SOUND

SOUND sets frequency and duration of sounds from the internal PC speaker if the computer has one or the sound card in QB64.

Syntax

SOUND frequency, duration

Description

• Frequency is any literal or variable value from 37 to 32767, but 0 is allowed for delays.
• Duration is any literal or variable number of TIMER ticks with a duration of 1/18th second. 18 = one second.
• In QB64 the sound comes from the soundcard and the volume can be adjusted through the OS.

Template:PageErrors

• Low frequency values between 0 and 37 will create an Illegal Function call error.
• Warning: SOUND may not work when the program is not in focus. Use SOUND 0, 0 at sound procedure start to set focus.
• Note: SOUND 0, 0 will not stop previous QB64 sounds like it did in QBasic!
• SOUND may have clicks or pauses between the sounds generated. PLAY can be used for musical sounds.

                            The Seven Music Octaves  
     
        Note     Frequency      Note     Frequency      Note      Frequency
      1* D#1 ...... 39           G3 ....... 196          A#5 ...... 932 
         E1 ....... 41           G#3 ...... 208          B5 ....... 988 
         F1 ....... 44           A3 ....... 220       6* C6 ....... 1047 
         F#1 ...... 46           A#3 ...... 233          C#6 ...... 1109 
         G1 ....... 49           B3 ....... 247          D6 ....... 1175 
         G#1 ...... 51        4* C4 ....... 262          D#6 ...... 1245 
         A1 ....... 55           C#4 ...... 277          E6 ....... 1318 
         A#1 ...... 58           D4 ....... 294          F6 ....... 1397 
         B1 ....... 62           D#4 ...... 311          F#6 ...... 1480 
      2* C2 ....... 65           E4 ....... 330          G6 ....... 1568 
         C#2 ...... 69           F4 ....... 349          G# ....... 1661 
         D2 ....... 73           F#4 ...... 370          A6 ....... 1760 
         D#2 ...... 78           G4 ....... 392          A#6 ...... 1865 
         E2 ....... 82           G#4 ...... 415          B6 ....... 1976 
         F2 ....... 87           A4 ....... 440       7* C7 ....... 2093 
         F#2 ...... 92           A# ....... 466          C#7 ...... 2217 
         G2 ....... 98           B4 ....... 494          D7 ....... 2349 
         G#2 ...... 104       5* C5 ....... 523          D#7 ...... 2489 
         A2 ....... 110          C#5 ...... 554          E7 ....... 2637 
         A#2 ...... 117          D5 ....... 587          F7 ....... 2794 
         B2 ....... 123          D#5 ...... 622          F#7 ...... 2960 
      3* C3 ....... 131          E5 ....... 659          G7 ....... 3136 
         C#3 ...... 139          F5 ....... 698          G#7 ...... 3322 
         D3 ....... 147          F#5 ...... 740          A7 ....... 3520 
         D#3 ...... 156          G5 ....... 784          A#7 ...... 3729 
         E3 ....... 165          G#5 ...... 831          B7 ....... 3951 
         F3 ....... 175          A5 ....... 880       8* C8 ....... 4186 
         F#3 ...... 185  
                                # denotes sharp

Example 1: Playing the seven octaves based on the base note DATA * 2 ^ (octave - 1).

notes$ = "C C#D D#E F F#G G#A A#B " COLOR 9:LOCATE 5, 20: PRINT "Select an octave (1 - 7) to play (8 quits):" DO DO: octa$ = INKEY$ IF octa$ <> "" THEN IF ASC(octa$) > 48 AND ASC(octa$) < 58 THEN octave% = VAL(octa$): EXIT DO END IF LOOP UNTIL octave% > 7 IF octave% > 0 AND octave% < 8 THEN LOCATE 15, 6: PRINT SPACE$(70) LOCATE 16, 6: PRINT SPACE$(70) COLOR 14: LOCATE 15, 6: PRINT "Octave"; octave%; ":"; RESTORE Octaves FOR i = 1 TO 12 READ note! snd% = CINT(note! * (2 ^ (octave% - 1))) 'calculate note frequency COLOR 14: PRINT STR$(snd%); c0l = POS(0) COLOR 11: LOCATE 16, c0l - 2: PRINT MID$(notes$, 1 + (2 * (i - 1)), 2) LOCATE 15, c0l IF snd% > 36 THEN SOUND snd%, 12 'error if sound value is < 36 _DELAY .8 NEXT END IF LOOP UNTIL octave% > 7 END Octaves: DATA 32.7,34.65,36.71,38.9,41.2,43.65,46.25,49,51.91,55,58.27,61.74

Code adapted by Ted Weissgerber from code in "Running MS-DOS QBasic" by Microsoft Press

Example 2: Playing a song called "Bonnie" with SOUND frequencies.

SCREEN 13 _FULLSCREEN OUT &H3C8, 0: OUT &H3C9, 0: OUT &H3C9, 0: OUT &H3C9, 20 COLOR 1 FOR i% = 1 TO 21 LOCATE 2 + i%, 2: PRINT CHR$(178) LOCATE 2 + i%, 39: PRINT CHR$(178) NEXT i% FOR i% = 2 TO 39 LOCATE 2, i%: PRINT CHR$(223) LOCATE 23, i%: PRINT CHR$(220) NEXT i% COLOR 9 LOCATE 3, 16: PRINT CHR$(34); "MY BONNIE"; CHR$(34) SLEEP 3 FOR i% = 1 TO 34 SELECT CASE i% CASE 1: LOCATE 5, 5 CASE 10: LOCATE 10, 5 CASE 18: LOCATE 15, 5 CASE 27: LOCATE 20, 5 END SELECT READ note%, duration%, word$ SOUND note%, duration%: PRINT word$; NEXT i% SLEEP 2 LOCATE 23, 16: PRINT "Thank You!" SLEEP 4 SYSTEM DATA 392,8,"My ",659,8,"Bon-",587,8,"nie ",523,8,"lies ",587,8,"O-",523,8,"Ver ",440,8,"the " DATA 392,8,"O-",330,32,"cean ",392,8,"My ",659,8,"Bon-",587,8,"nie ",523,8,"lies " DATA 523,8,"O-",494,8,"ver ",523,8,"the ",587,40,"sea ",392,8,"My ",659,8,"Bon-",587,8,"nie" DATA 523,8," lies ",587,8,"O-",523,8,"ver ",440,8,"the ",392,8,"O-",330,32,"cean ",392,8,"Oh " DATA 440,8,"bring ",587,8,"back ",523,8,"my ",494,8,"Bon-",440,8,"nie ",494,8,"to ",523,32,"me..!"

Code adapted by Ted Weissgerber from code "Running MS-DOS QBasic" by Microsoft Press

See also:

• PLAY, BEEP
• _SNDOPEN (play sound files)
• _SNDRAW (play frequency waves)

---

Navigation: Main Page with Articles and Tutorials Keyword Reference - Alphabetical Keyword Reference - By usage Report a broken link