Sound and Music

This article is a hub for finding information about sound and music in Source.

Entities

• ambient_generic — this is the basic entity to play a specific sound, including music
• env_soundscape — plays background noises (see Soundscapes)
• env_microphone — detects sounds
• env_speaker — plays sounds based on a set of Response System rules
• scripted_sentence — used to make an NPC speak an idea
• logic_choreographed_scene — used for conversations and other sequences. See Category:Choreography.

Articles

• Category:Sound System — how sound works in Source
• Hammer Sound Browser — documents the Hammer user interface for browsing sounds
• Soundscapes — background sounds in a map
• Sound sensitive trigger — how to trigger an event based on the loudness
• Startup Music — one way to add music to a mod's title screen (alternately, put it in a Menu Background Map)

AI sounds

AI sounds are not audible to the player; they are purely an AI construction. They can be placed in-map with the ai_sound entity.

Music

• Music Composition - software synthesizers and other audio tools

Materials

To specify the set of sounds for a custom material (the noises produced in response to hits, scrapes, etc), see Material surface properties.

Notes

• To play music, use Hammer Sound Browser to search for keyword music.
• Many entities can have sounds assigned to them. For example, prop_door_rotating can be assigned sounds for opening, closing, swinging, being locked, and being unlocked. See the individual entities for details.

External links

• Adding Sounds into your MapsTutorial
• Triggering sounds in your MapsTutorial
• Art & Sound — tutorials about sound in Source, including adding custom sounds
  Todo: replace with list of sound tutorials