iPod iDiot

GroupDIY Audio Forum

Help Support GroupDIY Audio Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

PRR

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 30, 2010
Messages
11,143
Location
Maine USA
OK, I'm an old man, out of touch with the times.

What is an iPod?

Yes, I know it is a pocket box with Gigs of storage and headphones. And you load it with music you buy from iTunes, or from your own CDs.

But how do I get "my" music into YOUR iPod?

Without going through Apple's iTunes Store? It is a great service, but I'd rather do it in-house, and "my" music is free for the taking so I don't need eCommerce and money-laundering.

Nevermind if you would like "my" music or not. Most folks won't like it. I don't care. A few will, and we want to reach those few.

I do have webservers.

I gather that the iPod eats (among other formats) MP3 files. If I have a website page with an enticing description and a link to an MP3 file, will "the average user" be able to load that into his/her iPod without any geek-tricks? Would this be enough?

The Madrigal Singers, under the direction of Mary Szeles, perform I'm Going to Live...
Voorhees Choir sings Psalm 133 set in klezmer style - Put this in your iPod!!!
 
It is basically a portable hard drive with a control surface, display, some converters and an amp.To get anything into an iPod you just connect it to a Mac or PC, and load the iTunes software, which is free. Then you can put any audio file you please onto it- AIFF, MP-3, AAC etc, by dropping them into iTunes. You can put the contents of CD's, stuff off the web, anything at all very easily, compressed or uncompressed. At the same time as using it as a music player you can also use it as an extermal Firewire or USB2 hard drive. Another nail in the coffin of music and intellectual copywrite in general.
 
PRR:

I think I would enjoy your choice of music myself! But I enjoy a LARGE variety of music...seriously.

[quote author="apple.com/ipod"]As for all of those CDs you already own, iTunes makes it easy to quickly transfer your favorite songs and albums. Just pop a CD into your Mac or PC, and click the Import button. You can import music in a variety of formats (such as MP3 or AAC) and at whatever quality level you?d prefer. You can even choose the new Apple Lossless encoder. Music encoded with that option offers sound quality indistinguishable from the original CDs at about half the file size of the original. And with FireWire and USB 2.0 support, you can transfer the music from an entire CD to iPod in just 5 seconds or less.[/quote]

hth!
Charlie
 
Hey PRR.

If you can get the music into the hands (or HD) of others, then it will take very little effort to transfer the music to the iPod. The end user will need to import or drag the .MP3 or AIFF or AAC to iTunes. After that it can be synced to the iPod.

There are two setting for the iPod: automatic sync or manual management. With auto selected, anything in iTunes will be synced to the iPod wenever it is connected to the CPU. otherwise it's as easy as drag and drop.

I have over 3700 songs on my iPod and many gigs of data. I have purchased only 2 albums from apple service.

Vetsen
 
Another nail in the coffin of music and intellectual copywrite in general.

I disagree. The same thing was said about the cassette tape, that didn't kill music. The RIAA are a silly bunch of fools, protecting the interests of major labels. If you are in a small time band and think that filesharing is harming your profits, you need to re-evaluate things. You are a small band right? you want more people to hear your music correct? Then let them hear it. Make your packaging worthwhile, and produce a worthwhile whole album, I know I have downloaded tons of stuff, which has led to me buying music. Downloading has increased my music purchases.

food for thought.[/quote]
 
I agree with you, i've got an old iPOD and i'm happy with it.
I used in my car, around here when i'm jogging..etc.
I've got thousand of CD, i had ripped some in iTunes. (need <10sec to put an entire CD on it)
I can make my playlist much faster than CD, but he's not a substitute, the sound is not the same (of course, but much better than mp3), but at the end of the story who cares.
I love iTunes, I think is really a step ahead in the music organization and it's free.
iTunes + iPod, makes me happy.
 
> If you can get the music into the hands (or HD) of others, then it will take very little effort to transfer the music to the iPod. The end user will need to import or drag the .MP3 or AIFF or AAC to iTunes.

That's what I am not clear about. How easy is it for the average person? I'm not impressed that you "have over 3700 songs... purchased only 2 albums from apple service", because you are way more technical than the average user. I'm sure I'd figure it out, but that does not tell me if the Average Person can handle it.

At the risk of offending people here: can a Viola Player do this drag-into-iTunes thing? How about a Drummer? Yes, some of them are very computer-savvy, but some of them are dumb as a stump except when playing their instrument.

> you can get your music into itunes to sell it through apple's services online.

I didn't see an obvious way to do that... do you have a link "How to put stuff in the iTunes Store"? However, I'd rather host inside my own pages with all the puff about the group and links to the school. (We don't sell music, we sell an education in music. It is a more profitable and reliable racket.)

