Click on the image below to start the DiamondMarimba Java Applet. Please note that the applet uses the Swing API, and Java 1.2.2 (Java “2”), and may not run unless you download the Java Plug-in (Sun Java Download Site). There is code in the HTML pointed to by the picture of the diamond marimba that invokes the magic to get the plug-in to process the page.
The Applet is in a jar file that takes a while to load. Please forgive me the 148k. The plug-in support code from Sun is also huge. Be patient with the load and understand that this is highly experimental. Java audio is still very primitive, fails frequently, and requires all sorts of hoops for users to jump through. Let’s hope the cross platform support will make the trouble worth the wait. The applet is extensible, since the locations, sound files, and images are variable. Take a look at the html file to see how it might be used. Someone who understands a bit of html coding can use the applet to display a lattice instead of a diamond, if so inclined. It’s also possible to replace the images with pictures of writhing humans and the marimba samples with carefully tuned screams. It’s up to you.