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Audio Visuals & the Spoken Word
Visuals with Your Audio
To add a little panache to your listening experience you can
also download visual enhancements for your audio player like
skins or plug-ins. Skins are like designer fashion graphics
for your player. If you're bored with the color or the
buttons on your player you can download and install a new
skin for a different look.
Visualization plug-ins creates nifty, if pointless graphics
that change and morph with the music you're playing. Some
internet radio stations also provide funky dynamic graphics
that shift as the music streams. Skins and plug-ins are
available for quite a few players, but the majority is
designed for the Win Amp MP3 player.
Spoken Word
Although music gets the lion's share of attention, there's a
wealth of spoken word content on the web. Audio books have
been around in cassette and CD form for a while, and now you
can listen to books online. Excerpts or complete texts of
audio books are available in streaming audio. Many texts are
free and a few sites let you download whole audio books for
less than the cost of buying the CD or tape.
More literature is accessible in the form of audio dramas or
poetry readings. Radio plays have gone digital with both new
interpretations of classics like Shakespeare and new
original productions. Poets of all description can be heard
over the internet from old recordings of T.S. Eliot to
modern rebels like Henry Rollins.
Educational and informational audio is also abundant. You
can take language lessons, listen to lectures from
universities or take in speeches from famous personalities.
Audio programming about health, fitness, business,
technology, news and travel is readily available from
various sites. For rest and relaxation, you can kick back
and listen to coverage of different sporting events or find
a good laugh online with stand-up, sketch or musical comedy.
Conclusion
Surround yourself with the sounds of the internet. Download
an audio player and start your sonic explorations. MP3 lets
you hear emerging indeed artists along side top 40 hits
while digital musicians use MIDI and MOD to create new
compositions. Internet radio brings news and music from the
global village right to your hard drive. You can even
snuggle up with a good audio book or go to the theatre with
an audio drama. The web has its own audio ecosystem with a
flourishing diversity of sounds simply waiting for you to
tune in.
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