Tutorial

The following assumes that you are already familiar with basic Android programming. Please see Android Tutorial for an introduction.

We will create an application which will start playing a sound once the finger touches the display. Create an Android project called "de.vogella.android.soundpool" with an Activity called "PlaySound".

Change the layout "main.xml" to the following.

			
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <TextView
        android:id="@+id/textView1"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="fill_parent"
        android:text="Click on the screen to start playing" >
    </TextView>

</LinearLayout>
		

Download a sound which you want to play. For example the Free Sound Effects side contains several free sound examples.

Put the sound file into your "res/raw" folder under the name "sound1.ogg". This assumes that you downloaded an ogg file.

Create the following coding for your activity.

			
package de.vogella.android.soundpool;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.media.AudioManager;
import android.media.SoundPool;
import android.media.SoundPool.OnLoadCompleteListener;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.MotionEvent;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnTouchListener;

public class PlaySound extends Activity implements OnTouchListener {
	private SoundPool soundPool;
	private int soundID;
	boolean loaded = false;

	
/** Called when the activity is first created. */
	@Override
	public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.main);
		View view = findViewById(R.id.textView1);
		view.setOnTouchListener(this);
		// Set the hardware buttons to control the music
		this.setVolumeControlStream(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
		// Load the sound
		soundPool = new SoundPool(10, AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC, 0);
		soundPool.setOnLoadCompleteListener(new OnLoadCompleteListener() {
			@Override
			public void onLoadComplete(SoundPool soundPool, int sampleId,
					int status) {
				loaded = true;
			}
		});
		soundID = soundPool.load(this, R.raw.sound1, 1);

	}

	@Override
	public boolean onTouch(View v, MotionEvent event) {
		if (event.getAction() == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
			// Getting the user sound settings
			AudioManager audioManager = (AudioManager) getSystemService(AUDIO_SERVICE);
			float actualVolume = (float) audioManager
					.getStreamVolume(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
			float maxVolume = (float) audioManager
					.getStreamMaxVolume(AudioManager.STREAM_MUSIC);
			float volume = actualVolume / maxVolume;
			// Is the sound loaded already?
			if (loaded) {
				soundPool.play(soundID, volume, volume, 1, 0, 1f);
				Log.e("Test", "Played sound");
			}
		}
		return false;
	}
}
		

If you touch your Activity your sound should be played. It will use the current volume settings.

We will create an application which will start playing a sound once the finger touches the display. Create an Android project called "de.vogella.android.media.soundrecording" with an Activity called "RecordSound".

Add to the AndroidManifest.xml file the permission to write to the SD card and to record audio data.

			
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
 <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO" />
		

Change the layout "main.xml" to the following.

			
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="horizontal" >

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/start"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Start Recording"
        android:onClick="startRecording" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/stop"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:text="Stop Recording" 
        android:enabled="false"
         android:onClick="stopRecording"
        />

</LinearLayout>
		

Change your Activity class to the following.

			
package de.vogella.android.media.soundrecording;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

import android.app.Activity;
import android.content.ContentResolver;
import android.content.ContentValues;
import android.content.Intent;
import android.media.MediaRecorder;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.provider.MediaStore;
import android.util.Log;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Toast;

public class SoundRecordingActivity extends Activity {

	MediaRecorder recorder;
	File audiofile = null;
	private static final String TAG = "SoundRecordingActivity";
	private View startButton;
	private View stopButton;

	@Override
	public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.main);
		startButton = findViewById(R.id.start);
		stopButton = findViewById(R.id.stop);
	}

	public void startRecording(View view) throws IOException {

		startButton.setEnabled(false);
		stopButton.setEnabled(true);

		File sampleDir = Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory();
		try {
			audiofile = File.createTempFile("sound", ".3gp", sampleDir);
		} catch (IOException e) {
			Log.e(TAG, "sdcard access error");
			return;
		}
		recorder = new MediaRecorder();
		recorder.setAudioSource(MediaRecorder.AudioSource.MIC);
		recorder.setOutputFormat(MediaRecorder.OutputFormat.THREE_GPP);
		recorder.setAudioEncoder(MediaRecorder.AudioEncoder.AMR_NB);
		recorder.setOutputFile(audiofile.getAbsolutePath());
		recorder.prepare();
		recorder.start();
	}

	public void stopRecording(View view) {
		startButton.setEnabled(true);
		stopButton.setEnabled(false);
		recorder.stop();
		recorder.release();
		addRecordingToMediaLibrary();
	}

	protected void addRecordingToMediaLibrary() {
		ContentValues values = new ContentValues(4);
		long current = System.currentTimeMillis();
		values.put(MediaStore.Audio.Media.TITLE, "audio" + audiofile.getName());
		values.put(MediaStore.Audio.Media.DATE_ADDED, (int) (current / 1000));
		values.put(MediaStore.Audio.Media.MIME_TYPE, "audio/3gpp");
		values.put(MediaStore.Audio.Media.DATA, audiofile.getAbsolutePath());
		ContentResolver contentResolver = getContentResolver();

		Uri base = MediaStore.Audio.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI;
		Uri newUri = contentResolver.insert(base, values);

		sendBroadcast(new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE, newUri));
		Toast.makeText(this, "Added File " + newUri, Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
	}
}
		

You should be able to record a sound, if you press the "Start Recording" button. Once you press the stop recording button, the recording will be stopped and the file will be added to your media library.

Please help me to support this article:

Before posting questions, please see the vogella FAQ. If you have questions or find an error in this article please use the www.vogella.com Google Group. I have created a short list how to create good questions which might also help you.