For playing files:

C# Signature:

    [DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    public static extern int PlaySound(
        string szSound,
        IntPtr hModule,
        int flags);

VB Signature:

    <DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError = True)> _
    Public Shared Function PlaySound( _
        ByVal szSound As String, _
        ByVal hModule As IntPtr, _
        ByVal flags As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

For playing streams/bytearrays:

C# Signature:

    [DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError = true)]
    public static extern int PlaySound(
        byte[] szSound,
        IntPtr hModule,
        int flags);

VB Signature:

    <DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError = True)> _
    Public Shared Function PlaySound( _
        ByVal szSound() As Byte, _
        ByVal hModule As IntPtr, _
        ByVal flags As Integer) As Integer
    End Function

(correct function is in coredll)

Private Declare Function PlaySound Lib "coredll" Alias "PlaySoundW" (ByVal szSound As String, ByVal hModule As IntPtr, ByVal flags As PlaySoundFlags) As Boolean

Private Declare Function PlaySound Lib "coredll" (ByVal szSound As Byte(), ByVal hModule As IntPtr, ByVal flags As PlaySoundFlags) As Boolean

VB PlaySoundFlags Enumeration:

    Private Enum PlaySoundFlags As UInt32
        SND_SYNC = &H0              ' play synchronously (default)
        SND_ASYNC = &H1              ' play asynchronously
        SND_NODEFAULT = &H2          ' silence (!default) if sound not found
        SND_MEMORY = &H4              ' pszSound points to a memory file
        SND_LOOP = &H8              ' loop the sound until next sndPlaySound
        SND_NOSTOP = &H10              ' don't stop any currently playing sound
        SND_NOWAIT = &H2000          ' don't wait if the driver is busy
        SND_ALIAS = &H10000          ' name is a registry alias
        SND_ALIAS_ID = &H110000          ' alias is a predefined ID
        SND_FILENAME = &H20000          ' name is file name
        SND_RESOURCE = &H40004          ' name is resource name or atom
    End Enum

C# PlaySoundFlags Enumeration:

    public enum PlaySoundFlags : uint {
        SND_SYNC = 0x0,            // play synchronously (default)
        SND_ASYNC = 0x1,            // play asynchronously
        SND_NODEFAULT = 0x2,        // silence (!default) if sound not found
        SND_MEMORY = 0x4,            // pszSound points to a memory file
        SND_LOOP = 0x8,            // loop the sound until next sndPlaySound
        SND_NOSTOP = 0x10,            // don't stop any currently playing sound
        SND_NOWAIT = 0x2000,        // don't wait if the driver is busy
        SND_ALIAS = 0x10000,        // name is a registry alias
        SND_ALIAS_ID = 0x110000,        // alias is a predefined ID
        SND_FILENAME = 0x20000,        // name is file name
        SND_RESOURCE = 0x40004,        // name is resource name or atom
    };

Notes:

Returns True (e.g. 1) for success and False (0) for error.

If the function returns True but there is no sound, check Settings / Sounds & Notifications / Enable sounds for / Programs / Notifications

on your PDA

Tips & Tricks:

Please add some!

C# Sample Code

    using System;
    using System.ComponentModel;
    using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
    using System.Windows.Forms;

    namespace Sound
    {
        public enum PlaySoundFlags : int {
            SND_SYNC = 0x0,     // play synchronously (default)
            SND_ASYNC = 0x1,    // play asynchronously
            SND_NODEFAULT = 0x2,    // silence (!default) if sound not found
            SND_MEMORY = 0x4,       // pszSound points to a memory file
            SND_LOOP = 0x8,     // loop the sound until next sndPlaySound
            SND_NOSTOP = 0x10,      // don't stop any currently playing sound
            SND_NOWAIT = 0x2000,    // don't wait if the driver is busy
            SND_ALIAS = 0x10000,    // name is a registry alias
            SND_ALIAS_ID = 0x110000,// alias is a predefined ID
            SND_FILENAME = 0x20000, // name is file name
            SND_RESOURCE = 0x40004, // name is resource name or atom
        };

        public class Sound
        {
            [DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError = true)]
            public static extern int PlaySound(
                string szSound,
                IntPtr hModule,
                int flags);

            public static void Beep() {
                Play(@"\Windows\Voicbeep");
            }

            public static void Play(string fileName) {
                try {
                    PlaySound(fileName, IntPtr.Zero, (PlaySoundFlags.SND_FILENAME | PlaySoundFlags.SND_SYNC));
                } catch (Exception ex) {
                    MessageBox.Show("Can't play sound file. " + ex.ToString());
                }
            }
        }
    }

VB Sample Code

    Imports System
    Imports System.Diagnostics
    Imports System.IO
    Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

    Public Class Sounds

        <Flags()> _
        Private Enum PlaySoundFlags
            SND_SYNC = &H0          ' play synchronously (default)
            SND_ASYNC = &H1          ' play asynchronously
            SND_NODEFAULT = &H2          ' silence (!default) if sound not found
            SND_MEMORY = &H4          ' pszSound points to a memory file
            SND_LOOP = &H8          ' loop the sound until next sndPlaySound
            SND_NOSTOP = &H10          ' don't stop any currently playing sound
            SND_NOWAIT = &H2000          ' don't wait if the driver is busy
            SND_ALIAS = &H10000          ' name is a registry alias
            SND_ALIAS_ID = &H110000          ' alias is a predefined ID
            SND_FILENAME = &H20000          ' name is file name
            SND_RESOURCE = &H40004          ' name is resource name or atom
        End Enum

        <DllImport("winmm.dll", SetLastError = True)> _
     Public Shared Function PlaySound( _
      ByVal szSound As String, _
      ByVal hModule As IntPtr, _
      ByVal flags As Integer) As Integer
        End Function

        Public Shared Sub Play(ByVal fileName As String)
            Try
                PlaySound(fileName, IntPtr.Zero, PlaySoundFlags.SND_FILENAME Or _
                  PlaySoundFlags.SND_SYNC)
            Catch ex As Exception
                MessageBox.Show("Can't play sound file. " & ex.ToString)
            End Try
        End Sub

    End Class

Alternative Managed API:

None.