Burning Down The House

by Eliot Van Buskirk

Overview

Learn the perfect way to rip, copy, record, and burn digital music, using free, open-source software, or inexpensive commercial apps. From mash-ups that combine existing hits, to remixes of your favorite songs, you'll be ready to tackle it all -- even if you start as a novice who doesn't know BPM from MP3. Follow along with author Eliot Van Buskirk's step-by-step instructions (with diagrams) to produce projects that take you into the studio, onto the radio, and beyond. Burning Down the House: Ripping, Recording, Remixing, and More! shows you exactly why the computer is the most powerful musical tool of all time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780072228793
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill/OsborneMedia
Publication date:	05/28/2003
Series:	Internet and WWW Series
Pages:	292
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.61(d)

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	xv
	Introduction	xvii
Chapter 1	That's No Computer--It's Your Music Machine	1
	What Is Digital Music, Precisely?	2
	The Attributes of a Digital Music File	4
	What Dogs and Children Have in Common	4
	Uncompressed Audio Definitions	5
	Streaming vs. Downloading	7
	Focus on Codecs	8
	The "Analog Hole"	8
Chapter 2	What You Need (and What You Don't)	11
	What You Need	12
	The Heart of Your Setup	12
	Software Necessities	16
	Players	16
	Adding Plug-Ins and Visualizations to Winamp	17
	Rippers	18
	Burners	18
	Wave Editors	19
	The Curious Saga of CDDB	20
	Multitrack Editors	20
	Loop-Based Sequencers	20
	DJ Software	21
	Live Digital Audio Applications	22
Chapter 3	Copy a CD	23
	Your Burner Wants a Sidekick	25
	Copying Dodgy CDs	25
	Disc Selector	26
	Data Should Be a Clean-Burning Fuel	26
	All CD-Rs Are "for Audio"	26
	Copying CDs with Exact Audio Copy	29
	Where Did EAC Come From?	29
	Copying a Data CD of MP3s or Other Compressed Tunes	32
	Labeling	33
	Jewel Case Labels	34
	Labeling the CD	34
	The Life of a CD	34
Chapter 4	Rip a CD	35
	To Encode, or Not to Encode	36
	Ripping to WAV	36
	Ripping to WAV with EAC	37
	Tripping About Ripping	37
	Multiple Copies	41
	Ripping to AIFF with iTunes	42
	Ripping to MP3	43
	Configuring EAC's Output to MP3	45
	Installing the Lame Codec	45
	Setting Bit Rate	46
	Why LAME Isn't "Lame"	46
	Ripping and Encoding	47
	Ripping to WAV and MP3	48
	Open-Source Ripper	49
	Verifying the MP3s	50
Chapter 5	Download Music	51
	The Straight and Narrow	52
	Band Sites	52
	Free Internet Radio and Downloads	53
	Be an Annoying Music Know-It-All	54
	Don't Have Issues; Get a Subscription	54
	Downloading from the "Gray Area"	55
	Saving Protected Audio	55
	Newsgroups: No Bed of Roses	56
	Internet Relay Chats: Primitive, Yet Effective	56
	FTP Ratio Sites: Under the Radar	56
	Viruses Fear Media	56
	Xochi's Delight	58
	P2P File-Sharing Clients and Networks	58
	Watch Your Step	59
	Centralized Equals Vulnerable	60
	The Freedom Fringe	64
	Delousing Your System of Spyware and Adware	65
	The Future of Downloading	67
Chapter 6	Record and Mix Live Audio	69
	Setup	70
	The Last Resort	71
	Sound Check	72
	Take It from the Top	74
	Editing 101	75
	Adding VST Effects	76
	Adding More Tracks	76
	Mixing Down Your Multitrack Recording	80
	Mixing Down to MP3	80
Chapter 7	Burn the Perfect Mix	83
	Song Selection	84
	Web Sites About Mixes	84
	Getting Clever with Compilations	85
	Theme Mixes	86
	Mixes for Specific Situations	86
	Preparation	88
	Taking Requests	88
	Normalization and Conversion	88
	Track Order Is Key	89
	Time to Burn	90
	Using EAC	90
	Step It Up a Notch	90
	Using Roxio Easy CD Creator Pro	91
	The Mix Is Burned	94
Chapter 8	Digitize Your Vinyl	95
	A Clean Connection	96
Plan A	Pure Digital	97
Plan B	The Analog RCA Output	98
Plan C	Analog Stereo Headphone Output	99
	Cables and Electromagnetic Interference	99
	Audiophile Systems, Alternative Configurations	100
	Sound Check	100
	Troubleshooting	102
	Why Phono Connections Are Different	103
	Setting Levels	104
	Recording One Side at a Time	107
	Zapping Pops and Hisses	109
	Exporting Individual Songs	114
	Exporting to Uncompressed WAV for CD Burning	114
	Exporting to MP3	116
Chapter 9	Turn Your Digital Pictures into Music Videos	117
	Setting Up the Software	118
	Alternatives for Non-Windows Users	119
