Tag Archives: CD’s

Getting the itch to set up a place to rock.

Posted on by Standard 1
AiXeLsyD13's Guitars - Oct. 2015

So, as you may know, I have a few guitars.  Once upon a time we had an extra room that was going to be adorned with said guitars.  Things changed, and that room serves a much more awesome purpose as my son’s room.

We do, however, have a garage that we don’t use at all.  We have talked about closing it in to make more room.  It might be a bit of a project getting the garage door turned into a wall & man door, and will take a bit of interior TLC like more electrical outlets and some type of climate control.  It should keep the aforementioned son’s room a little warmer if it’s an “inside” room.

I’d like to put my guitars in there, and have them ready to play at any give moment when inspiration strikes.

AiXeLsyD13's Guitars - Oct. 2015

AiXeLsyD13’s Guitars – Oct. 2015

I’ve been drooling over different types of guitar storage for a while now, and stowing ideas away on pinterest.

I’d really like to use the house’s old storm windows that we no longer need to build a permanent version of these cool cabinets:

I have the drive, and I can learn the know-how, but I may need the intervention of someone that actually knows what they’re doing at some point.

Anyone else have a DIY rock n’ roll room setup? I’d like to house my CD’s, records, etc. too instead of them suffocating in storage bins. Maybe some recording gear and/or a PC could find a home there? There are so many options. Like a true punk rock musician I’d like to work close to a nonexistent budget.

Hit me up with your experience and ideas in the comments!

🎼🎶🎸📀🎧📼🎤🎵🎸🎶

So… “CNET | Poll: Should music be free?”

Posted on by Standard 4

Not that it’s never been brought up before… but, the debate rages on.  I find it interesting that it’s a CNET poll, and that there are people quite passionate on both sides of the issue.  Check out this poll:

Poll: Should music be free? | Paying for music is now a voluntary act, so why would anyone ever buy a CD, LP, or download?

English: The crossed out copyright symbol with...

English: The crossed out copyright symbol with a musical note on the right hand side is the free music symbol, signifying a lack of copyright restrictions on music. It may be used in the abstract, or applied to a sound recording or musical composition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m not exactly sure where I fall.  Obviously, as a musician… I see value in the songs & the entertainment.  It’s great when I have a product to sell.  It’s awesome that people would want to pay to purchase noise that I make.  To me it’s more of a lifestyle/hobby though.  I don’t mind playing just to make gas money, or selling music barely above cost… or even posting it for free.  I dig that people enjoy it.  But, and this is a big but…  If it was my sole means of income, I sure would not be happy giving much away for free.  Although, radio and now online streaming are the way to get heard, and… that’s free.  You almost need that to advertise yourself, unless you gig non-stop like Metallica in their early days.

Are people like me who don’t mind giving away music devaluing music for everyone?  I certainly like free stuff.  I also buy CD’s & merchandise from local & smaller touring acts like a madman.  I realize I’m not normal in that practice.  I see the value in others’ art.  It’s important to me to reward their efforts.

The again, I’m a huge fan of freeware, shareware, and open source stuff when it comes to software.  What’s the difference?

What’s the new model?  Albums are free, shows and T-shirts make you money?  Every band releases a documentary & a bunch of live DVD’s?  Government sticks its’ nose into streaming and it becomes an ad-heavy payola nightmare?

I’d like to hear everyone’s thoughts in the comments.

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More questions on digitizing my music collection…

Posted on by Standard 7

So my last blog post on the subject got some great input, but now I must raise some more specific questions.

