Shockwave Audio
A Sneak Peak at the Warr Guitar Website!

For the last couple of weeks I have been working with Mark Warr of Warr Guitars on developing the new Warr Guitar Web site. Mark has had several questions about Shockwave technology and how it can improve his Web site. One of the main development tools Mark has an interest in is Shockwave Audio. He and I sat down and planned how Shockwave Audio could be used to improve his site. One of the more obvious ways would be to use Shockwave Audio to demonstrate the tonal characteristics of the Warr Guitar. However, Mark wanted to make sure that the site was as innovative as possible in its use of Shockwave and the new Audio features that we have been discussing in this forum for the last few weeks.

A Short Discussion About Shockwave Movies Found on the Warr Guitars Web Site

As I stated earlier, Mark (and I) wanted to develop the site incorporating Shockwave and Shockwave Audio to their fullest potential. To do this we enlisted the help of some of Mark's good friends. We are proud of the fact that Trey Gunn of King Crimson is working with us to promote his new album by allowing us to use Shockwave Audio to stream across selections from his new release "The Third Star."

Along with this we are also allowed to stream selections from the latest experimental album from King Crimson. In addition to the other Warr Guitar players that will be adding Shockwave Audio to the site over the next few weeks, the site will end up with about four and a half hours of Shockwave Audio content (if all goes well). To get the site up and running we started listing some ways we could use Shockwave Audio:

1. Stream Trey Gunn's new album off the site as a promotion of the artist.
2. Add some of the King Crimson audio as "Easter eggs" around the site in various places.
3. Add a "stereo" that would allow users to "tune in" to Warr Guitar artists of various styles on the site.

We also wanted to do some really cool things like:

4. Have a greeting (using Shockwave Audio) from several noted Warr Guitar players and other "touchstyle" musicians. This would be set up so that each visitor to the site would receive a random greeting (via Shockwave Audio) from a musician, and then hear a sample of that musician's latest project.
5. Add many other "Easter egg" sounds using the compression technology found in Shockwave.

We have incorporated most of these ideas into the site, although obtaining "legal" clearance for some of the materials has delayed the Stereo, and my busy schedule has delayed the recording of the Shockwave Audio greetings. However, we will be using this site over the next few weeks as our example project. Each week we will be discussing features, announcing new Shockwave movies, and basically picking apart all the code and procedures that make each Shockwave movie possible.

Wait, didn't I say today was a "sneak peek" at the site? Yes I did! The DNS has been delayed (today only) so if you go to www.warrguitars.com you won't see anything. However I have set up the site on one of my servers for each of you to check out before things get really busy and the server gets overloaded. Surf to www2.outer.net/warr/ and check the site out. Don't bookmark the site as we will soon turn on the DNS. It would be better to wait until a later time so you can bookmark the www.warrguitars.com URL instead.

So until the tutorials that begin next week, have fun checking out the site. And don't forget to look for the "Easter eggs."

Past installments of Simply Shocking