Play Music

Description#

'play music <music_id> [with [loop] [fade <time>] [volume <percentage>] [<effects>]]'
'play music'  // Resume all paused music

The play music action lets you play background music for your game. You can play as many songs as you want simultaneously.

To stop the music, check out the Stop Music documentation.

Action ID: Play

Reversible: Yes

Requires User Interaction: No

Parameters#

Assets Declarations#

To play a song, you must first add the file to your assets/music/ directory and then declare it. To do so, Monogatari has a function that will let you declare all kinds of assets for your game.

monogatari.assets('music', {
    '<music_id>': 'musicFileName'
});

Supported Formats#

Each browser has its own format compatibility. MP3 however is the format supported by every browser.

If you wish to use other formats, you can check a compatibility table to discover what browsers will be able to play it.

Examples#

Play Music#

The following will play the song, and once the song ends, it will simply stop.

Script

monogatari.script({
    'Start': [
        'play music mainTheme',
        'end'
    ]
});

Music Assets

monogatari.assets('music', {
    'mainTheme': 'mainThemeSong.mp3'
});

Loop Music#

The following will play the song, and once the song ends, it will start over on an infinite loop until it is stopped using the Stop Music Action.

Script

monogatari.script({
    'Start': [
        'play music mainTheme with loop',
        'end'
    ]
});

Music Assets

monogatari.assets('music', {
    'mainTheme': 'mainThemeSong.mp3'
});

Fade In Effect#

The following will play the song with a fade in effect.

Script

monogatari.script({
    'Start': [
        'play music mainTheme with fade 3',
        'end'
    ]
});

Music Assets

monogatari.assets('music', {
    'mainTheme': 'mainThemeSong.mp3'
});

Custom Volume#

The following will set the volume of this song to 73%.

Script

monogatari.script({
    'Start': [
        'play music mainTheme with volume 73',
        'end'
    ]
});

Music Assets

monogatari.assets('music', {
    'mainTheme': 'mainThemeSong.mp3'
});

Please note that the user’s preferences regarding volumes are always respected, which means this percentage is taken from the current player preferences. If the player has set the volume to 50%, the actual volume value for the song will be:

Resume Paused Music#

If music has been paused using the Pause action, you can resume it:

'play music'  // Resume all paused music

All Together#

You can combine all properties. The order doesn’t matter.

Script

monogatari.script({
    'Start': [
        'play music mainTheme with volume 100 loop fade 2',
        'end'
    ]
});

Music Assets

monogatari.assets('music', {
    'mainTheme': 'mainThemeSong.mp3'
});

Audio Effects#

You can apply multiple audio effects to your music by specifying them in the properties. These effects use the Web Audio API for real-time audio processing.

Effect Syntax#

Effects are specified by their name followed by their parameters:

'play music <music_id> with <effect_name> <param1> <param2> ...'

Available Effects#

Filter#

Applies a Biquad filter (lowpass, highpass, etc.)

Parameters:

• type - Filter type: lowpass, highpass, bandpass, notch, allpass, peaking, lowshelf, highshelf (default: lowpass)
• frequency - Cutoff frequency in Hz (default: 800)
• Q - Quality factor (default: 1)
• gain - Filter gain in dB (default: 0)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with filter lowpass 400 2'

Delay#

A simple delay effect with feedback.

Parameters:

• time - Delay time in seconds (default: 0.4)
• feedback - Feedback amount 0-1 (default: 0.5)
• mix - Wet/dry mix 0-1 (default: 0.5)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with delay 0.5 0.3 0.7'

Compressor#

Dynamic range compression.

Parameters:

• threshold - Compression threshold in dB (default: -24)
• knee - Knee width in dB (default: 30)
• ratio - Compression ratio (default: 12)
• attack - Attack time in seconds (default: 0.003)
• release - Release time in seconds (default: 0.25)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with compressor -20 20 8 0.01 0.1'

Tremolo#

Modulates the amplitude of the signal.

Parameters:

• frequency - Modulation frequency in Hz (default: 5)
• depth - Modulation depth 0-1 (default: 0.8)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with tremolo 3 0.6'

Distortion#

Applies wave-shaping distortion.

