For Thursday, June 4, 1998 Drummer Column, Gibbs, 722 words
MP3 revolution
Are you hip to the MP3 music scene? If not, you better sit down at your computer keyboard and catch up. If you're like me, a person who enjoys music but hates to fiddle with changing the CDs, then the MP3 format will appeal to you.
MPEG 1 Layer 3 is file compression that can squeeze a song down as low as 1/12th its original size. I made a single MP3 CD of my own music collection that plays for over 11 hours. It plays on my computer through amplified speakers. I could easily connect my computer to the house stereo with a length of cord and rock the building.
The available shareware software makes it easy to convert file formats. With WinDAC32 I can put a music CD into my computer and turn the songs into MP3 files. When I do that, a 50-meg song on the CD becomes a 4-meg file on my computer. I collect these songs together and copy 20 or more onto 100-meg ZIP disks. One CD can hold around 160 songs. Imagine that. EasyCD Creator lets me convert MP3s back to audio CD files that play in a standard CD player.
How to get started? The cornerstone to this musical explosion in the WINAMP MP3 player. Download this from www.winamp.com and install it. When you run it, it looks like a stereo console. If you want to customize its looks download some outer skins from the same site. Skins are cool.
Now, you need some MP3 files. Try the Internet. There must be terabytes of music out there. Is it legal? Yes and no. It is legal if you copy music you own for your own use. It is presently acceptable to download copyrighted music for sampling and quick deletion. It is not legal to stockpile downloaded copyrighted music, sell, or trade it.
Multimedia files of all types can be found at Scour.Net, a specialized search engine. It requires that you first download and install the Scour Media Agent. You run the agent program to search for songs. The agent opens your browser. Type in any favorite song or band and get a list of sites. Click the song you requested and it downloads to your computer. If you have a fast modem, you can download several songs at one time. When you're finished, start WINAMP and play the music.
Want to collect WinDAC32 and all the multimedia encoding/playing software in a swoop? Visit mp3.com. It is also a source of tremendous information if you want to learn more. If you become a real fan, you can go to the July 2 MP3 convention for $50 at UC San Diego.
With the proper codecs (coders/decoders) installed, I am now able to trim .WAV files down to 1/5th their original size and keep them as .WAV files. This is extremely helpful in creating smaller sound-enhanced PowerPoint presentations. My collection of barking dogs, breaking glass, and Homer Simpson blurts now takes up far less space on my hard drive.
Recent news has it that a chap in Australia named Adam Clark, age 22, just saved a 1.3 gigabyte video file onto a 1.44 floppy disk. He claims he can send broadcast-quality video streaming down a 28.8 modem over copper wires. Won't that be a hoot?
Also, just out is the MP-Man, a MP3 Walkman player the size of a deck of cards. No CDs or tapes to carry. Transfer up to 64 megs of tunes from your computer and hit the jogging trail. Version one of this gizmo sells for $300 to $500 depending on RAM.
Soon out, MP3 encoding and decoding capabilities on most CD players. Musical storage will shrink once again. CDs will go into the garage with the vinyl. Giant CD racks will be popping up at garage sales. People will carry their music collections in their pockets.
Brain Litman, Managing Directory of AMP (Advanced Multimedia Products) sees this as the future: The single will make a comeback. Major record companies will begin selling individual songs over the Internet instead of trapping them with other songs on a 74-minute CD. Buyers will be able to select and purchase their favorite songs only, and skip the mediocre ones.
Musicians, too, will be free to work on songs rather than albums. That would have helped Cat Stevens.