MIDI files are easy: .mid or .smf. Audio files, however, come in a dizzying array of formats. When you begin to utilize audio files in your music sequences, podcasts, movies, and websites, you’ll have to know the most common audio file formats and the advantages of choosing one format over the other. This post will hopefully provide you with some useful information on the various audio file formats out there and the compatibility issues that you might run into while using them.

First, it is important to know how computers capture audio. To simplify the operation, audio is captured using a process known as PCM: Pulse Code Modulation. This process takes many tiny samples of a sound wave (like pictures) which are then converted to a series of 1’s and 0’s - binary code. For a great diagram of this process, click HERE.

Second, there are two different formats of digital audio. The first, uncompressed, uses every single one of those samples and usually the files sizes are pretty large (10MB per recorded minute). There are two major uncompressed file formats: .WAV for Windows computers and .AIFF for Apple computers (although you can successfully play both files types on both platforms). Most sequencers and movie editing software can import .wav and .aiff file formats. The main thing to remember with them is that they are pretty large files. The second format is called compressed and here, there are two different types of compression: lossless and lossy.

Lossless compression means just that: the files are squashed so that they can reduce their file size, but the original audio data is still there. Lossy compression actually cuts out some of the audio data (most often silence or sounds out of hearing range). Lossless compression file formats are mostly proprietary, which means that you can only play them on a certain audio player: Windows Media Lossless, Apple Lossless: ALAC, or Real Audio: .ra. I usually avoid using these file types in my music projects because they are often unreadable by the software because of this proprietary aspect.

Lossy compression file formats are much more common. These formats include: .MP3, .AAC, .WMA, Ogg Vorbis, .M4A, and others. These audio files are compressed to 1/10th the size of the original uncompressed audio file with only a small difference in quality. These file formats are used quite often in a wide variety of software applications.  It is important to note that in addition to the lossy files formats, there are also protected audio file formats, including Apple’s .m4p and Protected WMA files.  These files are not usable in most sequencing programs.  In order to use them you’ll need to “crack the DRM” which is illegal - albeit possible.

Third, the type of audio file you use often depends on the computing platform you use: Mac or PC. Many of the files mentioned above can easily be played on either platform by downloading the respective player. All of these files can be burned onto a CD and played back on a standard CD player (one that is capable of playing digital audio files). As far as software is concerned, if you are on a Mac you can bet that the software will “get along” with Apple friendly formats and might have some problems with Windows formats, and vice versa. Every software program has a technical specifications sheet that will list the file formats it can utilize.

Hopefully this post has provided you with some insight into the world of audio file formats. There are scores of other formats that I didn’t mention. For a full listing of the available file formats, I have found that the Wikipedia entry is pretty accurate.

I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

Podcasting is a contraction of the words iPod and broadcasting. I like to think of podcasting as TiVo for the radio. Many radio stations now podcasts their daily broadcasts so that you can download them and listen to them whenever you want. Missed your favorite NPR show? Log on to www.npr.org and download it. The iPod can be used as a device to listen to the show – although you can also listen to it on your computer, or any other MP3 player. Most podcasts are available for free at the iTunes Music Store, but you do not need to have iTunes to download podcasts from individual websites. Contrary to what you might think when you see the word iPod, podcasting is possible for everyone, whether or not you are an Apple computer or iPod user.

In addition to downloading individual radio programs, you can also subscribe to a specific podcast through the iTunes Music Store, or on an individual website. Podcasts use a script known as RSS – Really Simple Syndication – that automatically updates the latest podcast to your computer. Personally, I subscribe to a few different podcasts, and each time I log into the iTunes Music Store, my podcasts update automatically (you need to set this in your preferences).

What makes podcasting so exciting however is not the fact that you can download other people’s radiobroadcasts, but that you can create your own podcasts and have them available on the iTunes Music Store (and on your own website). Apple Computer released iLife ‘06 that includes two powerful tools for podcasting: GarageBand 3.0 and iWeb – a new web design title that creates the RSS feed for you.

