turn them on it may appear that there really isn't a way.

It actually is quite easy. RIGHT-CLICK in any blank space on any of the "header" bars that are up there. You should get a pop-up box with a list of "toolbars" each of which will be displayed only if you put a "check" next to them. The "Menu Bar" is the one that shows the File - Edit -View - Favoritees - Tools - Help choices that are frequently referenced when people try to help you do something, and I would suggest that it be turned on.

Once you display the Menu Bar, you can click on "Help" and "About Internet Explorer" on the drop-down, and it will show you exactly what version you're using.

Once the Menu Bar is up, you have the option of right-clicking a bar or choosing "View" and "Toolbars" on the menu bar to show the choices for the other toolbars. Either method displays the same list. Both lists should include any "add-on" toolbars available on your computer, along with the ones built into IE.

While displaying all your toolbars does take a little space off the page, I generally have all checked except the "Favorites," It doesn't do anything (for me) that isn't on the Favorites button on the Menu Bar.

If you really just can't stand to have the toolbars visible you can get the IE version by left-clicking the little "gear" icon on the bar where the URL is displayed and then clicking "About;" but I find little else useful or of interest that can be done as easily using that "tool."

John

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: Jack Campin
Date: 22 Jul 11 - 06:29 PM

MacOS acquired little gear icons sometime early in the OS X era.

I don't know whether Apple nicked it from Microsoft or the other way round, but can we please find the person responsible, put them up against a wall and shoot them?

Subject: RE: Tech: how to turn off an 'automatic' tune
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 23 Jul 11 - 12:45 AM

The proper icon in this case probably would be

☣

to warn of the biological risk of acquiring the genetic defect that the person who designed the new icons got from the scum in his/her end of the gene pool.(?)

John