CD/MP3 Player: Plays CDs containing MP3 files. The big advantage here is how much music you can fit on a single CD. I haven’t seen any players that have tempo control. (2003: There are DJ decks (not portable) that play MP3 CDs and have tempo control.) I assume you can repeat a single track.

MP3 Player (solid state): Plays MP3s downloaded from your computer onto a memory card. The memory cards are expensive compared to other media, so you either have to pick and choose what songs you want to have with you or invest a lot of money. You can repeat single tracks. Some players have tempo control, but in large increments.

MP3 Player (hard disk): Plays MP3s downloaded from your computer onto a hard disk within the player. These players come with hard disks ranging from 5 to 40 gigs--more than enough for most square dance music collections. Tempo control: [2003: The Nomad Jukebox 3 is advertising “time scaling”. I think this control would be good enough for calling.] Looping: single track repeat.

Laptop Computer: Plays MP3s, CDs, and MIDI files. Since everything is based on software, with the right software, you can have full looping, tempo, and pitch control.

Personal opinion: If I weren’t using a laptop, I would continue to use minidisc. I think the media is more convenient and more rugged than CDs, and I like the editing ability. [2003: If I were starting out, I’d look seriously at the Nomad MP3 player.] However, a laptop offers the ultimate in flexibility, but at a price: it costs more and it weighs more.

Processing (from source medium to output medium):

With anything except vinyl and CDs, you need to transform the source media to the output media.

Vinyl to MD: Use an MD recorder (most
callers buy a combo recorder/player) and record from a turntable. I prefer the sound quality that I get by recording from a component system turntable through an receiver/amp into an MD recorder, rather than recording directly from a Hilton turntable/amp. I also use a real-time pitch shifting device to change the key of the music. [2003: With a NetMD machine, you can also record to your computer and then download the music to your MD over a USB cable.]

CD to MD: If you have a CD player with digital output, you can go directly from the CD player to the MD recorder. Otherwise, play the CD through an amplifier and record from that. If you have a NetMD recorder, transfer the sound files from the CD to your computer (that’s called “ripping” and MusicMatch and other software will do it) and then transfer them from your computer to your NetMD recorder.

MP3 to MD: Attach the MD recorder to the line out on your sound card and play the MP3 file. If you have a NetMD recorder, just transfer the MP3 file from your computer to the recorder using the software that comes with the NetMD recorder.

MIDI to MD: Attach the MD recorder to the line out on your sound card and play the MIDI file. Or use software to tranform the MIDI file to a sound file.

Vinyl to CD: If you have a computer and a CD-RW burner, record from your turntable to your computer. Vic Ceder (http://www.ceder.net/mp3.php3) and Andy Shore (http://www.moveto.com/
sd/MP3info.htm) have information on this process. Edit the sound file to remove leading and trailing noise. If the record is noisy, use pop and scratch filters in your sound editing software to try to clean up the file. Use CD burning software to create an audio CD from the sound files.

There are also consumer CD recorders, which would let you record directly from a turntable/amp to a CD. This would be an
option if you really, really don’t want a computer. [2003: Prices have come down on audio CD recorders, making this a more viable option for callers who don’t want to use a computer.]

CD to CD: You might want to consolidate your square dance CDs or make backups so you don’t have to take your originals with you. Use software to extract the CD tracks and burn them to another CD. Note: if you’re doing this with non-standard square dance CDs, be aware that there’s a growing trend in the music industry to copy-protect music CDs, thereby making it difficult to “rip” a CD’s files to a computer.

MP3 to CD: It’s all in the software.

Vinyl to MP3: Convert the vinyl to a sound file (see Vinyl to CD). Convert the sound file to an MP3 file. See Vic and Andy’s pages for more info.


Processing (Other):

Once you’ve got a sound file on a computer, you’re in control. Here are some things you can do:

• Change the pitch without changing the tempo. I used to use a hardware, real-time device to do this. Now I do it all in software.

• Change the tempo without changing the pitch. I do this more with non-standard square dance music to bring it into square dance range (124-132 bpm or thereabouts).

• Clean up a scratchy record. Most sound editing software contains filters for removing scratches and pops on worn records.

• Remove irritating intros. I’ve got a couple of records with “cute” intros (like telephones ringing). I just chopped them out.

• Make the track longer so you don’t have to loop. Just take a selection of the music

Digital Music - CALLERLAB Presentation April 2003 Page
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