Thanks to iTunes and the iPod , music has become an integral part of the Mac lifetime . Those two products have helped preempt the slews of CDs most of us have been amassing for the preceding 15 long time .
The benefits are clear . Digital euphony files take up very little computer memory space on your Mac ; allow you to explore , categorise , and take on your music in newfangled and exciting ways ; and are portable . And if you ’re quick to go beyond prerecorded euphony , Apple ’s GarageBand app set you in the studio to make your own tunes .
To aid you get the most from your music , we ’ve put together a package with perceptiveness on ripping and organize your music aggregation . We ’ll also show you how to pump the sound all around the house , beyond the limitations of your Mac ’s crummy speakers or your iPod ’s headphones . And you ’ll let out how to create your own songs with GarageBand .
Ripping
iTunes could n’t be much easier to operate , but there ’s much more to it than click , play , and bask . Peer beneath the lens hood and you ’ll incur that you’re able to tailor-make — and even ameliorate — the audio files that iTunes generate . Dig a bit deeper , and you ’ll discover that iTunes offers a wealth of ways to organize your medicine collection .
Mac the RipperAnyone who has ripped an audio cadmium ( that is , converted and imported its content ) in iTunes knows what a simple process it can be . Insert the CD , wait for iTunes to download racecourse information from the net , snap on the Import button , and go about your business while iTunes does its business organization . What you may not bed is that you have a pick when it comes to the formatting in which iTunes import that CD .
iTunes and the iPod support four audio format — AIFF , WAV , MP3 , and AAC . AIFF and WAV filing cabinet are uncompressed and have about 10 MB of hard- drive space for each moment of stereo audio . MP3 file are compress ( divest of audio data considered to be less detectable to the human spike ) . With iTunes 4 , Apple added a fresh audio - compression format — Dolby Laboratories ’ Advanced Audio Coding ( AAC ) .
By default option , iTunes 4 rips CD audio files at 128 Kbps to about 7 percent of the original file size . But if you ’re willing to trade hard - drive space for better sound timber , you may want to change iTunes ’ default import setting . To do so , select Preferences from the iTunes fare and tap the Importing tab . Selecting AIFF Encoder or WAV Encoder from the Import Using pop up - up computer menu provides you with full - quality , uncompressed euphony cartroad — useful for purists — but these files will take up a load of distance on your Mac or iPod . A good via media is to leave AAC Encoder selected and find up the firmness . To do this , select Custom from the Setting pa - up menu beneath AAC Encoder , and prefer a higher scrap charge per unit from the Stereo Bit Rate bolt down - up menu .
Sound quality is subjective — some people ca n’t say the difference between a 128 - Kbps AAC file and the original certificate of deposit , whereas others may funk from AAC files encoded at anything less than 256 Kbps . The honorable way to determine which preferences please you is to pull medicine you know well at a variety of bit rate ( include one version in an uncompressed state ) , and then perform a blind hearing trial on the equipment you normally practice to run music . The encryption prepare that produces a file you ca n’t distinguish from the original ( or that you could best abide ) is the setting for you .
Alternative EncodersAlthough iTunes provide a wealth of encode choices , many people think files produced by the LAME ( LAME Ai n’t an MP3 Encoder ) and Ogg - Vorbis encoders sound better than files encoded by iTunes .
square father MP3 file cabinet , but because of its improved psycho - acoustic modeling and noise defining , many multitude prefer its encryption to iTunes ’ . Although you’re able to act LAME - encoded files in iTunes and on your iPod , iTunes does n’t allow you to encode LAME single file without a little oeuvre . To encode your files in LAME format , you must turn to a utility such as Funkatron Production ’s free LameBrain ( www.funkatron.com ) or Blacktree ’s free iTunes - LAME Encoder ( www.blacktree.com ) .
Ogg - Vorbis , an open - source encoder used widely in the Linux public , incur even less support than LAME in iTunes . iTunes does n’t encode Ogg - Vorbis file . Rather , you must apply a utility such as No U - Turn ’s genus Beta Ogg Drop X ( www.nouturn.com ) , which includes a QuickTime component for playback . Or you could encounter them in Panic ’s $ 30 Audion 3 ( www.panic.com ) or VideoLAN ’s free VLC Media Player ( www.videolan.org ) .
