HTML Custom Audio Player – Very Simple Example

Welcome to a quick tutorial on how to create an HTML custom audio player. Want to create your own player using HTML audio? Yes, it is possible.

That should cover the basics, but read on for more examples!

ⓘ I have included a zip file with all the source code at the start of this tutorial, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything… Or if you just want to dive straight in.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Download & Notes	Custom Audio	Useful Bits & Links
The End

 

 

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here to download all the example source code, I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

 

QUICK NOTES

If you spot a bug, please feel free to comment below. I try to answer questions too, but it is one person versus the entire world… If you need answers urgently, please check out my list of websites to get help with programming.

 

 

 

THE DEMO

 

THE HTML

<!-- (A) AUDIO TAG -->
<audio src="glitchhop.mp3" id="demoAudio" controls></audio>

<!-- (B) CONTROLS -->
<div id="demoControls">
  <input type="button" id="demoPlay" value="Play" disabled/>
  <input type="button" id="demoPause" value="Pause" disabled/>
  <input type="number" id="demoTime" min="0" max="5" value="0" disabled/>
  <input type="button" id="demoSkip" value="Skip To" disabled/>
  <input type="number" id="demoVol" min="0" max="1" value="1" step="0.1" disabled/>
  <input type="button" id="demoVolume" value="Volume" disabled/>
</div>

Yes, the HTML is that simple.

1. <audio> is self-explanatory, controls is enabled in this example just to show that the custom buttons work. Otherwise, this audio tag is normally hidden.
2. There are 4 basic control buttons here. Play, pause, skip-to-time, and volume. Take note that the controls are disabled by default.

 

 

THE JAVASCRIPT

// (A) GET AUDIO ELEMENT
var aud = document.getElementById("demoAudio");
 
// (B) WAIT FOR SUFFICIENT AUDIO BUFFER
aud.addEventListener("canplay", function(){
  // (C) ENABLE ALL CONTROLS
  for (let i of document.querySelectorAll("#demoControls input")) {
    i.disabled = false;
  }

  // (D) ATTACH CONTROLS
  document.getElementById("demoPlay").onclick = function(){ aud.play(); };
  document.getElementById("demoPause").onclick = function(){ aud.pause(); };
  document.getElementById("demoSkip").onclick = function(){
    aud.currentTime = document.getElementById("demoTime").value;
  };
  document.getElementById("demoVolume").onclick = function(){
    aud.volume = document.getElementById("demoVol").value;
  };
});

This is seemingly confusing at first, but keep calm and read slowly:

1. In the introduction above, we used var aud = new Audio(). But in this example, we are using an HTML <audio> tag instead – Both methods are correct nonetheless.
2. Notice the use of aud.addEventListener("canplay")? This is to make sure that the audio is sufficiently buffered before we proceed. Change this to canplaythrough if you want to wait until the audio is fully loaded.
3. Enable the controls when the audio is ready. Doh.
4. Attach the audio controls to the custom buttons.

 

 

 

EXTRA) PLAYLIST

<!-- (A) CONTROLS -->
<input type="button" value="Start!" onclick="play.go()"/>
 
<script>
var play = {
  // (B) AUDIO OBJECT, PLAYLIST, CURRENT SONG
  aud : new Audio(),
  list : ["drumloop.mp3", "glitchhop.mp3"],
  current : -1,
 
  // (C) START!
  go : function () {
    // NEXT SONG
    play.current++;
    if (play.current >= play.list.length) { play.current = 0; }

    // PLAY
    play.aud.src = play.list[play.current];
    play.aud.play();
  }
};

// (D) AUTO-START NEXT SONG
play.aud.addEventListener("ended", play.go);
</script>

If you want to create a playlist, the basic idea is to use an array and simply loop through it.

 

INFOGRAPHIC CHEAT SHEET

 

LINKS & REFERENCES

• HTML Media Element– MDN
• HTML Audio – WhatWG