MUSIC

And
Computers

Stating the (not so?)

obvious
In the past how you got music was easy to understand
First you bought an instrument then you learnt to play it, or even
better you had a child and made them learn to play it. Or you went to
a concert.
Then came along recordings you had a cylinder or shellac record
with music on and a machine to play it with, similar with cassettes,
CDs etc
And theres radio just the machine, switch it on & someone else will
play and even choose the music for you
In every case you had a dedicated machine (or child) to play the
music and you never had to think about things like formats,
programmes, drivers, speakers etc.
Now you have computers and the internet... Wonderful! But
sometimes things work and sometimes they dont.... WHY

Music is now digital & lots of way to

listen to it

CD players
Digital Music is stored on
DVD players
CDs in a standard format
Playstations !

(CDA)

And Store & listen

to it
i-pods
MP3 players
Computers/laptops/tabl
ets

With the right

programme

i-player
Windows
Media Player
Real Player
VLC
Quicktime

Ripping, Downloading
& Streaming
Ripping getting music onto your computer by transferring it from
a music CD its stored in the default format of the program you
use
Downloading getting music onto your computer by transferring
the music from a website its stored in same the format as the file
you download
Streaming listening to music via your computer it is not actually
stored on your computer a bit like listening to the radio, subject
to buffering

Ripping

Put a CD in your computer Pre

supposing you have a CD
drive - you may see something
like this the programs
mentioned may be different it
depends what you have on
your computer
If the CD just starts to play its
because at some point
somebody has ticked the box

Music plays!
Of course if you
are using a PC you
have to have some
speakers or
headphones
plugged in to hear
it!
Laptops have
speakers inbuilt tablets need to
have speakers or
headphones
connected (can be
bluetooth of
course)

Rip CD

Choosing a Format

Whats a File Format.....?

Afile formatis a standard way that information is encoded for
storage in a computerfile. It specifies how bits are used to
encode information in a digital storage medium.File
formatsmay be either proprietary or free and may be either
unpublished or open.
Its much simpler to consider it as a language we are all
speaking in English we know that in English boy is spelt, B. O.
Y . and means a young male human. In French a young male
human is garcon, in Arabic hes a walad
If you didnt speak any of these languages but had a
multilanguage translator you could key in WALAD but without
knowing what language it was the translator wouldnt be able to
tell you what it meant. If you put WALAD.Arabic in it could then
tell you it meant boy
File formats are languages and file extensions e.g. .jpeg .mp3
.docx tell your computer which language has been used to
create the file

MP3
MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) is a group of people that meet
under ISO (the International Standards Organization) to generate
standards for digital video and audio compression. The MPEG committee
only sets the technical standards without dealing with patents and
intellectual property issues. There many different companies and
individuals worldwide who hold different patents for MPEG digital
compression technology. While MPEG is primarily a VIDEO technology, the
fact that audio is a part of video means that the audio can be compressed
independently.
To make a long story short, MPEG-1 LAYER-3 (MP3) is the format which
arguably has gained the most popularity today.
Because the MP3 files are compressed, you need a DE-compressor
program to play the audio. Many software programs are available today
that decompress MP3 audio files. Examples of some MP3 player
programs are:Windows Media Player,RealOne Player(RealAudio) and
WinAmpto name a few. There are many others as well, each having their
own unique blend of features.

MPEG Audio Layer 3

File extension: .MP3
Compression: Lossy
TheMP3formatshistoryis legendary when it comes to digital
music and the Internet. It has single handedly revolutionized the way
we listen to and share music. Even its name has become part of our
everyday language; MP3 music and MP3 playersare terms that are
used to describe all kinds of formats and players. It is this impact on
the world that makes the MP3 format truly impressive. Since its first
release in 1995, the MP3 format continues to dominate over all other
audio formats in terms of global usage.
Sampling Frequencies & Bit Rates
There are three sampling frequencies that are available for MP3
(MPEG-1) encoding which are:
32, 44.1 and 48 kHz.
It is the 44.1 kHz sample rate that is used the most; this is the same
frequency that is used for the compact disc.
There are a selection of bit rates that the MPEG-1 Layer 3 standard
sets out, and these are:
32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160, 192, 224, 256 and
320 kbps.
The most popular bit rate used for MP3 files is 256kbpsas this

MP3
cont:Compression Algorithm
The compression algorithm that the MP3 standard uses is alossyone.
The MP3 encoding process takes advantage of psychoacoustic
algorithms that filter out frequencies that humans are unlikely to hear.
Low frequencies are either filtered out or are converted to mono
signals - this requires less storage space. The human ear cant detect
directions of low frequencies very well and so a stereo signal isnt
necessary. Another way that MP3 compression can reduce file size
while keeping the quality is to drop quieter sounds in preference for
louder sounds; it is unlikely that the listener will notice any difference.
Audio Quality Influences
Factors such as, sampling frequency, bit rate and compression
algorithms all influence audio quality. The MP3 format is old compared
to modern audio formats, likeAACand so its performance in certain
scenarios isnt as optimized. Using MP3 to encode audio at low bit
rates produces a lower quality of sound compared to newer formats
like AAC orWMA. UsingCBRas opposed toVBRcan also degrade
sound quality. CBR produces MP3 files that are typically not as good
as their VBR equivalents. VBR encoding can produce a higher quality
of sound because the bit rate varies to optimize quality of sound and
file size.