For a step-by-step guide to creating podcasts, visit the Apple website, or you can read my article entitled Podcasting in the Music Classroom.

For the second installment of my Tech Terms segment of the blog, I have selected the term sequencer. What is a sequencer and what does the term mean?

A sequencer is either a piece of software or hardware that sequences musical events. A simple C Major scale, when played by an electronic instrument, has many different events happening at the same, including: the actual pitch being played, when it begins, when it ends, the velocity, the timbre, and so on. If you were to play the C Major scale in even quaretr notes there would actually be about 5 or 6 events for each note in the scale. A sequencer simply records these events as binary data and then puts these events in order on playback - and it is MIDI that facilitates this communication.

Hardware Sequencers

Early sequencers were mainly hardware devices that could sequence control data for an electronic instrument. I used to own a Roland TR-808 drum machine and I would create short melodic sequences and use a MIDI cable to have my Roland Juno 106 play them back. I remember spending hours trying to figure out the beginning sequence in Baba O’Riley by The Who. Many keyboards come equipped with sequencers that allow you to record a few tracks using the built-in memory of the keyboard. Editing with hardware-based sequencers is possible, but “clunky”. For a comparison of many of the hardware sequencers out there, click HERE.

Software Sequencers

There are many different sequencer software titles available, each with similar functions. The most popular sequencers include GarageBand, Cubase, Digital Performer, Logic, FL Studio, Reason, Ableton Live, ProTools, Sonar, and CakeWalk HomeStudio. In addition to sequencing MIDI information, software-based sequencers allow users to import digital audio, video, samples, and loops. Software sequencers also allow users to edit any of the tracks of audio, video, or MIDI information. All sequencers have piano roll style editors and many now include a notation view as well. In my opinion, it is much easier to edit using software-based sequencers than hardware-based sequencers. For a detailed description of all of the software and hardware discussed in this post, I strongly recommend getting a copy of the Technology Guide for Music Educators from TI:ME.

I hope that this information is useful to you, and that you know a little bit more about sequencers. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions.

I have been thinking about starting a new series of posts that help explain technology terms that are frequently mentioned on this blog (and many other resources). While there are many print and online technology glossaries already out there, I am hoping that posts like this one are useful to you. As always, I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions.

What is MIDI?

What better term to begin the Tech Terms posts than MIDI?

The term MIDI is actually an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. While many people already know this, some might not know how it began and what it actually does. In 1981, Dave Smith presented a paper at the annual Audio Engineering Society Convention calling for a universal protocol that would allow electronic instruments and computers to communicate with each other. By 1983, MIDI 1.0 was a standard part of both electronic instruments and sequencing software. Connecting computers and keyboards together is done with a 5-pin connector cable and a MIDI interface device. The interface translates event messages. An event, in terms of MIDI, is everything from the pitch, note duration, velocity, dynamic level, timbre, etc. When you press a middle C on a keyboard there are many events that occur - the pitch, how hard you press the key, how long you hold it down for, when you let go, etc. The MIDI signal that is transmitted (a stream of binary code - 0’s nd 1’s) between devices reports each of those events. Pretty simple really.

In order to connect a computer and a keyboard you need a MIDI Interface. Today, many keyboards come equipped with a USB port that eliminates the need for a physical device (the interface is built-in). If your keyboard does not have a USB port then you’ll need a device like the M-Audio USB Uno. These interfaces have a MIDI Out and MIDI In port - and connecting these ports to your keyboard is quite easy. Keyboard MIDI Out to Interface MIDI In and vice versa. This interface will allow your computer (and the software on it) to communicate with your keyboard.

MIDI Channels

Most MIDI hardware devices (like a keyboard) allow for 16 channels of MIDI information to be transmitted simultaneously. This means that you can have up to 16 different MIDI instrument tracks playing together. Most notation software will assign these channels for you, but higher-end sequencers often require you to assign the channels yourself. This is usually a pretty simple process, but it varies according to what title you’re using.

