'Action: Sound'

actionssoundaudiomusiceffects

The Sound action controls audio playback. It targets an Audio element in your Ripple and tells it what to do — play, pause, stop, or toggle.

Prerequisites

Before you can use a Sound action, you need an Audio element in your Ripple. Audio elements hold the sound file but are invisible to participants — they exist purely as audio sources.

To add one:

  1. Select the Audio tool from the toolbox
  2. Upload your sound file
  3. The audio element appears in the element list but not on the canvas

Sound Operations

Play

Starts playing the audio from the beginning. If the sound is already playing, clicking again has no effect (it doesn't restart).

Play Start/Stop (Toggle)

Click to play, click again to stop. Each play starts from the beginning. This is the most intuitive toggle for sound effects and music — participants expect "click to play, click to stop".

Play Start/Pause (Toggle)

Click to play, click again to pause. The next play resumes from where it left off. Good for podcasts, narration, or long audio where participants might want to pause and resume.

Pause

Pauses at the current position. A subsequent Play will resume from here.

Stop

Stops playback and resets to the beginning.

Stop All

Stops all currently playing sounds in the Ripple. Useful for "silence" buttons or scene transitions where you want a clean audio slate.

Configuration Options

Volume

Set the volume from 0 (silent) to 1 (full volume). This is independent of the participant's system volume. Common values:

  • Background music: 0.3 - 0.5
  • Sound effects: 0.7 - 1.0
  • Narration: 0.8 - 1.0

Loop

When enabled, the sound repeats indefinitely after reaching the end. Perfect for background music or ambient soundscapes.

Fade In / Fade Out

Set a fade duration in seconds. Fading creates smoother transitions:

  • Fade in: Gradually increases volume from 0 when starting. Great for background music.
  • Fade out: Gradually decreases volume to 0 before stopping. Avoids abrupt silence.

Stop Others

When enabled, all other playing sounds stop before this one starts. Useful when you have multiple sound options and only one should play at a time.

Scope: Local vs Global

  • Local (default): Only the person who triggered the action hears the sound.
  • Global: Everyone in the Ripple hears the sound. Any participant can trigger global sounds — the creator controls what sounds are available, so this is safe by design.

Common Patterns

Background Music on Scene Load

  1. Add an Audio element with your music file
  2. Add a Sound action to any element with an Activation trigger
  3. Set operation to Play, enable Loop, and set volume to 0.3-0.5
  4. Optionally add a fade-in of 2-3 seconds

Click-to-Play Sound Button

  1. Create a shape or image that looks like a play button
  2. Add a Sound action with Click trigger
  3. Set operation to Play Start/Stop (Toggle)

Sound Effect on Hover

  1. Add a Sound action to an interactive element with a Hover trigger
  2. Set operation to Play with a short sound effect
  3. Keep volume moderate (0.5-0.7) so it's not startling

Sequential Audio (Narration)

  1. Add multiple Audio elements for each narration segment
  2. On the first audio element, use the Sound End trigger to chain to playing the next audio element
  3. This creates a narration sequence that plays through automatically

Tips

  • Browser autoplay restrictions: Browsers block audio that plays without user interaction. Sound actions with Activation triggers may be silenced until the participant first clicks somewhere. For reliable auto-play, ensure the participant has interacted with the page first.
  • Keep files small: Use MP3 or OGG format. Shorter clips load faster and use less bandwidth.
  • Test global sounds: When scope is global, everyone hears the sound — test with multiple participants to make sure it's not overwhelming.

What's Next?