1. Here are some tips for using sound:

a) in your Kamishibai
• check out Chibi Alex-chan's site for links to good SFX sites
• check out ARK's site for SFX :)
• Always remember the quality/quantity/size proportions. Sound files don't get zipped very well. If you Kami gets too big, try removing a few sounds or dropping their quality.
• Make sure the sound's lenght and number of loops matches the action on-screen. When you see a guy firing an automatic gun (with an @animloop of FOREVER) and hear one single shot, it doesn't make a very good impression.
• If you don't find the sound effect you need, try making it! You can not only record your own voice, but also your freinds, your dog, your cat, your parrots, your goldfish (um... scratch that last one ^^) and different household items being banged or rubbed against each other (don't break anything, though ^^).
• SPECIAL TIP: For interesting effects, play with sound speed! If you have the Win 95 Sound Recorder, try this:
  - record your voice saying something.
  - now select Effects and then slow the sound down by 100%.
  - listen to it
  - get up from the floor
  - listen again
  - get up, will ya?
  - listen and pay attention
  - make a new sound (save the previous if you want)
  - now, try to say EXACTLY the same thing you heard in slow motion
  - when you think you got it right, increase the sound's speed by 100%
  - voila! You get a squeaky, Chipmunk-like voice speaking almost at normal speed! (This is how I make Moonie's lines!)
  - you can also try to make A DEEP AND MOANING VOICE LIKE THIS at normal speed, but it's kinda hard to say something clear and fast enough (at least for me...)



b) in KiSS dolls
• First of all: if you're going to put sounds in KiSS dolls, DON'T.
• Still want to? Well, you've been warned. Like I said, sounds don't ZIP very well, and with KiSS dolls it's a bigger problem. I generally say that dolls over half a meg have to have a GOOD reason for it. (I also say that dolls that have over two megs should be hounded down mercilessly, but that's just me.) That reason is usually an oversized sound file, since cels or midis aren't very big. (Or a LOT of soundfiles. In which case it is no longer a KiSS doll but a Sound Collection, and probably falls into the 2+ Megs category.)
• If the sound(s) are good and fit in with your doll (and the doll has a lot of outfits to play with), it may even have 1+ meg (but no more than two). But remember that people might be discouraged with the file size and not want to sit through the download when there are dolls that have less than 100 KB right next door.
2. And now, something on MIDI music.
• Like before, Chibi Alex's site has links and ARK's site has MIDs. 'nuff said.
• In Kamishibai, a single tune is heard for about 30 seconds - 1 minute 30. (Unless there is one single MIDI for the entire 90 scenes, but that could be a bit boring, ne?). In KiSS however, there is usually one tune that plays the whole time, so it has to be quite long.
  This divides music into three groups according to lenght:
  1: under 1 minute 30
  2: 1 minute 30 - 3 minutes
  3: Over 3 minutes
  - under 1 minute 30: These are best used for Kamishibai.
  - 1 minute 30 - 3 minutes: the middle. Used for both KiSS and Kami. Good as image music for characters.
  - Over 3 minutes: Unless the really cool bits are in the first 1-2 minutes, save it for the KiSS.
• Of course, a KiSS set can have also different music to choose from. This may be done by clicking on buttons or putting cassetes in a player. But wait! Make sure you get the code like this:Br> ;@[event which turns on music]
  ;@ music("") <--------- THIS LINE IS IMPORTANT!!!!
  ;@ music("titlehere.mid")
  

Or you will get an error message the second time you try to turn on the music! (I do, anyway. Anyone else?)

Oh yeah, if you use this you will get a message from PlayFKiSS in the beginning: "FILE NOT FOUND - ''". Ignore it.

• If you have a really neat but very short MIDI that you want to use in your KiSS doll, you can loop it. Here is the simple piece of code you need for an infinite loop, with necessary explenations. I'm taking a MIDI of 1 minute 30 as an example.
  ;@[Event that turns on music]
  ;@ music("") <------ Don't forget this line!
  ;@ music("titlehere.mid")
  ;@ timer(0, 30000) ; Wait thirty seconds and do what @alarm(0) says
  
  ;@ alarm(0)
  ;@ timer(1, 30000) ; Wait thirty seconds and do what @alarm(1) says
  
  ;@ alarm(1)
  ;@ timer(2, 32000) ; Wait thirty TWO seconds and do what @alarm(2) says.
  ; There's a two second pause before the music starts again.
  
  ;@ alarm(2)
  ;@ music("") ------ Remember!
  ;@ music("titlehere.mid") ; turns music back on
  ;@ timer(0, 30000) ; and here we go again :)
  

KiSS will start the music, wait 1 minute 32 seconds and start it again.

Just copy this code into your CNF file under ;@EventHandler(), adjusting the number of "wait 30 seconds" groups and the timer walue in the last one to fit your MIDI.

You need to break up the time into 30-second parts because the maximum value of the second parameter of @timer is 32767 (thousanth of a second), which means just over 32 seconds, and most MIDIs are longer.

I advise you to leave one or two seconds before the music starts again.

Now you should be all set to add some sound to your dolls and stories. One last thing:

Don't ever forget the Philesize Menace. In other words, with MIDs and WAVs, the golden rule is *************LESS IS MORE************.