MPEG-4 AAC / Advanced Audio

Coding.
File extensions: .aac, .m4a, .mp4, .m4b, .m4p, .m4r, .m4v.
Compression Type: Lossy.
The Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format was developed by a group
of companies with the goal of improving many of the drawbacks to
using theMP3standard. The AAC format is still a lossy audio format,
just like MP3, but typically produces higher sound resolution
(especially at low frequencies) due to the many improvements over
MP3. There are many companies that have adopted this as their
format of choice; Apple for example uses it for their iTunes Store.

Popular Hardware:
As discussed, ApplesiTunes Storeuses AAC encoded files
withDRMfor most of its music catalog. Apart from a few exceptions,
the iPod and iPhone are the only hardware devices that are capable of
using the FairPlay DRM system.
In the home video console market, Sonys PlayStation 3, PSP, and
Nintendos Wii utilize the AAC format in favor of MP3.
Portable media players such as the Microsoft Zune and Cowon A3
have built-in support for AAC.

MPEG 4 AAC
Sampling Frequencies & Bit Rates:
The AAC format provides the following sampling frequency range :
8 - 96 kHz and above.
As for the MP3 format, it is the 44.1 kHz sample rate that is used the
most; this is the same frequency that is used for the compact disc.
The advantage of using the AAC format compared to MP3 is that it is
significantly more flexible when it comes down to bitrates
especially at the lower end. The bitrate range is:
8 320kbps.

Compression Algorithm:
The AAC format uses alossy compression algorithm. Built into AAC is
a suite of modules or profiles that make it a very flexible
compression system. The most popular profile that is used to encode
audio is the Low Complexity setting. This is the simplest module and
the most commonly used.

WMA / Windows Media Audio

File extensions: .WMA
Compression Type: Lossy
The term WMA (WindowsMediaAudio) is normally used to refer to
Microsoft's first audio codec that it originally developed to compete
with the highly successfulMP3 format. WMA is actually a set of audio
compression codecs that form part of Microsoft's multimedia
framework; the other codecs that have been developed are, WMA
Pro, WMA Lossless, and WMA Voice. For simplicity, WMA in this
article will refer to the format used by media software players, and
various compatible hardware devices such as media/MP3 players.
The WMA format is a lossy audio format that has become one of the
most popular formats in use today.
Popular Compatible Hardware:
There are now many hardware devices on the market that are
compatible with the WMA format. As well as PlayForSure devices (a
Microsoft certification for hardware and online services) there is also
a significant number of uncertified hardware that supports WMA
playback. The majority of these compatible devices areportable
MP3/media players, but there are also other consumer electronics

WMA
Sampling Frequencies & Bitrates:
The WMA format provides the following sampling frequency range:
8 - 48 kHz
The standard sample rate which is commonly used is 44.1 kHz - this is the
same frequency as used by the compact disc.
The bitrates that can be used with the WMA format are flexible and gives
this format an advantage over MP3 when encoding audio. The bitrate
range is:
5 - 320kbps.
Compression Algorithm:
The WMA format uses alossy compression algorithm. It is a transform
codec that uses a psychoacoustics model and employs the modified
discrete cosine transform (MDCT) to process the WMA bit stream.
Digital Rights Management:
WMA files can be protected withDRM using Microsoft's WMDRM system.
The files that are downloaded from online digital music servicesare
encapsulated using ASF (Advanced Systems Format); this is a container
format that is used for audio and video files. DRM-protected WMA files are
usually downloaded from subscription-based online services. If a
subscription ends, then the files that the user has downloaded become
unplayable. WMA protected audio files can also be downloaded from a la

Legal Music Download sites

7 Digital

- http://www.7digital.com/

Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/
i-tunes - http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
Napster doesnt work in Cyprus! Rhapsody is US only too

Music Service Comparison Chart

Service

7digital

Amazon MP3

eMusic

iTunes Store

Napster

Rhapsody

Star rating

3.5/5.0

4.5/5.0

4.0/5.0

4.0/5.0

3.5/5.0

4.0/5.0

Formats

MP3,AAC,WMA,FLAC

MP3

MP3

AAC, MP3

MP3,WMA

MP3,WMA

Catalog

3.5 million

5 million

4 million

8 million

6 million

5 million

$11.99+ a month

$0.99 / track
Variable / album

$0.99 / track
$9.99 / album

$0.99 / track
$9.99 / album

Pricing

0.79-0.99 / track
$0.89-0.99 / track
4.99-7.99 / album $0.99-8.99+ / album

Copy Protection

Yes (WMA Only)

No

No

Yes (AAC only)

Yes (WMA only)

Yes (WMA only)

Other Media

Videos, audiobooks,
soundtracks

Soundtracks

Audiobooks

Videos, Movies,
audiobooks, podcasts

Streaming radio

Streaming radio

Availability

Most countries

U.S., UK

U.S., Canada, Europe

Most countries

U.S., Canada, UK,

Germany, Japan

U.S. only

Service Type

A la carte

A la carte

Subscription

A la carte

Subscription & a la
carte

Subscription & a la
carte

You Tube
There is lots of Music on YouTube but copyright has to be
considered there is for instance a possible fine of $250,000 per
track. The problem is that only a small percentage of the music
that is out there is available from legitimate sources.

There is however lots of stuff that can legitimately be

downloaded from You Tube so we are going to do it I am
going to use a site called
www.keepvid.com

KEEPVID.com

Free m4a to MP3

converter