Hopefully this clears up what MIDI actually is. Feel free to add information in a comment. Terms like Standard MIDI Files and General MIDI will be addressed in future posts. Hopefully this new series of posts is helpful. I look forward to writing more of them in the future.

For those of you who know me, one of my favorite websites is the Classical MIDI Archives - a site containing thousands of MIDI files (and now audio files as well) that you can download and then open in a notation program.  The only problem with opening MIDI files is that you have to depend on the skills of the person who created the file if you want it to open in a readable format.  There are many times that I’ve downloaded a MIDI file of a work by J.S. Bach and opened it in Sibelius only to find something that looked like Scriabin.

I recently came across a great website that’s been around for quite awhile.  Called The Sheet Music Archive, the website contains PDF files of hundreds of public domain works from the classical domain.  What makes this site a bit different is that they’ve already done the work for you.  Instead of hunting for a playable MIDI/notation file, you simply download the PDF of the composition.  While nowhere near as comprehensive as the Classical MIDI Archives, the Sheet Music Archive has enough sheet music to keep anyone playing for quite a long time.  This is a perfect resource for piano teachers looking to get music for their students, or for teachers who have a scanner so that they can open the file in a notation program for editing or arranging.  The site allows you to download two files a day, or you can subscribe to the site for $19.95 for the year to allow unlimited downloading.  If you consider that for under $20 you can download thousands of classical works - it’s a bargain.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

In preparation for a session that I presented at IAJE this past January, I found a great resource for jazz educators - the entire Real Book collection available as Band-In-A-Box files.  The late jazz bassist Paul Phillips took the time to compile all of the wonderful jazz tunes from the Real Book and arrange them in Band-In-A-Box - and incredible amount of work.  When you visit his site you can download a zip file that contains all of the files.  There is also a link to get the Band-In-A-Box demo version so that you can play them if you don’t already have BIAB.  You can utilize these files in your classroom by either posting the chord changes online for your students to practice soloing over, or you can select a few tunes, import them into a program like GarageBand, and burn CDs for your students to practice along with.

From a copyright standpoint, the site raises a couple of questions.  Historically, the Real Book has been an underground resource for jazz musicians for many years.  While there are legal versions available, the original was far from it.  Thankfully, chord changes are not covered by current copyright law - but melodies are.  There are melodies included on the files that you download from the site.  If you are going to use this amazing resource for your students, my advice is to delete the melody track.  Everything else in the file is completely fine.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

There are many videos of classic jazz television performances from the 1950’s and 60’s posted on YouTube - videos of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane, Duke Ellington and more. I posted about Google Video and You Tube back in January. Since the acquisition of YouTube by Google Video, most of the videos on Google Video are now hosted on YouTube. Unfortunately, both Google Video and YouTube are currently blocked websites in my school district because there are many videos hosted on the site that you wouldn’t want young children to access - especially at school. In order to view these videos, you must be logged on to the site, even if you download the video player that comes with Google Video. This means that I can’t show any of these amazing videos in my classroom. Or can I?

In an effort to seek a solution to this problem, a student told me about a cool application called TubeSock that allows users to download YouTube videos and convert them to a number of file formats - including audio only. Simply open the application (you can get a free trial version that allows you to download the first 30 seconds of a video or you can pay for it $19) and paste th YouTube URL into the provided window, choose the file format you’d like to download the video in, and TubeSock does the rest.