Audiophiles prefer the sound quality of LAME and Ogg - Vorbis files , which apply different method acting of choosing how to constrict reasoned datum than most common encoders , including iTunes . Both format also employ varying - bit - charge per unit ( VBR ) encoding , which allows them to motley compaction based on the complexness of various passages . Even if you utilize iTunes ’ MP3 encoder , you may take advantage of VBR encoding to ameliorate sound quality . From iTunes ’ Importing preference pane , select MP3 Encode from the Import Using wrench - down menu ; then choose Custom from the Setting clout - down carte du jour and take Use Variable Bit Rate Encoding ( VBR ) .
The trade - off for the improved sound tone these encoders proffer is longer encoding times . For good example , encoding a 4 - second , 40.8 MB AIFF single file as an MP3 file within iTunes accept 20 second on a 1.25GHz PowerBook G4 . encode the same file with Ogg Drop ’s Best Quality VBR setting took 54 second . LameBrain ’s received VBR scene eventually trotted in at 1 minute and 30 seconds .
Organizing iTunes
You know that you may sort your iTunes music accumulation into playlists . But is flinging an album ’s worth of Sung dynasty into a playlist the most efficient manner to organize your euphony ? Perhaps not . The follow strategy may avail your iTunes Music Library make sense .
All Sorts of SortingBy default , iTunes ’ principal windowpane include the Song Name , Time , Artist , Album , Genre , My Rating , act Count , and Last Played column headings — snap on a heading to sort out your song by that standard . Suppose you want to identify a gang of uncompressed songs that are eating up worthful space on your iPod , or apace place songs you just scuff into your iTunes Library ? These head wo n’t help , but iTunes ’ View Options will .
When you choose View Options ( Command - J ) from iTunes ’ Edit card , you have the opportunity to sum many utile column header to iTunes ( see “ Nice vista ” ) or to remove those you do n’t use . For example , by tot a Kind header , you may cursorily differentiate uncompressed AIFF and WAV files from uncompressed MP3 and AAC files , as well as purchased iTunes Music Store songs from home - encode AAC files . Enabling the Date Added option and clicking on the gallery will show you late additions to your iTunes Library .
Maintain Multiple LibrariesOS X was design so that many people could share a single data processor and still maintain individual employment environments . The fly in the cream is that two user of the same computing gadget may want to mind to a single appeal of melodic phrase , but because of OS X ’s permissions scheme , each person is locked out of the Music pamphlet of other exploiter . To work around this limitation , you simply take to relocate the iTunes Music Folder in an area approachable to all users . Here ’s how it works .
Each individual who wants to share his or her iTunes Music Library affect the iTunes Music brochure that ’s inside his or her Music folder to the Public leaflet . Launch iTunes , prime Preferences from the iTunes menu , and press the Advanced tab . select the Change button , pick out the new location of the iTunes Music folder ( the Public folder ) , and select OK to dismiss the Preferences windowpane .
To enjoy another substance abuser ’s music , launch iTunes , select Preferences from the iTunes menu , snap on the Advanced chit , turn off the Copy Files To iTunes Music Folder When lend To Library pick , and snap on OK to terminate the windowpane . Now pick out Add To Library from iTunes ’ File menu and , in the Add To Library dialog box , pilot to another user ’s Public leaflet . pick out the iTunes Music brochure within that booklet and clack on Open . This lend the medicine from the Public booklet to your iTunes Music Library .
you could perform the same antic with mounted meshing bulk . Should you unmount such a loudness and then attempt to bet a song stash away on it , you ’ll be cue to access to that volume .
If you ’d like to defend multiple medicine libraries on your Mac — one on your internal drive and another on a removable drive , for model — Doug Adams provides the means , with his $ 5 iTunes Library Manager ( www.malcolmadams.com/itunes/itinfo/ituneslibrarymanager.php ) . This AppleScript applet creates backup copies of your iTunes 4 Library database filing cabinet , so you’re able to save and load dissimilar music library . This can also be helpful if you acknowledge iTunes slowing down when you ’re dealing with a very large library .
