Are you tired of hearing the same startup sound every time? I sure was. So I wrote Noises. Just throw Noises into your Extensions folder, and make a folder called ﾒNoises Folderﾓ (also in the Extensions folder) with some sound files in it. Pretty simple.
It is worth pointing out that if you try to drop sounds, or a folder with sounds in it, onto your System Folder icon, the Finder will want to put all the sounds in your System file, so you should instead drop the files directly into the Noises Folder.
Noises only recognizes System 7 Finder sound files, like the ones you get when you drag a sound out of your System file. Folders inside the Noises Folder are ignored. I may fix this in the future, if there is any demand for it.
It is best to have nothing but sound files in the Noises Folder. If Noises happens to pick a non-sound file it will try again (allowing for the invisible ﾒIconﾓ file that stores a folderﾕs custom icon), but if this goes on too long it will give up.
If Noises canﾕt find the Noises Folder or a sound file, it will display a crossed-out icon, and as the Finder appears you will get an alert box stating either that Noises could not find its folder or that it couldnﾕt find a sound to play.
Noises will only run under System 7 or later. If the system version is less than 7, Noises just displays the crossed-out icon.
Unlike most extensions, Noises does not hang around after startup. Once the sound is played, its job is done, so you donﾕt have to worry about another program taking up memory and just waiting to crash your machine.
I have included an icon family you might use for the Noises Folder. The upload package includes a folder with the icon; if you didnﾕt get it, just copy the icon family out of Noises with ResEdit (you do have ResEdit, donﾕt you?).
If you click the mouse while a sound is playing, Noises will stop playing. This is useful if it picks a particularly long sound that you donﾕt feel like listening to at the time, or if it gets stuck (see Bugs, below).
If you use this program, I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. I have included my address below. I am considering expanding Noises into a control panel, with shutdown sounds and the like, if itﾕs worth it. There are other programs that do this, although most of them do cost money.
This is a free program, though copyrightedﾑ feel free to copy it around; just donﾕt change anything. Not that youﾕd want to.
AppleScript:
No, Noises isnﾕt scriptable, but Iﾕve found that if you want to simulate what Noises does in a script, you can type the following (assuming you have a scriptable Finder, like in System 7.5):
tell application "Finder" to open some sound file in folder "System Folder:Extensions:Noises Folder" of startup disk
The main problem with this approach is that you donﾕt get that cool animated icon.
Guarantee:
None whatsoever. Such a simple program is less likely to have big bugs, but if something bad happens I take no responsibility. This is, after all, my first Mac program. :-)
Bugs:
A problem has been reported with the Cameraman extention- if Noises loads after it, no sound plays and the icon sits there animating. Just click the mouse button to get out of this.
Version History:
1.0: First release.
1.1: Improved randomizing.
1.1.1: There was an INIT resource which I was using to display the startup icon, and I donﾕt remember where I got it or if it was shareware or what. This has now been cleaned up. Also, an error sound was eliminated.
1.2: Alias support for Noises Folder and sound files. First public release.
1.2.1: The error alert finally works, and the System version is checked (does nothing if not System 7 or later).
1.3: The startup icon animates while the sound is playing, and there is a new error message for when the alias to the Noises Folder couldnﾕt be resolved.
1.3.1: There is a slight improvement in the animation, and there is no longer a constant beeping when starting up in B&W mode (I had forgotten to make black and white animation frames).
Send questions, comments, bugs, suggestions, jokes, etc. to:
