When I load swfs into my preloader movieclip using moviecliploader, my sound
vanishes... everything else works a treat but the sound isn't there :(

I assign a global Sound object, '_gloabl.the_sound' inside the movie I am
loading. I can't imagine why this should be the problem but it's all I can
think of. I don't do anything with sound in the preloader.

when you declare your sound object in your external swf use: