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| Recordings to celebrate the world of the oboe | |
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(links to download sites are in the second to bottom paragraph below) What is digital music? Since the invention of the CD, all music is stored in digital files. On a CD they are in WAV format, and one minute of music takes up about 10MB (ten million bytes) of storage. For downloading, the most commonly used format is MP3 (Motion Pictures Expert Group-1 Layer III). MP3 encoders remove the parts of the music that are least likely to be noticed by us, and they can do this agressively to make low-fidelity files that are small (the sound clips on this site are coded at 32 Kbps - 32 thousand bits per second). A common hi-fi encoding is 128 Kbps (used for Oboe Songs). At this bit rate the music is such that most people, in most situations, won't hear the difference between the MP3 file and a WAV file, even though the MP3 file uses less than 1MB per minute of music. What can I do with MP3 music? You can load it on to your MP3 player (which might be a mobile phone) or to an iPod. The iPod actually uses its own format, but converts automatically from MP3, so that in effect it plays MP3 files. Or you can play it on your computer (just open the file). Or you can burn it on to a CD (many free programs, e.g. Windows Media Player, can do this) and put it in your CD player. Most CD players these days will automatically recognise MP3 files. How do I download on to my iPod/MP3 player? This depends on where you are getting your music from - 1. From a CD. Buying the CD is probably more expensive than downloading it, but you've got the artwork and photos, the notes (many Oboe Classics CDs have 6,000 words), and a permanent version of the music if your iPod is lost or stolen. With the iPod, use the iTunes software to 'import' the tracks into your computer. Most MP3 players have similar software; if not, Windows Media Player can 'rip' the music into MP3 format and store it. Then, with your player attached to the computer, drag the MP3 files across to it. 2. From an internet download site. Using the company IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance), Oboe Classics has submitted most of its CD tracks to the standard download sites. Go to the sites for instructions on how to download and store the music. A well-designed one is emusic.com (this link will take you straight to the Oboe Classics section of the site). Then there is amazon.co.uk; search in the 'MP3 Downloads' category under the artist name. For iTunes, use your iTunes software to go to the iTunes music store, and search by artist name. Napster and Spotify make you join before you can search, but they also allow you to listen to any track without buying or downloading it. 3. From the Downloads and Oboe Songs page on this site. You will get an email with link(s) to the music. Click to engage your player and download, then save the file from your player with 'File, Save as'. [Note: If you are an iPod user, you may have found your system taken over by a primitive version of Quicktime which won't save the music. To restore, for example, Windows Media Player, open WMP and click 'tools, options, file types'. Then uncheck the MP3 audio file box, re-check it and click 'Apply'. WMP will now be restored.] Once saved on your computer you can play it (just open it), export it to your iPod or MP3 player, or burn it to a CD. Back to Oboe Songs Back to CD catalogue |