The SoundComponent enables an Entity to play audio. The SoundComponent can manage multiple SoundSlots, each of which can play a different audio asset with its own set of properties such as volume, pitch, and looping behavior.

The SoundComponent supports positional audio, meaning that the sound can be played relative to the Entity's position in 3D space. This is useful for creating immersive audio experiences where the sound's volume and panning are affected by the listener's position and orientation. Positional audio requires that an Entity with an AudioListenerComponent be added to the scene.

You should never need to use the SoundComponent constructor directly. To add a SoundComponent to an Entity, use Entity#addComponent:

// Add a sound component to an entity
const entity = new pc.Entity();
entity.addComponent("sound");

Then, to add a sound slot to the component:

entity.sound.addSlot("beep", {
asset: asset,
autoPlay: true,
loop: true,
overlap: true,
pitch: 1.5
});

Once the SoundComponent is added to the entity, you can set and get any of its properties:

entity.sound.volume = 0.8;  // Set the volume for all sounds

console.log(entity.sound.volume); // Get the volume and print it

Relevant examples:

Hierarchy (View Summary)

Constructors

Properties

entity: Entity

The Entity that this Component is attached to.

The ComponentSystem used to create this Component.

Accessors

Methods

  • Creates a new SoundSlot with the specified name.

    Parameters

    • name: string

      The name of the slot.

    • Optionaloptions: {
          asset?: number;
          autoPlay?: boolean;
          duration?: number;
          loop?: boolean;
          overlap?: boolean;
          pitch?: number;
          startTime?: number;
          volume?: number;
      }

      Settings for the slot.

      • Optionalasset?: number

        The asset id of the audio asset that is going to be played by this slot.

      • OptionalautoPlay?: boolean

        If true, the slot will start playing as soon as its audio asset is loaded. Defaults to false.

      • Optionalduration?: number

        The duration of the sound that the slot will play starting from startTime. Defaults to null which means play to end of the sound.

      • Optionalloop?: boolean

        If true, the sound will restart when it reaches the end. Defaults to false.

      • Optionaloverlap?: boolean

        If true, then sounds played from slot will be played independently of each other. Otherwise the slot will first stop the current sound before starting the new one. Defaults to false.

      • Optionalpitch?: number

        The relative pitch. Defaults to 1 (plays at normal pitch).

      • OptionalstartTime?: number

        The start time from which the sound will start playing. Defaults to 0 to start at the beginning.

      • Optionalvolume?: number

        The playback volume, between 0 and 1. Defaults to 1.

    Returns SoundSlot

    The new slot or null if the slot already exists.

    // get an asset by id
    const asset = app.assets.get(10);
    // add a slot
    this.entity.sound.addSlot('beep', {
    asset: asset
    });
    // play
    this.entity.sound.play('beep');
  • Fire an event, all additional arguments are passed on to the event listener.

    Parameters

    • name: string

      Name of event to fire.

    • Optionalarg1: any

      First argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg2: any

      Second argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg3: any

      Third argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg4: any

      Fourth argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg5: any

      Fifth argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg6: any

      Sixth argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg7: any

      Seventh argument that is passed to the event handler.

    • Optionalarg8: any

      Eighth argument that is passed to the event handler.

    Returns EventHandler

    Self for chaining.

    obj.fire('test', 'This is the message');
    
  • Test if there are any handlers bound to an event name.

    Parameters

    • name: string

      The name of the event to test.

    Returns boolean

    True if the object has handlers bound to the specified event name.

    obj.on('test', function () { }); // bind an event to 'test'
    obj.hasEvent('test'); // returns true
    obj.hasEvent('hello'); // returns false
  • Detach an event handler from an event. If callback is not provided then all callbacks are unbound from the event, if scope is not provided then all events with the callback will be unbound.

    Parameters

    • Optionalname: string

      Name of the event to unbind.

    • Optionalcallback: HandleEventCallback

      Function to be unbound.

    • Optionalscope: object

      Scope that was used as the this when the event is fired.

    Returns EventHandler

    Self for chaining.

    const handler = function () {
    };
    obj.on('test', handler);

    obj.off(); // Removes all events
    obj.off('test'); // Removes all events called 'test'
    obj.off('test', handler); // Removes all handler functions, called 'test'
    obj.off('test', handler, this); // Removes all handler functions, called 'test' with scope this
  • Attach an event handler to an event.

