Sound: #26: Making (or listening to) Music Together

As the mother of a daughter whose dream is to have a recording studio in her bedroom, I really enjoyed looking around at some of these music sites.
I added Qloud to my Facebook page which was simple to do.
We tried to create a song using JamStudio and although it was a cool site I wasn't happy enough with my creations to save or share them. My daughter would say I was being perfectionist but I think JamStudio isn't sophisticated enough to do what I wanted it to do even though what I wanted it to do didn't seem that sophisticated to me. So overall I was disappointed with JamStudio.
Splice was much more sophisticated and the Youtube video that shows you the basics on using Splice really helps. Spent much time here! Signed up for a free account and uploaded two songs that my daughter recorded of herself playing the piano. The songs were her own creations, too. We are working on adding effects and remixing the songs. Now she's being the perfectionist!

Sound: #25: Am I a music pirate? It's hard to know...

I mentioned in a previous blog that the selection of music on Overdrive was limited but then I discovered Bohemian Rap CD by Marginal Prophets. So even though you still don't see the top 10 releases don't rule them out altogether.

...and you Star Wars fans (you know who you are) there is Star Wars and Other Sci-Fi Classics

...and who of those who saw Sleeping with the Enemy with Julia Roberts doesn't still get chills when they hear Berlioz's Dream of a Sabbath Night from his "Symphonie Fantastique."

Although there are many titles available to burn to a CD not any of the Magnatune music titles in the HCPL Digital Media Catalog can be burned to CD as stated in the iHCPL blog. The South by Southwest Compilation among others, cannot be burned to a CD. No biggie though.

So,

1. I burned a copy of my chosen songs to a CD. - Piece of cake.

2. The above is my blog post discussing this process. Yes, we still use cds. I have a CD player that you can load 100 CDs into and play all randomly, in order, etc. I've enjoyed this tech tool for years. It is especially nice for parties when you want hours of music without having to reload or replay music.

3. With regards to sharing music online I think music and musicians are better off when there is middle of the road policy when it comes to copyright protections. Open enough to be able to share so you turn others on to your new found favorites but strict enough so that they are financially compensated for their intellectual property.

You're Fahrenheit 451!

by Ray Bradbury

Having wanted to be a firefighter much of your life, you've recently
discovered the job wasn't exactly what you were looking for. While ignorance seems like
the result of oppression, it all began with people just wanting to be ignorant. As you
realize more about the sordid world around you, you decide to watch less TV and work on
your memorization skills. Though your memory will save you in the end, don't forget to
practice running from dogs as well.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

31 Days of Oscars!

Okay well I've already missed almost 10 days but had to blog about this anyway as there are still many many good things coming up. Turner Classic Movies is running all Oscar awarding winning movies for the entire month of February. My Tivo will be getting a workout. Some of the ones I'll be watching include: Amistad on 2/17 (Winner of the Best Picture 1997), Ox-Bow Incident on 2/19 (Nominated for Best Picture 1944), In Cold Blood on 2/25 (Nominated for best director, best cinematography, best score and best writing, screenplay), Doctor Zhivago on 2/28 (Winner of best Art Direction, best cinematography, best costume design, best score, and best writing, screenplay, nominated for best picture, director, editing, sound, and supporting actor for Tom Courtenay).

I'll never forget going to see this movie at the Ohio Theater in Columbus Ohio with my mom, dad and sister. I loved the organ which rose up to stage level while being played and then disappeared back below the stage when the performance was ready to begin. I felt very cosmopolitan at age 10 (no I was not 10 in 1965 so it must have been a replaying of the movie at the Ohio Theater and I am not sure what year it was exactly anyway-just guessing I was 10) driving downtown parking in a parking garage and going to the theater, a theater as beautiful as the Ohio Theater. Obviously the architect, Thomas W. Lamb, who designed the Ohio Theatre, got it right as his vision was for “a palace for the average man.”

On 2/28 all day the movies are themed as Wedding movies including Father of the Bride (1950) (Nominated for best actor, best picture and best writing, screenplay)
And finally on 2/30 My Life As A Dog (Nominated for best director and best adapted screenplay 1985)
So what will you all being making sure you catch?

Sound: #24: The sound of music!

Without music life would be a mistake. ~Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Our household currently owns 3 iPods and 1 MP3 player. My husbands iPod is an original first generation iPod which still works beautifully. My daughters each got an iPod mini when they first came out. One was used constantly however the battery didn't last 3 months. The other one which was used less is still working but the battery doesn't last long at all. One iPod mini was replaced with a iPod Nano, the (red) one, which is played relentlessly, in the car, around the house and docked in it's iHome. I opted for an MP3 player for myself which was purchased specifically for use with Overdrive. I have downloaded many eaudiobooks and transferred them to my MP3 player. I have done the same with music. Although the music selection from Overdrive is limited I have enjoyed 21st Century Cinema Classics and Classics at the Movies. I have also uploaded several CDs from my personal collection to my MP3 player, most recently the soundtrack from the film August Rush and the soundtrack from the movie Enchanted.

For the Exercises:

1. Different types of pay sites: I am already familiar with iTunes and my daughters use it solely. I have also purchased songs using Walmart but I have had trouble when trying to play the song later saying I don't have the proper license agreement to go with the song. I suppose its possible it got deleted or the song was moved to a different location on the computer and the license didn't go with the music file but it has happened numerous times so I will never buy another song using Walmart when we've never had any trouble with iTunes. I did go to Amazon and check their price which was .99 cents for one song. I didn't want to download more software to my computer so I didn't purchase a song from Amazon.

2. Download a song to your computer and transfer it to your MP3 player: Done - I am currently listening to The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Music of Henry Mancini.

3. See if your favorite radio station offers listening through their website: I checked for three radio stations and all three had listen live online buttons to listen to the radio station through their website but frankly now with my mp3 player I don't listen to the radio in my car now so I don't see myself listening from my computer.

4. Discussion above