Re: Creating sound files

-----Original Message-----
From: maryellen(at)cybersolvers.com <maryellen(at)cybersolvers.com>
To: hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org <hwg-techniques(at)hwg.org>
Date: Tuesday, June 20, 2000 3:29 PM
Subject: Creating sound files


>I need to create a database-driven web site which will include short
>(one-minute or so) sound clips of recently-composed pieces of music.  I've
>never worked with sound before, so this is completely new to me.  In this
>case, the commissioning organization will be providing me with CDs or DATs
>of the works and I'll have to be responsible for getting them into some
>sort of web-useable format.  What's the best format for something like this
>-- wav?  MP3? -- and what software should I be looking at?  Any words of
>wisdom will be greatly appreciated!
>
>M. Casey

I feel your pain.  Sound was new to me when we took on
http://www.drkrocks.com , an up-and-coming rock musician's web site.  There
are a lot of things to take into consideration with music (can anybody say
"Napster"???)

First, fair use allows about 30 seconds of a piece for
evaluation/demonstration/blahblahblah purposes.  Pull up liquidaudio.com or
cdnow, et al and see how long the clips are.  30 seconds.  Our client is
lucky in that he actually negotiated to retain the rights to his music, so
he can put as little or as much of it on his site as he wants.  We still
opted to stay between 30-60 seconds for most because of space and bandwidth
considerations.

Second was the format.  Since it wasn't the entire track we were using, the
concern about whether or not it downloaded or streamed wasn't that big a
deal, even though I went on the defensive and advocated streaming media as
opposed to a file that they simply downloaded.  Don't be fooled, however,
into thinking that just because it "steams" that someone can't figure out
how to cache it and copy it off for their own....um... enjoyment.  Being
anally retentive, we pounded on some sites until we figured out how to do
just that, so that we could have some idea what to look out for.  (this tape
will self destruct in thirty seconds and I was never here)

It is also true that some formats require support on the server side, so
you'll want to be sure to check with your host before you produce a bunch of
streaming audio, for instance, and then find that your server can't deliver.
Bummer.

Having gotten the size of the clips and the delivery of the clips out of the
way, it was on to producing the clips.  We used Real Producer and tried both
embedded and "click to open player" methods.  Results were satisfactory and
the site uses both.  For the "Listen" section of the site, we went with
embedded.  When they select another track or leave the page, the sounds
leaves with it.  That way they're not sitting there with the player open,
sucking at your bandwidth.  When the clip is over, it stops and you have to
reload it.  No looping.  Again, no bandwidth suckers.  The pages with sound
links embedded in "News" and other sections pop open the player so that
people don't have to choose between listening and reading, since there's
actually something to read, unlike the "Listen" section.

Just for kicks and because we had nothing better to do with our time <very
loud harharhar>  we ripped a few as MP3s and compared the quality, size,
etc.  Wav files were *definitely* out from the beginning because they are 1)
huge, 2) questionable quality, 3) HUGE 3) can crash browsers, and 4) are
HUGE!!  Did I mention that they were huge?

MP3s were much smaller (duh), but had to be downloaded, which took time.  Of
course, I haven't played with this stuff in 3 months, and since 3 months is
the average technology lifecycle, there might be a way to mitigate that by
now.  Still, the MP3 files were much larger than the RM, RA, or RAM files.

Once you get to ripping the clips, there are all sorts of quality issues,
much like deciding how much resolution you're willing to give up to speed
download when it comes to graphics.  Liquid Audio, for instance, has nice
quality clips on their site, while CDNOW seems to sometimes just "get them
out there".  Of course, Liquid Audio uses a different technology (or so they
say), but even between sites using RA or MP3, the same track in the same
format can sound horrendously different.    That becomes sort of a personal
thing.  Since we were showcasing one performer and -- currently -- a limited
number of CDs, we opted on the side of quality over quantity and we were
pleased with the results.  So was he.  And his record company, of course
<roll eyes>.  But as I wrote, that's a personal thing.

Working with sound is fun, it can just be time-consuming.  And
space-consuming if you're not careful.

Good luck and happy coding.

Karin

---------------------
Karin Ransdell - kransdell(at)squishedmosquito.com
Escapade Development Team
Squished Mosquito, Inc.
http://www.squishedmosquito.com - http://www.escapade.org

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