C# Signature:

    [DllImport("winmm")]
    public static extern int PlaySound(
        string szSound,
        IntPtr hModule,
        int flags);

VB Signature:

    <DllImport("winmm")> _
    Public Shared Function PlaySound( _
        ByVal szSound As String, _
        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 UInt16
        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 : uint16 {
        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("coredll.dll")]
    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("coredll.dll")> _
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:

Do you know one? Please contribute it!