  • “The” – So, what do you do about the word “the”?  Say a band like the Misfits… Do you tag them Misfits, or The Misfits?  The Ramones?  The The?  Name the file without the “the”, keep the “the” inside the ID3 tag?  In the stuff I have currently, it’s mix & match.
  • Alternate Spellings?  – The first band that comes to mind is $parechange? a.k.a. Sparechange00.  You may have never heard of them.  (Am I a hipster for that remark?)  I have them on a few compilations and I have 2 of their albums.  Different spelling. Same name. Same Band.  Do I tag them all the way it appears on the album, then move them all to the same artist folder?  I’m not sure if this will pop up with other bands, but it might!
  • Volume – How do you regulate volume?  I have used MP3 Gain with varying results.  They recommend a volume that’s lower than most commercially produced mp3’s.  I’d like all the stuff to be somewhat level.
  • Hidden Tracks – Do you split/name them as separate files if they share one track?  I plan to.  No doubt.  I just dunno if I want to number then the next number like 13 if it’s the 13th song… or 12-1 & 12-2.  Decisions, decisions.
  • Tags? – Not ID3 tags, but is there any player out there with a way to tag a song with attributes… Say I have live songs, bootlegs, and acoustic or unplugged as tags.  Say I want to hear live stuff, but not bootleg quality live stuff, or unplugged live stuff… or only bootleg stuff, including live & studio stuff.  I’d like to be able to play via tags… because (to me anyway) one song could fall into multiple genres.
  • Strays – Dump ’em all in one folder?  Bother tagging them correctly?
  • Various Artists – I have a ton of compilation albums (especially punk comps) & a good amount of soundtracks.  Do you let your burning ripping program make folders for each artist with the album in it, or do you put all the tracks into one folder with the artist in the file name somewhere?  I generally like to keep them all together, but I can see the benefits of breaking out per artist.

Any more tips/tricks advice on organizing, ripping, tagging, & playing your digital music.  I have mp3 folders now that are somewhat organized… but I have a vast quantity of stray chaos that I need to get in order when I put everything all in the same place.

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Moving my CD’s to a full-out digitial collection. It is time.

Posted on by Standard 20

I need to step into the 00s.  I know it’s already the 10s, but I’m obviously already behind.  Yesterday I filled 4 giant under-bed storage containers (& one little one) with CD’s.  I need to rip this veritable mountain of plastic to a more easily & instantly accessible medium.

Enrico Caruso with a "Victrola" bran...

Where is the USB port on this thing...?

I also have a pile of vinyl that I believe I’m set up to rip… I just have to plug everything together.  Maybe after that, I’ll do my the last few of my cassette tapes.

For the younger readers:

Any advice?

First one to say iTunes gets a stinkpalm.  I don’t like programs that “take over” and are meant for people who don’t know what they’re doing.  I also dislike anything that asks me to “synch” anything.  NO.  I DO NOT WANT TO SYNCH ANYTHING.

I have a Google Music account that’s awesome, I might use it to store a bunch of the stuff I like to listen to.  Google has a 20,000 song limit.  I’m over that, no doubt.

I’ll most likely keep the CD’s so I have something to listen to when the grid crashes.

Winamp 1

WinAmp (Old School)

I will most likely use CDex and Mp3Tag to get everything in order.  I have experience with them and like them.  They’re free.  I also like WinAmp as a player.  Yes, I still like WinAmp.

I’ll probably need a 1TB (or bigger) external hard drive.  Where can I get an inexpensive yet reliable one?  My usual spots are TigerDirect or NewEgg.  Is there somewhere else I should try?

The compact disc

There are 1s and 0s on here? I don't see any.

It will make accessing the music any time I want much easier.  I’ll be able to control the genres & tags, add artwork, and if I get crazy I can hook up something so I can play all of my stuff from any computer in the house.  I also have an FM transmitter somewhere so I can further destroy the sound quality broadcast to any & all radios in the house.

Re-buying probably isn’t an option for at least a quarter if not half of my collection.  I have a lot of local D.I.Y. stuff and stuff from touring bands that I’ve never heard from again.  Also; I’m cheap.  I bought it once.  I’m not buying it again.  I think I’ve bought Appetite for Destruction at least 6 times.  Two cassettes, 3 CD’s, & a vinyl.  Does Axl really need another dollar out of me?

I’d try a service like Ripshark, but why if I can do it myself?  Also; I’m cheap.

Sadly, my Insignia can’t handle any SDHC cards over 4GB, and it freaks out once you hit over 2000 songs.  Maybe I can put a backup drive in my car & hook it to my stereo, to play my entire music catalog at will?  I’m getting ahead of myself.

Have you done this yourself?  Are you thinking it’s time to do this too?  Do they make a 2TB iPod yet?  Should I go with mp3‘s or rip to something else?  AAC? FLAC?

So many options.  I suppose I’ll finish the entire project some time in 2015.  I’ll still be quicker than PennDOT.  If the world ends before I finish this, I’m going to be really upset.

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