	Balancing Songs and Images	120
	Lining Up Pics and Tunes	121
	Think Before You Send	121
	Importing Images	122
	Configuring Images	123
	Adding Music to the Mix	124
	Setting Up Transitions (or Leaving Them Alone)	124
	Exporting Your Creation	126
	Turning Off the Screensaver (if Necessary)	127
	Video Editing Resources	128
Chapter 10	Build a Beat and Sample Library on Your Computer	129
	Man vs. Machine	130
	What Are Samples?	131
	Collecting Samples	131
	The Legality of Sampling	131
	Buying Loop CD-ROMs	132
	Downloading Samples	132
	Sampling an Audio CD	134
	Time Signatures	135
	Sampling Spoken-Word Recordings	137
	Sampling Vinyl	139
	Sampling Toys, Noise-Makers, or Your Own Voice	139
	Organizing Your Samples	139
	"The Library of Babel": a Cautionary Tale	140
	Sorting by Tempo	140
Chapter 11	Broadcast Audio to Every Radio in Your House--Wirelessly	143
	The Digital Solution	144
	Portable FM Transmitters	145
	The New Underground FM	145
	Home FM Transmitters	146
	Installation	147
	Pranks (Intentional or Otherwise)	147
Chapter 12	Turn Out Your Own DJ Set	149
	Preparation Is Key	150
	DJ Mixing	150
	Mixing with Tactile 12000	150
	Effects, Samples, and Tricky Transitions	152
	Mixing with PCDJ Silver (aka MP3 Mixmaster)	152
	PCDJ Blue and Red (and FX)	153
	Keep 'Em Guessing	155
	Conceptual Transitions	156
	Pre-Fab Transitions and Effects	157
	The Six Degrees Mix	160
	Export the Songs, Spliced Together	160
	DJ-ing the Party	160
	Hooking Up to the Sound System	160
Chapter 13	Make a Self-Playing or Self-Burning CD	161
	Make a Self-Playing MP3 CD	162
	Arranging the Content	163
	The Incredible Disappearing Album Art	164
	Previewing the Mix	164
	Burning the Disc	164
	Zipping It Good	165
	Changing Skin	165
	Upload a Self-Burning CD to Your Web Site	166
	Obtaining Your Own Web Site	166
	Creating the Applet and Importing MP3s	167
	NetBurn Server	171
	Don't Click the Applet Yet!	172
Chapter 14	Create Your Own Internet Radio Station	175
	Creating a Launch Station	176
	Sculpting the Playlist	176
	Promoting Your LAUNCH Station	178
	Penny Royalty	179
	Program Your Own Station with Live365.com	179
	Setting Bit Rate and Station ID	179
	Fix Incorrect or Missing ID3 Tags	181
	Uploading and Sequencing	182
	Jump Through the Hoops	184
	Listen to Your Station	185
	Webcasting with Your Own Shoutcast Server	185
	Creating Live Broadcasts with Live365 from Your Desktop Mic	185
	The Open-Source Alternative	186
	Installing Your Own Shoutcast Server	187
	Webcasting and Copyright	188
	Firewalls and Shoutcast Servers	188
	Advertising and Promotion	189
	Close Servers Carefully	190
	Adding Voiceover	193
	Station ID	194
	Bounce Your Shoutcast Stream off a Dedicated Server	194
	Pool Your Resources	195
	Promoting Your Shoutcast Station	195
Chapter 15	Remixing 101	197
	Preparation	198
	Sonic Foundry Acid	198
	Manual Beat-Matching	199
	Import the Song into Acid	200
	Mining for Loops with Audacity	204
	Equalize It	204
	Extract Samples	204
	"It's Got a Good Beat, and You Can Dance To It"	204
	Trimming the Loops	206
	Import the Samples into Acid	208
	Add Beats and Stir	211
	Paint to Compose	211
	Icing the Cake	213
	Add Effects	213
	Sound Can Be Dry or Wet	213
	Tips and Tricks	220
	Additional Sample Ideas	221
	Samples and Pitch	221
	Sharps and Flats Have Nothing to Do with Tires	222
	Mad Beat Tweaking	223
	Chopping In and Out	224
	Doubling/Multiplying Beats	224
	Add Glitches	226
	Acid Pro's Chopper	226
	Mastering	227
	Additional Resources	227
Chapter 16	Create a Mash-Up Remix	229
	"Doing a Missy"	230
	Preparation	231
	Acquiring an A Cappella Track	231
	Preparing the Songs	232
	Quantizing Makes This All Possible	232
	An Easy View	235
	First, the Vocals	238
	Then, Long Instrumental Loops	238
	The Sky's the Limit	238
	Acid Tips	239
	Pitch Shifting	239
	Paint the Music	239
	Arrangement	239
	Response to "A Stroke of Genius"	241
	Mastering and Mixing Down	241
	Titling Your Creation	241
	Additional Resources	241
Appendix	Legal Considerations	243
	The Rights of a Copyright Holder	243
	The Right to Reproduce the Work	244
	The Right to Make Derivative Works Based on the Original Work	244
	The Right to Distribute the Work	244
	The Right to Perform a Work Publicly	244
	The Right to Display the Work Publicly	245
	The Right to Transmit Digitally	245
	Fair Use	245
	Glossary	247
	Index	255

