MCI functions, along with MCI device drivers, provide high-level audio support for MIDI, waveform, and compact disc audio devices. MCI drivers can play disk-resident (hard disk and CD-ROM) audio files in the background while an application runs in the foreground. In addition to MCI, Windows provides high-level audio support with two special-purpose functions that play waveform sounds: MessageBeep and sndPlaySound. You can also use these functions to play waveform sounds associated with system alerts and sounds identified by entries in the WIN.INI file.
High-level audio functions should meet the audio requirements of most applications. For information on using MCI and the MessageBeep and sndPlaySound functions, see Chapter 79, “High-Level Audio.”