C#•13mo ago

❔ ✅ Using sound in C#

Could someone help me with adding a sound to my program. I'm trying to make a very basic timer which asks the user for a timer and once the time is set, it plays a sound

127 Replies

Pobiega•13mo ago

You'll most likely want to use NAudio

AceChewy•13mo ago

Would you mind elaborating please? As in how to implement NAudio

Pobiega•13mo ago

Google "NAudio C#", find https://github.com/naudio/NAudio scroll down on mainpage to "Playing an Audio File from a Console application" see following code

using(var audioFile = new AudioFileReader(audioFile))
using(var outputDevice = new WaveOutEvent())
{
    outputDevice.Init(audioFile);
    outputDevice.Play();
    while (outputDevice.PlaybackState == PlaybackState.Playing)
    {
        Thread.Sleep(1000);
    }
}

using(var audioFile = new AudioFileReader(audioFile))
using(var outputDevice = new WaveOutEvent())
{
    outputDevice.Init(audioFile);
    outputDevice.Play();
    while (outputDevice.PlaybackState == PlaybackState.Playing)
    {
        Thread.Sleep(1000);
    }
}

AceChewy•13mo ago

Ok, cool - now where would I place the location of the actual audio file "C:\Users\Ace\Desktop\mixkit-retro-game-emergency-alarm-1000.wav"

Pobiega•13mo ago

I'd suggest you put it in your project folder, and set up a "copy to output directory" action for it so its always available locally to your project

AceChewy•13mo ago

ok, makes sense

Pobiega•13mo ago

then rename it to "alarm.wav" or something nicer to work with, and you're off to the races 🙂

AceChewy•13mo ago

Do you know where I can find a tutorial to set up that action - very new to C# here Sounds good, thanks :)

Pobiega•13mo ago

Easy. What are you using, visual studio? as in, not code.

AceChewy•13mo ago

yh, I'm using Visual Studio

Pobiega•13mo ago

okay, so copy the file into your project root directory then, in VS you should see the file in your solution explorer click it, then check the "properties" window there, under "Copy to Output" select" copy newer"

AceChewy•13mo ago

ok For some reason the file isn't showing up even though I placed it in the project root directory

Pobiega•13mo ago

show

AceChewy•13mo ago

Pobiega•13mo ago

ok, remove the search parameter ooooh i see it this is a .NET Framework project not a .NET Core meaning you are using a .NET version from... 2016-2017?

AceChewy•13mo ago

I think I am, It's using .Net Version 4.7.2

Pobiega•13mo ago

yep, thats indeed older than my children Any particular reason you are using the old versions? If not, I highly recommend upgrading

AceChewy•13mo ago

Honestly, I wacthed a tutorial from about a year or two ago when setting up VStudio so that's probably why

Pobiega•13mo ago

Alright, this is doable even on the old version, but you really really should upgrade

AceChewy•13mo ago

Will do! Should I upgrade to .NET 7 or 6? I think there are some differences

Pobiega•13mo ago

AceChewy•13mo ago

I want to be using this when making projects from now on corrrect? • ASP.NET Core Runtime 7.0.9

AceChewy•13mo ago

Also are these settings correct?

Pobiega•13mo ago

uh, where did it even ask that? but yeah, thats the latest version of the runtime but you need the SDK to actually make programs the runtime is for running programs yes, but remove "enable docker"

AceChewy•13mo ago

Ah ok, thanks for the heads up

Pobiega•13mo ago

and thats a webapp, not a console app

AceChewy•13mo ago

Better

Pobiega•13mo ago

There we go

AceChewy•13mo ago

I've also gone ahead and downloaded the appropriate SDK

Pobiega•13mo ago

you might be more comfortable checking that checkbox 🙂 great I hope you made sure it was the x64 versions? a lot of people install x86 by mistake and then end up having issues

AceChewy•13mo ago

I made sure

Pobiega•13mo ago

excellent

AceChewy•13mo ago

Just need to transfer my code now

AceChewy•13mo ago

I'm getting some strange syntax error with my method at the bottom and something to do with nullability with the classes at the top - besides that all is good

Pobiega•13mo ago

you have a nested main two mains.

AceChewy•13mo ago

Ah My mistake You're referring to copy if newer correct?

Pobiega•13mo ago

Yup

AceChewy•13mo ago

Back to this Where does the path for the music file go in the part of code you shared?

Pobiega•13mo ago

Have you added the nuget?

AceChewy•13mo ago

I'm not sure whcih Nuget to add

AceChewy•13mo ago

There are quite a few options

arion•13mo ago

<PackageReference Include="NAudio" Version="2.1.0" />

Look for one called NAudio or add it manually

AceChewy•13mo ago

I'm guessing I want .Core

arion•13mo ago

Use the first option, NAudio.Core is their well, core library, it should be implicitly installed along with other dependencies of itself

Pobiega•13mo ago

Aye, just instlal the top one

AceChewy•13mo ago

All installed Now how to do I proceed?

Pobiega•13mo ago

How do you think? Legitimate question.