Parameters:

• amount - Distortion amount (default: 50)
• oversample - Oversampling: 2x, 4x, or none (default: 4x)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with distortion 30 2x'

Convolution Reverb#

Convolution reverb with a generated impulse response.

Parameters:

• seconds - Reverb duration in seconds (default: 2)
• decay - Decay rate (default: 2)
• reverse - Reverse the impulse response (default: false)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with convreverb 3 1.5'

Bitcrusher#

Reduces bit depth and sample rate of the signal.

Parameters:

• bits - Bit depth 1-16 (default: 4)
• frequency - Sample rate reduction 0-1 (default: 0.1)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with bitcrusher 8 0.2'

AutoWah#

An envelope-following filter (auto-wah).

Parameters:

• baseFrequency - Base frequency in Hz (default: 100)
• octaves - Frequency range in octaves (default: 6)
• sensitivity - Envelope sensitivity 0-1 (default: 0.5)
• Q - Filter Q factor (default: 10)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with autowah 200 4 0.7 15'

Panner#

Positions the sound in 3D space.

Parameters:

• x - X position (default: 0)
• y - Y position (default: 0)
• z - Z position (default: 0)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with panner 1 0 0'

Phaser#

A sweeping phase-shifting effect.

Parameters:

• frequency - LFO frequency in Hz (default: 0.5)
• depth - Modulation depth in Hz (default: 1000)
• feedback - Feedback amount 0-1 (default: 0.5)
• stages - Number of filter stages (default: 4)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with phaser 1 800 0.3 6'

Chorus#

Creates a thicker sound by modulating a delayed signal.

Parameters:

• frequency - LFO frequency in Hz (default: 1.5)
• delay - Delay time in seconds (default: 0.025)
• depth - Modulation depth in seconds (default: 0.002)
• mix - Wet/dry mix 0-1 (default: 0.5)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with chorus 2 0.03 0.003 0.6'

Wah#

A sweeping filter effect, like a guitar wah-wah pedal.

Parameters:

• baseFrequency - Base frequency in Hz (default: 350)
• Q - Filter Q factor (default: 15)
• depth - Frequency sweep range in Hz (default: 1500)
• frequency - LFO frequency in Hz (default: 2)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with wah 500 20 2000 1'

Ring Modulation#

Ring modulation for creating metallic, bell-like sounds.

Parameters:

• frequency - Modulator frequency in Hz (default: 30)
• mix - Wet/dry mix 0-1 (default: 0.5)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with ringmod 50 0.7'

Saturator#

Soft clipping for warmth and harmonics.

Parameters:

• drive - Drive amount (default: 5)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with saturator 3'

Limiter#

A hard compressor to prevent signal peaks from exceeding a threshold.

Parameters:

• threshold - Limiting threshold in dB (default: -1.0)
• release - Release time in seconds (default: 0.05)

Example:

'play music mainTheme with limiter -3 0.1'

Multiple Effects#

You can combine multiple effects on a single music track:

'play music mainTheme with filter lowpass 600 1.5 delay 0.3 0.4 0.6 tremolo 4 0.5'

Effect Compatibility#

Some effects require AudioWorklet support, which may not be available in all browsers:

• Bitcrusher and AutoWah require AudioWorklet support
• If AudioWorklet is not available, these effects will fall back to a simple gain node (no effect)
• Other effects use standard Web Audio API nodes and work in all modern browsers

Example: Complex Audio Setup#

Script

monogatari.script({
    'Start': [
        'play music mainTheme with volume 80 loop filter lowpass 400 2 delay 0.5 0.3 0.4',
        'play music ambient with volume 30 filter highpass 200 1 convreverb 4 1.5',
        'Listen to all the effects!',
        'end'
    ]
});

Music Assets

monogatari.assets('music', {
    'mainTheme': 'mainThemeSong.mp3',
    'ambient': 'ambientMusic.mp3'
});

This example creates a layered audio experience with:

• A main theme with low-pass filtering, delay, and looping
• An ambient track with high-pass filtering and reverb

Related Actions#

• Stop Music - Stop playing music
• Pause - Pause playing media