Automated OrganizationSpeaking of Doug Adams , he offers a horde of other helpful iTunes and iPod AppleScripts on his Web site , Doug ’s AppleScripts for iTunes ( www.malcolmadams.com/itunes ) . In plus to the aforementioned iTunes Library Manager , you ’ll find scripts for corralling duplicate files in your iTunes Music Library , exchange files from one audio format to another , and locating album nontextual matter on the web that you could then paste into iTunes . Many of these script are free , and nearly all of them are worth downloading . — christopher breen
Master the iTunes Music Store
There ’s more to the iTunes Music Store than just snap and download . Try these tips to make your shopping experience more productive and pleasurable .
tip MeTo keep up - to - date on add-on to the Store without open iTunes , consider adding Apple ’s RSS ( Rich Site Summary ) feed to your RSS newsreader . With a referee such as Ranchero Software ’s free NetNewsWire Lite or its more robust $ 40 NetNewsWire ( www.ranchero.com ) , you ’ll know within seconds when Apple adds Modern tune and audiobooks to the iTunes Music Store . To personalize an RSS provender , chew the fat the iTunes Music Store RSS Feed Generator ( http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZSearch.woa/wa/MRSS/rssGenerator ) .
Full PreviewIf you have a tiresome Internet connexion , the Music Store ’s song trailer may stutter or stop . To receive politic , continuous playback of your trailer , choose Preferences from the iTunes card , select the Store push in the resulting windowpane , and activate the Load Complete Preview Before Playing option . This tells iTunes to download the entire preview before playing it back .
The Funny StuffBefore the Music Store began selling Audible audiobooks , it classified funniness recordings in the Spoken Word genre . That genre has vaporize , but the recording have n’t . If you ’d like to range the costa - tickling area of the Store , prize Power Search from within the Search Music Store loge , or go to the Music Store ’s home page and come home on the Power Search link . In the ensue Power Search windowpane , choose Comedy from the Genre pop - up menu and then fall into place on the Search button next to the Composer box .
The Hunt for HonorÃÂ © When graze a category within the Store ’s Audiobooks section — classics , for example — you ’ll discover that it class the listing of author by first name . This is n’t a awful burden if you ’re shell out with modern writer whose first and last names are well known , but compassionate the high - school educatee who is incognizant that Monsieur Balzac , the nineteenth - century Gallic journalist and writer , had the first name of HonorÃÂ © . If you get flummoxed in such situations , utilize iTunes ’ hunt athletic field .
Smart ShoppingIf you find it difficult to reign in your outgo at the Store , these two point may assist .
habituate the Shopping Cart rather than the Command - Click shopping . It ’s easy to misplace rail of how much you ’re pass when you buy call and album as you tour the Store . When you pile all your audible goodness into the Shopping Cart and watch the possibly shameful aggregate , you may be willing to forgo some of your more impetuous purchase . To alternate from Command - Click to Shopping Cart , select Preferences from the iTunes menu , tap the Store tab , and turn on the Buy Using A Shopping Cart option . ( If you ’re really concerned about impulse purchasing , consider replete your cart and await a day to finalise your purchases . )
Still take aback when you receive your credit card statement ? Another room to save money is to budget yourself . make a second Apple ID , and use it to bring out an iTunes Allowance to your original ID . Each Apple ID is linked to a unique e - mail address , not to a credit entry card bit or home reference . To execute this trick , you ’ll need a second e - mail computer address ( for object lesson , another postbox from your ISP , or a free Yahoo or Hotmail account ) . Once you ’ve exhausted the allowance , you know you ’re done for the calendar month . — cb
Alternative Music Formats
MP3 , AAC , and OGG single file are heavy because they are small , but they use lossy compression . AIFF and WAV files are prized for their CD - quality sound , but they take up a lot of elbow room on a hard private road . If you ’re looking for a middle ground , take a gander at some other audio codecs gain popularity : SHN ( Shorten ) , FLAC ( Free Lossless Audio Codec ) , and APE ( Monkey ’s audio recording ) .
These file formats all utilize lossless compression , which intend that they do n’t shed out melodic data point to achieve smaller size — they ’re just like StuffIt or Zip archive , but they ’re designed specifically for music . The files are swelled than most of what you ’ll obtain in your iTunes Library — about half the size of AIFF files , or around 5 MiB per arcminute — but are musically undistinguishable from standard audio - CD single file .
For that understanding , SHN and FLAC are being used extensively for online euphony trading of live concerts from bands , such as moe and the Grateful Dead , that allow lover to tape their shows . one thousand of such recording are available as free downloads from the nonprofit Internet Archive ( www.archive.org ) .
And set include Phish ( www.livephish.com ) , Steve Kimock Band ( www.digitalsoundboard.net ) , Primus ( www.primuslive.com ) , and Metallica ( www.livemetallica.com ) are sell downloadable soundboard recordings of many of their concert , in both MP3 and FLAC ( the latter format costs a few dollar more , mostly because the file cabinet sizes are larger and download metre are greater ) . Eight - string idle words guitar creative person Charlie Hunter ( www.charliehunter.com ) , whose live performances are freely traded , is also sell three of his studio apartment record album as MP3 or FLAC digital downloads .
If you ’re interested in encoding or decode any of these data format , download Scott Brown ’s xACT ( X Audio Compression Toolkit ) 1.3 , a costless GUI for the Shorten , FLAC , and APE command - line peter ( useable at http://etree.org ) . Neither iTunes nor the iPod can play any of these formats , but Slim Devices ’ Squeezebox can stream FLAC , along with many other formatting . The now defunct Subband Software is return away its shareware music musician MacAmp Lite X ( find.macworld.com/0004 ) . Download the 1.5b version ( which includes chew - inch for playing SHN and FLAC file ) , and insert the registration codes list on the website . The gratuitous MPlayer OS X (; Mac Gems , February 2004 ; http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net ) and VLC Media Player 0.7.1a (; ” More Mac Software Bargains , ” May 2003 ; www.videolan.org ) can also represent FLAC files . And of grade , using xACT , you may decode any of the bring up lossless formats to AIFF or WAV , to burn to a atomic number 48 or compress with iTunes . — jonathan seff
iTunes Add-Ons
iTunes include most of the features mass require for encoding , organizing , and playing music . But anyone who has run a lookup on iTunes at VersionTracker.com have it off there are a master of ceremonies of public utility and add - ons that extend the iTunes experience . Here are some of our favorites :
Wincent Colaiuta ’s $ 5Synergy 1.0a8 (; ” More Mac Software Bargains , ” May 2003 ; http://synergy.wincent.com ) places iTunes playback control in the carte bar ; provides systemwide live samara ; and adds a fading , semitransparent display for track information .
eternity - to - the - Power - of - Infinity ’s free ( donations accepted)iChatStatus 1.2.1(www.ittpoi.com ) dynamically changes your iChat status to reflect whatever you ’re currently play in iTunes — a case of melodious voyeurism .
Jay Tuley ’s freeiEatBrainz 1.0b5(http://homepage.mac.com / jbtule / software.html ) accesses the MusicBrainz Web site ( http://musicbrainz.org ) to pay back ill go after MP3 and AAC files in your iTunes Library , using acoustic matching .
Yoel Inbar ’s free ( donations accepted)Fetch Art for iTunes 1.1(http://staff.washington.edu / yoel / fetchart/ ) uses Amazon.com ’s immense library of album cover to download and add cover charge art to your iTunes songs .
Sprote Rsrch . ’s freeClutter 1.0d14(www.sprote.com ) creates draggable desktop compact disc covering for your iTunes record album . bivalent - pawl on one , and that record album begins to play .
Visualizer nag - ins such as SoundSpectrum’sWhiteCap 4.5.8andG - Force 2.5.3(http://soundspectrum.com ) , Volcano KitiTunes Visualizer 1.0.2(www.volcanokit.com ) , MacZoop’sLED Spectrum Analyzer for iTunes 2.0.3 , and ArKaosVisualizer 1.5.4(www.arkaos.net ) are free ways to add visual spice to your iTunes experience — specially when you ’re nauseous of the visualizer Apple include . If you do n’t have installers , just open your user pamphlet , go to Library : iTunes : iTunes Plug - ins , and then leave out them in that folder .
Chaotic Software ’s $ 25MP3 furore 5.8.1 (; Mac Gems , April 2003 ) is an ideal tool for people with large MP3 collections . It help you look up and sterilise unlawful ID3 tag data , rename file based on that information , count up lyrics and record album covers , find duplicates , create a catalog filing cabinet ( to use with a database program ) , move and reorganize files , and more .
A cross between iEatBrainz and Fetch Art for iTunes , LairWare ’s $ 20MPFreaker 1.0b5(www.lairware.com ) helps find artwork and miss tag selective information from around the mesh . It works with MP3 and AAC files , and it can take iTunes playlists directly .
Octiv ’s $ 20Volume Logicplug - in digitally remasters your iTunes music in actual time , improving the sound timbre and eve out the volume between songs . Just turn off Sound Check and turn iTunes ’ book up to maximum ; then let mass Logic wield all of iTunes ’ melodic output . — js
RELEASE THE SOUNDS
You ’ve rend your CDs to MP3 and AAC files . You ’ve buy songs from the iTunes Music Store . Your iPod is overflow with tunes . It ’s probably dependable to say that you ’re captivated by the allure of digital euphony . So you ’ll be thrilled to discover that inside your Mac rages the heart of a freshwater bass - thud , teeth - rattle sound organisation . Your iPod can partake its sweet sounds beyond your ears . With the right speakers and enhancement , you may incorporate your Mac or iPod into your sound system — or just as easy direct your stereo to the consumer - electronics graveyard .
Musical Mac
You ’ve get tons of euphony on your Mac . If it ’s really at the center of your digital hub , it ’s sentence to put your Mac to good sonic use — either as a stereo component or as a musical powerhouse unto itself .
The Speaker ConnectionMacs have either one build - in speaker or two , depend on the model — but those speaker can make Jimi Hendrix sound as though he were playing a uke . Any Mac laptop computer or desktop can well link up to external speaker unit via the line - out jack on your Mac . Unlike the speakers attached to your home stereo , which draw their power from the amplifier , reckoner speakers are powered — they persist off a power hoopla or batteries , and they let in their own gain .
Since most of the music you ’re likely to play consists of stock stereo ( two - channel ) files , you may avoid costlier surround - speech sound setup and expect for a 2.1 system — that is , a left and a right talker , along with a subwoofer ( the .1 part ) that manage the low absolute frequency , or bass . Klipsch ’s $ 150 ProMedia GMX A-2.1 ( www.klipsch.com ) and Harman Kardon ’s $ 200 SoundSticks II ( www.harman-multimedia.com ) are some example .
You may decide to buy a multichannel speaker organisation — because you also watch over videodisc on your Mac and would like to relish the surround - auditory sensation capability build into Panther ’s DVD Player app , for exemplar . Klipsch deal several other ProMedia configurations , let in the $ 250 ProMedia GMX D-5.1 and $ 400 ProMedia Ultra 5.1 ; JBL ( www.harman-multimedia.com ) sell the $ 180 Invader 4.1 television channel system ; and there are more . ( Keep in mind that no Mac games presently support multichannel audio . )
If you want to get disembarrass of the ties that bind — the wires that connect your speaker unit to your computer — check out cordless systems such as RCA ’s $ 150 WSP150 ( www.rca.com ) , Acoustic Research ’s $ 180 AW871 ( www.bestbuy.com or other on-line retail merchant ) , or Sony ’s single - verbalizer $ 180 SRS - RF90RK ( www.sonystyle.com ) . All expend 900MHz tuner frequencies to ship medicine from a base ( connected to your Mac via line out ) to wireless speaker unit , with range varying from 125 to 300 foot .
Since verbalizer character can be very immanent , it ’s best to go to a store where you could hear to potential purchase — rather with the types of music you typically mind to , and in a quiet , representative environment — before you buy .
The ProSpeaker OptionOwners of G4 iMacs and some Power Mac G4 models credibly know about the ProSpeaker embrasure next to the earpiece jack , which appropriate you to fleece up the Apple Pro Speakers ( $ 59 ; include with the iMac ) . What you may not have known is that you’re able to use that port to attach that extra pair of utterer you have gathering dust in a press somewhere . With Griffin Technology ’s $ 25 ProSpeaker Breakout Cable ( www.griffintechnology.com ) , you’re able to connect your regular , unpowered speaker system to your Mac with standard speaker system conducting wire .
Extra PowerAs cite antecedently , all Macs can send two TV channel of medicine out via the short letter - out jack . Most models support 16 - bit sound ( used for standard candle , MP3 , and AAC file cabinet ) . The Power Mac G5 , iMac G4 , and 15- and 17 - inch PowerBooks support 24 - minute audio frequency , which can produce better depth and create a rich , full speech sound when pumped through a great pair of speaker unit .
If you ’ve find 24 - turn enviousness or want more than just stereo output , you have options . M - Audio ’s $ 120 Revolution 7.1 PCI card ( www.m-audio.com ) provide 24 - bit support , and it can output to as many as seven speakers and a subwoofer . This transcription is known as Dolby Digital EX , the next generation of Dolby digital sound ; it includes two speakers more than a 5.Command - Channel frame-up . hoi polloi with iMacs , PowerBooks , or iBooks ( Macs without PCI one-armed bandit ) can get similar benefit from USB devices such as M - Audio ’s $ 120 bus - power Sonica Theater . Both products can produce practical surround sound from stock stereophonic system music .
Wired to StereoWhile your Mac can operate as the center of attention of a great auditory sensation organisation , it can also integrate into your live home dramatics or stereoscopic picture organisation , giving you a constituent with great versatility .
you could send any sound on your Mac to the stereo plainly by connecting a Y - cable ( the sort with a stereoscopic photograph minijack on one end and two RCA stopple on the other ) from your Mac to a bare input on your stereophony pass receiver ( as long as it ’s not phono , which has spare amplification and ca n’t wield the full range of frequencies that modern euphony will prove to mug up through ) . A wide compass of Y - cables is useable , from Monster ’s $ 30 iCable for iPod ( www.monstercable.com ) to a $ 3 version usable at electronics stores such as Radio Shack .
you’re able to also utilise a PCI , USB , or FireWire interface for sound output . These tend to provide full sound , since they are consecrate to audio and commonly have higher - quality persona .
The Power Mac G5 is the first Mac to include built - in digital - sound stimulus and output . If you have a stereophonic receiver with an S / PDIF ( Sony / Philips Digital Interface ) ocular stimulus ( also known as Toslink ) , you could connect an ocular cable length from your Mac to the pass receiver , and your sound stay digital all the way of life .
A Smarter WayAlthough you may simply connect your Mac at once to a stereo , you still have to access and control the medicine from the Mac , which is not precisely commodious , to say the least .
One of the coolest ways to integrate your Mac with your stereo system is via networked music - playing hardware such as Slim equipment ’s Squeezebox ( mmmm ; April 2004 ; wired , $ 249 ; wireless , $ 299 ; www.slimdevices.com ) . The Squeezebox attaches to your Ethernet or 802.11 wireless web and lease you pelt various medicine formats , as well as MP3 Internet radio , to your stereo with parallel or digital cable . With the server software running on your Mac , the Squeezebox lets you hold your euphony with a remote . Two versions of the Roku Soundbridge ( $ 250 and $ 500 ; www.rokulabs.com ) — like to the Squeezebox , but without wireless capabilities — should be shipping by the time you read this .
think , if all you want to do is share your music on your habitation meshing , you do n’t need to grease one’s palms extra hardware ( see “ Mini Music Server ” ) .
Portable Pod
The iPod is one of the best affair to encounter to digital music — but let ’s face it , using it can be rather antisocial . Sticking tiny earphones in your capitulum is a solitary endeavor ; you ca n’t just share the sounds in your head with the rest of the party . But you may set up the medicine gratuitous .
lineal to SpeakersThe earpiece port on the iPod and the line - out larboard on iPod docks act just like those on your Mac — accordingly , any speakers that you could seize to a Mac with a minijack connexion , you could apply with the iPod . With a consecrate set of powered speakers , you may easily bear thousands of songs to any room of the household — so there ’s no need to buy a second stereo system .
If you ’re front for speakers made just for the iPod , mark out Alec Lansing ’s $ 150 inMotion (; April 2004 ) . Plop your newer iPod into the docking post between the two verbaliser , or connect your first - generation iPod via the subsidiary input diddlyshit , and you ’re in business for a small blank space — such as the kitchen , where you may take heed as you make breakfast .
The Stereo HookupAs with speakers , you could apply a Y - cablegram to connect your iPod to a two-channel receiver anywhere you have one . If you desire to desegregate the iPod with your home stereophonic system even further , take a look at TEN Technology ’s $ 50 naviPod ( www.tentechnology.com ) for third - generation iPods . secure your iPod into the naviPod , link it to your stereophony , and place it somewhere visible . Then model back on the couch and use the included five - key infrared remote for playback , book , and track control .
To escape wire lead , just glow the music from your iPod to your stereo . Lots of people already use radio transmitters such as Griffin Technology ’s $ 35 iTrip in the machine when cassette adapters are not a viable choice . But why should transmitters be limited to the road ? These RF ( Radio Frequency ) gadgets plug in to the iPod and disseminate to a specified post of your radio , so if you ’ve got an FM wireless at home , there ’s no reason not to use your vector within , too . — michael gowan
Mini Music Server
If you ’re die hard iTunes 4.01 or later , you ’ve already receive hefty euphony - sharing software installed . iTunes let computer on the same web make their libraries available to everyone else — even Windows iTunes computers . This feature is easy to use : just select the communion tab in iTunes ’ preferences and pick out the Share My Music option to unfold the pleasure of medicine around your networked home . This works with your everyday Mac , or you’re able to store your euphony on an old computer you have pose around ( even a microcomputer ) and practice it as a waiter .