So, is this legal? There have been numerous stories in the press lately about lawsuits against Google for the posting of copyright protected content on their site. However, using short video clips in the classroom is protected under the Fair Use provision of the DMCA. While there a certainly copyright protected videos that are hosted on the site, the jazz performances that I have seen have been there a long time, and they have not been pulled off of the site yet. The copyright question is a bit confusing to everyone right now. Is it legal to post OLD television performances from the 1950’s and 1960’s? Probably not without permission. Is it legal to use these performance in the classroom? While they are on the site, I would say it is a Fair Use, but we’ll see…

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

One of my 7th grade students tipped me off yesterday about an amazing website that I hadn’t heard of before called TuneCore.   The website is a distribution service for artists to get their music on iTunes, Napster, and Rhapsody.  The only thing is - anyone can use the service - anyone.  For a one-time fee you can upload music and cover art to iTunes and sell your music without any strings attached.  TuneCore takes only the one-time fee.  All of the royalties go directly to you.  The music retail services take their cut from each song sale (TuneCore lists that iTunes takes 29 cents from each 99 cent song sale) and you get the rest!  The site also offers a performance-rights service that deals with the royalties associated recording of cover songs.  Finally, the site offers CD duplication services, T-Shirt manufacturing, and you can even set up your very own online merchandise outlet.  Here are some ideas for your program:

1. Tell your students about it.  They’ll be selling their original music in no time.
2. Create a student record label and distribute their album through TuneCore.
3. Sell your own music - there’s a rock star in all of us.
4.  Record all of your concerts, have TuneCore deal with the royalties, and make money for your music program.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of the website (which is so new it is still in a beta version) is that now anyone can be their own record label and distribute their music to a world audience.  I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, everyone wanted to get a record deal, sell their album, go on tour, and make millions.  Now with TuneCore, the possibility is there for everyone.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

If you’ve been running OSX 10.4 on a Mac for the past few years, then you know all about Widgets - those cool little software applications that magically appear on your desktop when you hit F12. There are thousands of widgets available on the Apple site - everything from the weather, radio stations, flight tracker, even a Yoda translator - and they are all free. In addition to all of the informative widgets, there are 118 Musical Widgets. Most of these are song file organizers, but there are quite a few that have value for music educators. Here are some of my personal favorites:

1. iCage - a Widget that gives you a daily quote from the composer John Cage.
2. Pianochords - a Widget that displays & plays chords on a virtual keyboard.
3. GuitarChords - a Widget that displays and plays chords on a guitar fretboard.
4. elevator53 musicloops search - a handy little Widget for finding royalty-free loops for use in your multimedia projects.
5. ittyBittyMIDI - a MIDI activity monitor for your Mac.
6. STORMWidget - a composer put this Widget together that includes a daily composer birthday calendar.
7. Metronomic - a metronome Widget.

Try some of these out and see what you think. If you don’t like them you can just throw them out. Beware of getting Widget-crazy though. You might find that when you start playing around with Widgets you’ll soon have way too many on your desktop.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.

A few years ago I was at a Keynote presentation where the presenter included a number of short film clips that showed various software applications being used to create music. The clips weren’t created by a video camera over someone’s shoulder - they were screenshot movies and they looked pretty slick. I happened to be sitting next to Tom Rudolph at the time and when I saw the film clips I turned to him and asked: “How did he do that?“. Tom knew instantly: Snapz Pro.

The software, a Mac only application, creates video screenshots of anything. Simply download the application - it’s shareware but I strongly suggest paying the $69.00 to help support the company that created it (there is a $29 version that only captures still images - but there are keyboard shortcuts on a Mac that already do that). Once you’ve downloaded and installed Snapz, you simply click Command+Shift+3 to open the program. Select the format of screenshot you’d like and then drag the box to the appropriate size. To start filming, double-click the box and a little voice says Action. When you’re finished, click Command+Shift+3 again and a little voice says That’s a Wrap. Select the location and quality of the file and you’re done.

So how can you use Snapz? It’s a great way to create short “How-To” videos for your students with software programs like GarageBand, Logic, Finale, and Sibelius. Post the video clips on your classroom Wikispace for your students or on the school file server in a folder called Software FAQs and you’ll avoid many of the common questions that students ask when using these applications. You can also create movies with Google Earth using their fly-over and zoom-in features - pretty cool. There are many other applications of the software as well. I strongly recommend checking it out.

I welcome your comments and suggestions.