    Parameters

    • name: string

      Name of the event to bind the callback to.

    • callback: HandleEventCallback

      Function that is called when event is fired. Note the callback is limited to 8 arguments.

    • Optionalscope: object = ...

      Object to use as 'this' when the event is fired, defaults to current this.

    Returns EventHandle

    Can be used for removing event in the future.

    obj.on('test', function (a, b) {
    console.log(a + b);
    });
    obj.fire('test', 1, 2); // prints 3 to the console
    const evt = obj.on('test', function (a, b) {
    console.log(a + b);
    });
    // some time later
    evt.off();
  • Attach an event handler to an event. This handler will be removed after being fired once.

    Parameters

    • name: string

      Name of the event to bind the callback to.

    • callback: HandleEventCallback

      Function that is called when event is fired. Note the callback is limited to 8 arguments.

    • Optionalscope: object = ...

      Object to use as 'this' when the event is fired, defaults to current this.

    Returns EventHandle

    • can be used for removing event in the future.
    obj.once('test', function (a, b) {
    console.log(a + b);
    });
    obj.fire('test', 1, 2); // prints 3 to the console
    obj.fire('test', 1, 2); // not going to get handled
  • Pauses playback of the slot with the specified name. If the name is undefined then all slots currently played will be paused. The slots can be resumed by calling SoundComponent#resume.

    Parameters

    • Optionalname: string

      The name of the slot to pause. Leave undefined to pause everything.

    Returns void

    // pause all sounds
    this.entity.sound.pause();
    // pause a specific sound
    this.entity.sound.pause('beep');
  • Begins playing the sound slot with the specified name. The slot will restart playing if it is already playing unless the overlap field is true in which case a new sound will be created and played.

    Parameters

    • name: string

      The name of the SoundSlot to play.

    Returns SoundInstance

    The sound instance that will be played. Returns null if the component or its parent entity is disabled or if the SoundComponent has no slot with the specified name.

    // get asset by id
    const asset = app.assets.get(10);
    // create a slot and play it
    this.entity.sound.addSlot('beep', {
    asset: asset
    });
    this.entity.sound.play('beep');
  • Resumes playback of the sound slot with the specified name if it's paused. If no name is specified all slots will be resumed.

    Parameters

    • Optionalname: string

      The name of the slot to resume. Leave undefined to resume everything.

    Returns void

    // resume all sounds
    this.entity.sound.resume();
    // resume a specific sound
    this.entity.sound.resume('beep');
  • Stops playback of the sound slot with the specified name if it's paused. If no name is specified all slots will be stopped.

    Parameters

    • Optionalname: string

      The name of the slot to stop. Leave undefined to stop everything.

    Returns void

    // stop all sounds
    this.entity.sound.stop();
    // stop a specific sound
    this.entity.sound.stop('beep');

Events

EVENT_END: string = 'end'

Fired when a sound instance stops playing because it reached its end. The handler is passed the SoundSlot and the SoundInstance that ended.

entity.sound.on('end', (slot, instance) => {
console.log(`Sound ${slot.name} ended`);
});
EVENT_PAUSE: string = 'pause'

Fired when a sound instance is paused. The handler is passed the SoundSlot and the SoundInstance that was paused.

entity.sound.on('pause', (slot, instance) => {
console.log(`Sound ${slot.name} paused`);
});
EVENT_PLAY: string = 'play'

Fired when a sound instance starts playing. The handler is passed the SoundSlot and the SoundInstance that started playing.

entity.sound.on('play', (slot, instance) => {
console.log(`Sound ${slot.name} started playing`);
});
EVENT_RESUME: string = 'resume'

Fired when a sound instance is resumed. The handler is passed the SoundSlot and the SoundInstance that was resumed.

entity.sound.on('resume', (slot, instance) => {
console.log(`Sound ${slot.name} resumed`);
});
EVENT_STOP: string = 'stop'

Fired when a sound instance is stopped. The handler is passed the SoundSlot and the SoundInstance that was stopped.

entity.sound.on('stop', (slot, instance) => {
console.log(`Sound ${slot.name} stopped`);
});