How To Stream Audio in Second Life

Posted by Chrischun Fassbinder on October 11th, 2007 filed in guides, metaverse, multiverse, second life

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Introduction

This article is presented as an introduction to playing your own and audio streams within Second Life for all to hear. The concepts and details of running your own audio stream number a great deal, due to such this guide just provides the basics to getting your own station online.

What is Streaming Audio?

Music is played on your land in SL using an URL which you set in your About Land options. You can hook up to an existing stream from the web, or create your own if you have the resources.

Where can I get audio streams to play?

There are are lots of free sources on the web. Here are a couple of sites to start you off:

http://www.shoutcast.com/
http://www.icecast.org/
http://www.live365.com/index.live

Hard rock: http://64.236.34.97:80/stream/1039
Classical: http://64.236.34.196:80/stream/1006
Digital/Trance: http://radio.digitalgunfire.com:8000/
Smooth Beats: http://64.236.34.196:80/stream/1018
Space Lab: http://83.226.131.250:8000
Soft Space: http://64.236.34.196:80/stream/1018

How do I setup music for my land?

1. From the pull-down menu from the top of your SL client go World > About Land.
2. Click on the Media tab.
3. Enter the URL to the music stream.
4. Click the Music control off and on to refresh the settings. The control is located at the bottom center of your screen.

Can I play a stream on my friend’s land?

No, you must have land permission to edit land settings. You’ll have to give them the stream to enter it. If you are an officer of a group, and the group owns the land, then you have the ability to change it. Otherwise, you must own the land.

How to I play my own music?

This is can be a bit complex. Anyone can stream music via a broadcaster program like WINAMP or SAM2, however, you need a server to do so. Options include rent one off-site from a hosting company online or use your own if it’s set up to play a shoutcast stream.

Note: SAM2 Broadcaster is suggested because it requires no plugins, they come with the program, and it’s much easier to understand than WINAMP.

www.winamp.com (WINAMP)

www.spacialaudio.com (SAM2)

Can I use a microphone and talk over the music?

Yes! SAM2 provides easy buttons to maneuver quickly back and forth between music and DJing. WINAMP I’m sure has the capability, however it would require a plug-in to do so, the program does not come with it by default.

I can’t hear any sound, is my music broken?

1. Make sure there is a Music control panel at the bottom, center of your screen. If not, go to Edit/Preferences, select the Audio tab, and make sure Play Streaming Music when Available is checked.

2. On the Music control panel, click Stop and then Play to refresh the settings.

3. If you still don’t get music, double-check the URL you entered in the About Land box. Be sure the address does not have a small space in front of it. This keeps it from playing and has been a common problem. If there is a space, remove it.

4. If you still don’t get music, the stream may not be valid. Try testing the stream in WinAmp to be sure that it does work.

5. Check your speakers. Are they plugged in, turned on, volume turned up?

6. If music and speakers test out, leave the parcel and come back.

7. Still no music? Try relogging.

8. If relogging didn’t help, it could be a bandwidth issue, or a local problem on your computer. Time to file a bug report.

Conclusion

That does it for a basic overview and guide to getting started with streaming audio within the world of Second Life. Ability to run your own audio stream is useful for a diverse number of reasons. Even playing public “stations” provides a great deal of additional value. Best of luck finding the uses for this feature that best benefit your needs. Rock!

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