AceChewy•13mo ago

So, here's the code I need to use - my issue is not knowing where to place the path for the .wav file

Pobiega•13mo ago

Look at the code. Try and figure it out there is really only one place that makes even the slighest amount of sense hell, the method parameter is actually called "fileName"

AceChewy•13mo ago

my initial guess was WaveOutEvent()

Pobiega•13mo ago

How so? What do you think WaveOutEvent does? and what do you think AudioFileReader does? Hint: one of these reads an audio file, the other plays the wave audio

AceChewy•13mo ago

I'm guessing AudioFileReader, as the name suggests, reads the desired file

Pobiega•13mo ago

sounds about right to me

arion•13mo ago

What Pobiega means is, if you don't try to figure it out yourself first it will be harder to learn. Since through trial and error you learn more than you usually would have learnt if you would have been given the answer verbatim, exploring what parameters you can feed it

arion•13mo ago

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/883435300880261120/1128410659516858520/252579e3-0ab6-4353-a9e8-eab2bae4e3b1_11-07-2023.png

Pobiega•13mo ago

^ giving you the answer verbatim would be what we call

(spoonfeeding) its frowned upon generally

AceChewy•13mo ago

See that was my original guess but I thought for some reason that the WaveOutEvent makes more sense. Guess I should have looked at it a bit better and walked through the logic I mean I appreciate not straight up being told answers so not qualms here

Pobiega•13mo ago

great.

AceChewy•13mo ago

Thanks for the patience and taking the time to walk me through and help out

Pobiega•13mo ago

no worries. its worth noting that Thread.Sleep() is a little intrusive, it actually freezes your entire program for the duration given its used here to prevent the program from finishing before the audio has finished playing

AceChewy•13mo ago

Ah ok, good to know

Pobiega•13mo ago

you can skip that, if your program isnt supposed to end directly after playing the audio

AceChewy•13mo ago

Ok, it should be fine for this particular program

AceChewy•13mo ago

But I am now struggling with this and I feel like I've missed something very obvious

Pobiega•13mo ago

that path doesnt look right? TimerV2\TimerV2\TimerV2

AceChewy•13mo ago

It should be

AceChewy•13mo ago

There doesn't seem to be an executable file thoigh

Pobiega•13mo ago

okay do you have any compilation errors?

AceChewy•13mo ago

No Right, after scanning through, the problem seems to be an additional } at the end of the program

Pobiega•13mo ago

that would indeed entirely prevent compilation

AceChewy•13mo ago

Right I think that's it The interval is measured in seconds right or ms?

Pobiega•13mo ago

hm? what interval?

arion•13mo ago

You can hover over the member to get more info about it

arion•13mo ago

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/883435300880261120/1128415962333450381/eeba12ce-fcad-4910-93b8-77244cb7b4d0_11-07-2023.png

arion•13mo ago

Im like 99% sure Visual Studio has that feature

Pobiega•13mo ago

it does indeed

AceChewy•13mo ago

Where I ask the user for the duration of the timer

Pobiega•13mo ago

oh dear me you hardcoded the absolute file path anyways? after all the effort we went through to NOT have to do that? 😄

AceChewy•13mo ago

My bad, sorry

Pobiega•13mo ago

and no Timer.Interval is in milliseconds, as arion pointed out also, be aware that Convert.ToInt is... not recommended hint: what does it do when I type "cheese" as my interval?

AceChewy•13mo ago

TrySparse instead?

Pobiega•13mo ago

correct

AceChewy•13mo ago

I think this does the trick

Pobiega•13mo ago

not really you dont use the return value from TryParse so you dont actually know if it succeeded or not Allow me to share one of my favorite static methods

public static T GetFromConsole<T>(string prompt, Func<T, bool>? validator = null) where T : IParsable<T>
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Write(prompt);
        if (T.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), null, out var value))
        {
            if (validator?.Invoke(value) ?? true)
            {
                return value;
            }

            Console.WriteLine("Invalid value, try again.");
            continue;
        }

        Console.WriteLine("Invalid format, try again.");
    }
}

public static T GetFromConsole<T>(string prompt, Func<T, bool>? validator = null) where T : IParsable<T>
{
    while (true)
    {
        Console.Write(prompt);
        if (T.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), null, out var value))
        {
            if (validator?.Invoke(value) ?? true)
            {
                return value;
            }

            Console.WriteLine("Invalid value, try again.");
            continue;
        }

        Console.WriteLine("Invalid format, try again.");
    }
}

Slap this badboy down and call it like int interval = GetFromConsole<int>("Enter your interval: "); and you are done

AceChewy•13mo ago

I apparently need to express the type arguments explicitly

Pobiega•13mo ago

okay, just slap on a <int> then 🙂

AceChewy•13mo ago

I honestly have no clue where to put the int

arion•13mo ago

big brain 5Head

Pobiega•13mo ago

int interval = GetFromConsole<int>("Enter your interval: "); generic type parameters always go after the method name

