A reader wrote to ask if there is a way of downloading the background music he hears on various web sites.

Yes, in most cases — but it can be a little tricky. Here's what you need to know: The background music is most likely a MIDI file or a WAV file. MIDI (musical instrument digital input) files are normally created by attaching an electronic keyboard to a computer, playing a song, and using special software that converts the song to a digital computer file. WAV (Waveform Audio format) files are digital copies of live recordings done with regular musical instruments and vocalists.

It also helps to understand a little about the basics of constructing a web page with HTML (hypertext markup language), which is plain text in most respects. You can see a page's underlying HTML by clicking on View>Source. Somewhere in this Source Code the title of the musical file and its 3-letter extension (MID or WAV) can be found, such as IrishJig.mid. You can then mouse-select the filename and append it to the web page's URL (uniform resource locater) in the address bar by adding a forward slash and pasting the song's filename (such as: www.pcdon.com/IrishJig.mid).

Finally, press ENTER and the song should begin playing via Windows Media Player, at which point you can click File>Save As and use the prompts to save the file on your own hard drive.

The steps above can often be accomplished without any special effort, but there may be a number of variables along the way. For one thing, a song's filename might be spelled differently than you expect it to be, so it's best to search for the MID or WAV extension.

With the HTML file open, click Edit>Find and type in either .MID or .WAV (capital letters shown here for emphasis only). Finally, click Find Next to locate the complete filename. At this point, however, you may see the filename preceded by a forward slash and another word, such as Songs/IrishJig.mid. This means the target file is located in a folder named Songs and that you will need to select the whole thing before appending it to the URL, as in: www.pcdon.com/Songs/IrishJig.mid.

The reader's question was specifically in regard to the background music playing on a particular web page. However, all the above also applies to sites that display a collection of songs that can be played online, but which display no obvious way to download them.

Yes, I realize these instructions can be a bit intimidating to someone who has had no experience with web page construction and HTML. However, you are welcome to call and have me talk you through the steps over the phone. And in a worst case scenario, you can email me a page's URL and I'll see if I can extract the song to send you via return email.

For downloading instructions and legal disclaimer, see below...