To apportion medicine outside your internet — to listen to your home iTunes songs at work , for exercise — there ’s another choice . Download and set up Slim Devices ’ free SlimServer 5 software ( www.slimdevices.com ) , the same app that powers the Squeezebox . The host package uses iTunes ’ XML data to create a World Wide Web varlet with song information and playlists , from which you choose what to listen to . Set it up , and then use any covering that supports streaming ( such as iTunes and QuickTime , to name a few ) to enjoy your music from anywhere . For more information , visit find.macworld.com/0005 . — mg
Build to Order
Even if you ’ve never picked up an pawn or do n’t know midway C from a hole in the ground , GarageBand ’s built - in loops make the diligence both fun and useful for making medicine . For example , GarageBand is a fine pecker for creating iMovie soundtrack . One trouble you ’re sure to run into , though , is that the app does n’t admit a agency to disregard your patch to the precise length of your telecasting . sure as shooting , you could languish out the soundtrack , but would n’t you prefer to have it stop at exactly the moment your clip fades to black ? With the help of Apple ’s $ 30 QuickTime Pro ( included with many of Apple ’s pro apps ) , you may make your soundtrack do just that .
1.Create Your MovieOnce you ’ve edited your moving-picture show , note its duration , which appears in iMovie ’s title streak .
2.Export Your MovieSave your work as a QuickTime movie , using iMovie 4 ’s Share bidding .
3.start the NumbersTo make your medicine fit , you need to lie with how many measures it takes to fill the clock time of your movie . By nonpayment , GarageBand make file cabinet with a clip key signature of 4/4 ( think that each measure of music hold back four beat generation ) and 120 beat per bit ( bpm ) . To mold the number of measures per minute in a 4/4 piece , simply carve up the bpm by four — 120 divided by 4 equals 30 measures per moment , or 2 beats per second .
To give your soundtrack a natural feel , you should n’t cut off the soundtrack in the middle of a musical phrase — which in GarageBand is commonly four measures long . Therefore , your soundtrack should finish at a measure that is a multiple of four — at the end of measure 28 , 32 , or 36 , for deterrent example .
If you want to be awfully exacting about this , you could alter the bpm setting so that GarageBand generate measures that are a multiple of four every arcminute . To do so , take the phone number of measures you want and multiply it by four to determine the bpm . For example , 24 measure multiply by 4 beats per measure equals a beats per minute context of 96 . For our purpose , however , simply create a musical composition that ends within a few seconds of the distance of the movie .
4.Create and Export Your SoundtrackAssemble your musical masterpiece and pick out Export To iTunes from GarageBand ’s File menu .
5.Launch iTunes and Locate the SoundtrackSelect your export GarageBand soundtrack in the iTunes Library and opt Show Song File from the File menu ( or control - select the file name to fetch up a contextual computer menu with the same option ) . In the resulting windowpane , haul the single file to the Desktop .
6.Put It All TogetherPiece the picture show and sound files together in QuickTime Player Pro . Launch QuickTime Pro and open both your flick and your soundtrack files . take the soundtrack and press Command - A to select its cognitive content . Now press Command - C to re-create it .
select the picture you made in iMovie and pick out Add Scaled from the Edit fare . This paste the soundtrack into the movie and stretches or shrinks it to fit the video recording ’s length . This will change the soundtrack ’s pitch , but if the video and soundtrack are closemouthed in length , you should n’t hear a noticeable difference .
7.Mix the VolumeIf the soundtrack ’s audio is too cheap , you’re able to adapt its intensity . pick out the motion-picture show , press Command - J to lend up the movie ’s Properties windowpane , and choose Sound Track 2 from the window ’s first toss off - up menu and loudness from the 2nd one . Move the Volume Pseudemys scripta up or down .
8.store your MovieChoose Save As from QuickTime ’s File card . In the resulting Save dialog loge , turn on the Make Movie Self - Contained choice and clack on Save . — cb