> Another nail in the coffin of music and intellectual copyright in general.

No, it is a hammer, not a nail. And it swings both ways.

Yes, it is used to rip-off Big Name Artists (or their record companies).

But it also bypasses the tall step to get your music into Record Stores. And there are things the mass-distribution system just can't touch. Start-up Bands for one. And how many copies of Suk's orchestral work "Scherzo Fantastique", played by students, do you think would sell? Not enough to buy a bar-code number! However, these are very good students. Even if not every note is pro-quality, a prospective student can hear the level of performance and know that he can (or can't) learn something by studying here. (It also givess potential money-donors, some too old and ill to attend a concert, a quick way to hear if we deserve their support and cash.)
 
Unfortunately, I'm one of them tech people, but overall, I wouldn't concern myself too much with the IPOD specifically. Let the people figure out what medium they want to store the music in.

Giving them the ability to download it direct from your site is a good option for getting them to listen to it. All you need to do is insert the right html tags, and your there

I'd suggest putting it in mp3 format ( use the highest bit rate encoding will give you decent quality) , as it makes it convenient for people to use whatever playback medium they prefer. If it is for critical listening, use wav or aiff ( heck make all three versions available and let them pick).

There are a lot of different portable audio devices that work in tandem with a computer. If you are wanting people to audition the tracks, putting them up as mp3's allows them to download them and playback through the computer.

If they want to drop it onto a portable player, options abound if they've got the file already ( ipod, mp3 player, burn it to audio cd, burn it to mp3 cd). To each their own. =)

Personally, I don't listen to much mp3, and don't download music.

ju
 
I have a Creative 6 gig hard drive thingy.

The software that came with it was/is just plain crap.
It also didn't do the multi channel play back that the brochures and web site said it would do. I really didn't think it would but I just had to know for sure.

Anyway it was just about unusable with the given software so I hunted for a solution.

Red Chair Software
http://www.redchairsoftware.com/
it gave the ability to have it appeared in my computer as another drive and made things usable with Explorer.
ss_ntme_xp_mini.gif


They also have something for the Ipod.

however it is only for Windoze

apMyComputer.gif


more screen shots at :
http://www.redchairsoftware.com/anapod/screens.php


The bands I have been associated with have had free info like lyrics and pictures and song lists and now songs on their web sites and BBS since we first had modems.

As things get faster you can do more and more. We have sent high quality sort versions of the songs and full length mono and poor quality versions .... and medley/sample versions.

The members of the bands send material to each other in various forms depending on the subject and purpose.
Midi files to single track wav and multiple mp3.
It can end up with me to to collate and add into the main edit. They send me CDroms with the multiple high res wav files.
The trouble I have often is that a one minute mp3 is not always equal to one minute ... to the last sample so I have to make executive choices and time adjust many things.

If you think about it hard it is easy to see what we are up too.

Seems people are getting lazy and don't want to go for a drive to see each other anymore. The band does force itself once a month to all collect in the rehearsal room out in the country and play some real music with out the computer. However I will be setting up a new 002 system to log the day of jamming and rehearsing. Just in case some thing special happens.

It is so good to be in audio and music these days.
Now if only I could make a living out of it ???

I've been associating with geeks all my life. :shock:
 
I sometimes wonder how things may have turned out differently for me if some of this technology had been available back when I was a performing musician. In my time, the goal was to gig, gig, gig, build up a following, then save your nickles and dimes and go into a "real" studio (usually an 8-track room) and "press a record", literally. It was a real rite of passage when a band released their first 45. Putting out an LP was real impressive. Unfortunately, all my bands imploded before we could ever get that far.

Nowadays, you can record a song at home, with decent quality if you're clever and know how to use your equipment, post it on the 'net--and by lunchtime, hundreds of people on several continents could have heard your song.
 
I don;t use iTunes, MP3 or anything like that, so i've wondered myself how I'll make that transistion if this ever becomes something that swamps me and forces me to do the same, but I'd never looked at it from the viewpoint of someone who might have to 'herd cats' in terms of steering other -potentially more, potentially less- tech-savvy than myself to use the system...

I understand that Real networks (real Player etc.) have recently announced that they have 'broken the itunes code' and now have the ability to load things into iPod... if this becomes a more widepsread and easy cross-software thing to do, then it might be something I'd consider, but having to do the whole itunes thing just so that I can make music portable is more than I feel ready to be railroaded into at the moment...

I'm still waiting to see where the chips land, but PRR, -perhaps the Real Networks announcement is something that you could look into, it might mean more to you... I paid it only scant attention when I heard it on NPR, -2 days ago I think- because I'm not yet paying much attention to anything to do with iTunes...