Editorial Reviews

The Barnes & Noble Review
Burning Down the House is all you need to know about ripping, copying, recording, and burning digital music -- and it’s full of cool stuff you won’t find in other books on the subject.

For example, there are two full chapters on remixing: everything from manual beat-matching in Sonic Foundry Acid to creating mash-up remixes that splice two songs together (a.k.a. bootleg remixes or bastard pop). You’ll also learn how to create your own Internet radio station using services like Launch.com (now part of Yahoo!), Live365.com, and Shoutcast.

Eliot van Buskirk shows you how to record and mix live audio, from setup and sound checks to adding VST effects, and mixing down to MP3. He’s written a full chapter on organizing, ordering, and burning mixes for different occasions -- driving mixes, party mixes, and so forth.

Among the many things we like about this book is its reliance on free software wherever that’s practical. Van Buskirk has found some pearls you may never have heard of -- like Exact Audio Copy, a handy ripper and CD copier for Windows, and Audacity, an open source audio editor that can handle everything from mixing tracks to removing noise. (Of course, noise reduction is especially handy if you’re ripping old vinyl LPs -- yet another task van Buskirk covers, step-by-step.)

If you love music, you’ll love Burning Down the House. Bill Camarda

Bill Camarda is a consultant, writer, and web/multimedia content developer. His 15 books include Special Edition Using Word 2000 and Upgrading & Fixing Networks for Dummies, Second Edition.

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