While redesigning my portfolio site at johnkeston.com I decided to research some of the latest audio plugins for WordPress. Prior to today I was using a fork of Audio Player called Anarchy Media Player (AMP), which was nice for several reasons. One being that it automatically converts MP3 links to the player in posts. Unfortunately the player has not been updated in sometime and after upgrading the the most recent version of WordPress the admin panel for AMP stopped working properly, forcing me to hack my wp-options table.
The alternative that I have put in place is called WPaudio. Wpaudio uses the SoundManager 2 sound library that works by wrapping and extending the Flash Sound API, and exposing it to Javascript. This technique allows the Flash component to be hidden and transparent to both developers and end users.
SoundManager 2 is what’s used by mix sharing sites like SoundCloud and 8tracks. I have yet to find any difficulties, other than some alignment issues that I was able to resolve via CSS. Here’s an example of the player in use. Please comment on how it works for you.
Panopticon – One Day to Save All Life, Keston and Westdal (Unearthed Music, 2009)
This segment from the piece Ostracon by Keston and Westdal was recorded on June 21, 2009 at the Kitty Cat Klub with Graham O’Brien on drums. This was toward the end of the piece and the laptops weren’t doing anything except providing a click for Graham. All of the obligations to the arrangement had been met, so with a small, but dedicated audience we let ourselves wander into an extended improvisational outro. 