I think it was on the evening "Marketplace" which I think is a product of PRI (the tail sting to which has on more than one occasion cause me to grin, thinking how easily it could be turned into "P...R...R...") and if I had to guess I'd say it was on the July 26th or 25th, in case you wanted to listen via www.npr.org to learn more about what they were discussing re: the business ramifications in terms of the potential effect on what hitherto has threatened to be an apple 'monopoly'...

Keith
 
Well, look at the music scene today. Thousands and thousands are recording at home with their own gear, 'bypassing' the rec company. Home recording gear/MI is big biz, bigger than *real* gear.

I got a LOT of independent/DIY albums (many hundreds, loads on vinyl too :grin: ) and I think I buy one album from the Big Five (now four :roll: ) each time I buy 50 from an indy. 'Cept music from the 50/60/70's I don't really dig any commercial music..

Modern technology is great for the musician :thumb:
 
Ah yes. from www.marketplace.org the following quote:

>If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. And if you can't join 'em - join 'em anyway. That's what we've learned today about the strategy at RealNetworks. You've probably encountered Real Audio when downloading a sound file on the internet. Now RealNetworks says it's developed a technology that will allow songs purchased from its on-line music store to be played on Apple's popular iPod player.

This was the headline, it was on July 26th (there was nothing on the 25th... it was a Sunday!!) and I'm not sure if it helps PRR much, if at all.

However, it's an interesting conundrun, and perhaps there are other software companies who will want to crack this pie open before apple establishes a stronghold on the market, by owning the only technology...

It might not be anything just yet, but it might turn into something..

Keith
 
Keith, that cracks me up. From now on, I won't be able to hear throat-cancer man (my nickname for that annoying, over-enunciating fucker who does the "underwriting announcements" on NPR) say "PRI" without thinking of "PRR."
 
> Real networks... have 'broken the itunes code'

Now wait. Everybody says I just show you an MP3 (or a few other formats) and you drag-n-drop in iTunes. What has Real cracked?

> I paid it only scant attention when I heard it

OK and understood. The iPod hadn't really caught my front-brain attention until the big blurb in Time or Newsweek. I have not touched an iPod or "equivalent" (though it seems clear that nothing quite equals the iPod). After reading that obviously biased "report" (plug), I realized that THIS is the place to stick music and have The Youth Of Today hear it. (What was wrong with wind-up 78s?)

> ...on NPR

The report I found with NPR and iTunes and music was about WalMart selling tunes for $0.88, instead of iTunes' price of $0.99. However they note that WalMart tracks can't work on iPod.

I checked it out. WalMart is selling Windows Media files, make no apology for the fact that they "won't" work on Mac or Linux. And the interface is reasonably smooth (not as slick as iTunes store). I did find one typo: clicking a sample of Mr Soul got a sample of Barstool Blues: the link was one-off from the title. But I only hit that error once. Otherwise smooth and $24 of tunes are downloading quick (2000K bits per second, not far below the peak speed of this campus hard-wire).

Even found a Roy Buchanan cover of Neil's Down By The River. Undisputed Truth never re-released their version of Down By The River? One of the very few times a cover tops the original.

Anyhow: the WalMart WMA buy/download goes smooth, but is very Windows-only. I do Windows, but I don't support the idea of "You MUST do Windows", and would not set up my site that way.
 
PRR,

Try this link: http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2004/07/26_mpp.html

-Try clicking on the "listen to all newscast items" link at the bottom of the first large 'box'. There's a realplayer stream of the full broadcast... though you have to listen to the Google IPO first... or you can skip to the article, which begins at 2 mins, 50 seconds or so....

>is very Windows-only. I do Windows, but I don't support the idea of "You MUST do Windows", and would not set up my site that way.
-Perhaps similar to my reluctance to be railroaded into non-multi-source cul-de-sacs...

Keith
 
PRR,

If users can download an MP3 from your site, they should have no trouble putting it on their iPod. It is very simple. And yes, even a drummer could do it. ;)
 
I am a drummer...What is Itunes? :green:
Seriously though, itunes is really easy to use, so much so that my wife has pretty much got the hang of it! She starts sweating whenever anybody mentions computers, but itunes makes things really simple...
If you can read and know what your peripherals are called, you can use itunes!

chef

p.s. nice tunes prr! :grin:
 
Hey PRR.

Apple didn't lock iPod users into only using the iTunes music store. It is as easy as dragging a .MP3 or ACC or AIFF onto the iTunes icon. Just like dragging a .tif onto photoshop.

The hardest thing about iTunes and iPod is copying songs from your iPod to another CPU. But there are several utilities that do this. Apple writes the .MP3 files to an invisible folder.

It's really as easy as drag and drop. Just like all iApps, doesn't need a manual.


Vetsen
 
Back
Top