AceChewy•13mo ago

Got to note that one down

arion•13mo ago

Multiple generic parameters are separated by an , so <int, bool>

AceChewy•13mo ago

I wish it were that simple (for me), the audio isn't playing and I think it has something to do with the directory path maybe

Pobiega•13mo ago

generic methods is a bit advanced for your current level, so don't worry about it 😛 just change the filepath to "alarm.wav" literally just that

AceChewy•13mo ago

Still no audio playing though

Pobiega•13mo ago

const string fileName = "blip.wav";

await using var audioFile = new AudioFileReader(fileName);
using var outputDevice = new WaveOutEvent();

outputDevice.Volume = 0.1f;

outputDevice.Init(audioFile);

Console.WriteLine("Playing sound.");

outputDevice.Play();

while (outputDevice.PlaybackState == PlaybackState.Playing)
{
    await Task.Delay(1000);
}

Console.WriteLine("Done playing sound.");

const string fileName = "blip.wav";

await using var audioFile = new AudioFileReader(fileName);
using var outputDevice = new WaveOutEvent();

outputDevice.Volume = 0.1f;

outputDevice.Init(audioFile);

Console.WriteLine("Playing sound.");

outputDevice.Play();

while (outputDevice.PlaybackState == PlaybackState.Playing)
{
    await Task.Delay(1000);
}

Console.WriteLine("Done playing sound.");

thats what I did here and it worked fine are you sure your interval/timer stuff is working? Number 1 good idea in programming is to test each part individually

AceChewy•13mo ago

I normally do, but I kind of jumped the gun here I think I'm missing this (outputDevice.Volume = 0.1)

Pobiega•13mo ago

thats not relevant as such I just like protecting my eardrums 😄 and I have in ear headphones it works fine without it, its just really loud

AceChewy•13mo ago

I think that set of {} (yellow ones) are doing nothing here

AceChewy•13mo ago

well not nothing, but they aren't supposed to be there anymore

Pobiega•13mo ago

hard to tell without knowing what goes above it

AceChewy•13mo ago

Pobiega•13mo ago

no they absolutely do something you need to change up the syntax of your usings if you wanna get rid of that scope I'm using modern C# using declarations thats why my code didn't have them :p just add some Console.WriteLine("Sound should be playing now"); or somnething to the top of your method and see if its printing

AceChewy•13mo ago

yup, your hunch was correct, nothing is printing

Pobiega•13mo ago

arion•13mo ago

https://tenor.com/view/wait-what-meme-wait-a-minute-gif-14484132

Tenor

arion•13mo ago

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/883435300880261120/1128424836360835183/155ac954-787e-499d-9d7b-a976dc8ee6a9_11-07-2023.png

arion•13mo ago

try doing timer.Start();

Pobiega•13mo ago

oh dearie me I never bothered to read the timer code, as it wasn't relevant to the actual topic :p

arion•13mo ago

AceChewy•13mo ago

Right arion, you were right that did indeed change things

Pobiega•13mo ago

tbh thou, wouldn't a PeriodicTimer be a lot easier?

AceChewy•13mo ago

But the sound is still not playing

Pobiega•13mo ago

var seconds = Helper.GetFromConsole<int>("Enter interval in seconds: ");
var interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(seconds);

var timer = new PeriodicTimer(interval);

while (await timer.WaitForNextTickAsync())
{
    await PlaySound();
}

var seconds = Helper.GetFromConsole<int>("Enter interval in seconds: ");
var interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(seconds);

var timer = new PeriodicTimer(interval);

while (await timer.WaitForNextTickAsync())
{
    await PlaySound();
}

thats my entire main method

Enter interval in seconds: 5 Playing sound. Done playing sound. Playing sound. Done playing sound. Playing sound. Done playing sound.

its really annoying 😄

AceChewy•13mo ago

Overcomplicating things (and then not getting them) is my middlename

Pobiega•13mo ago

Well... its not really fair to compare your code to mine I write C# for 40 hours a week and have done so for the last 20 years or so

AceChewy•13mo ago

Yh, I'm aware

Pobiega•13mo ago

PeriodicTimer came with .NET 6 so its fairly new, and didnt exist in .NET 4.7 that you were using an hour ago

AceChewy•13mo ago

Doing 7 hours a week for 1 month isn't quite comparable. Though I have taken the long route with things a few times in the past I'm still annoyed by the fact the sound itself isn't palying

Pobiega•13mo ago

Wanna jump on a screenshare and get it working?

arion•13mo ago

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/883435300880261120/1128427131609817108/2d91d0f1-91ee-4d4c-94ab-fa1a569ff0d3_11-07-2023.png

arion•13mo ago

pretty sure its that part ngl

AceChewy•13mo ago

Sure

arion•13mo ago

try changing it into timer.Elapsed += timedEvent;

Pobiega•13mo ago

#dev-vc-1

AceChewy•13mo ago

Thanks again for the taking the time to help

Pobiega•13mo ago

np If you are done with this thread, please /close it

Accord•13mo ago

Looks like nothing has happened here. I will mark this as stale and this post will be archived until there is new activity.

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❔ ✅ Using sound in C#