Sent my first media related hub post to HubPages a few days ago
Why not click here and go and read it?
Then remember to share it with everyone
Thanks!
Thursday 23 June 2011
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Make your own backing music
This is a great way for buskers and pub performers to make their own backing music absolutely free rather than paying for the service. With this method you can create your own great sounding backing tracks for your performances without having to have any musical skill or knowledge whatsoever. To do this we utilise freely available midi (musical instrument digital interface) software and files to work with.
It basically works using this step-by-step procedure:
1 Get a music score or sheet music from your local library or online
2 Copy the position and duration of the notes into a midi notation editor
3 Play about with the different instuments to creat the desired sound
4 Save as midi music file or convert into mp3, wav or wma audio
Midi is the format used by all electronic keyboard manufacturers and is the standard universally compatible format. Electronic keyboard manufacturers use midi to create different instrument sounds to play on the keyboard and to add pre-programmed music tracks to their equipment.
Midi is a very small file, taking only a few kilobytes of memory as opposed to many megabytes such as mp3, wma and wav. This invariably means that you could store hundreds of midi files in only a few megabytes of storage. For example just one standard cd-rom can store thousands of midi files; so a 4 gigabyte memory stick will therefore hold millions.
The biggest advantage is that although only small, many midi files will still offer great instrumental sound quality. I say instrumental because midi is not able to work with vocals.
The basic procedure in a little more detail:
1 Using your normal public library membership you can borrow sheet music or music score books to read and use at home for no cost. Alternatively you can sometimes download sheet music for the tune you require, search the title of the song or tune and free sheet music into a decent search engine such as Google.
2 You will need to copy the music into a midi notation editor (I recommend Noteworthy Composer, it's free and does the job quite well. Once downloaded and unzipped click on NWC32 to use). A midi notation editor will show you the standard five horizontal lines close together that is used for music composition, just copy what you see on the sheet music or music score. This is easy to do but can be somewhat time-consuming and you will need to pay particular attention to detail.
Alternatively you could download a pre-recorded midi file from the internet and edit it to your requirements. Search for the name of the tune followed by mid or midi in a good search engine.
3 Standard midi notation will use piano type sounds as the default so you may want to change this to different instrument sounds to create the desired effect. Pre-recorded midi files will also load into the notation editor with ease. Your notation editor will make changes easy to do. Not only will you be able to edit the instruments but also the tempo, pitch and many other aspects.
4 Once you have what you want you can save the result as a midi file for use later. If however you wish to play it back using standard audio playback equipment you will need to convert your midi file into a different audio format such as mp3 or wav, there are plenty of free downloadable applications that will do this for you.
I will be releasing a tutorial eBook and accompanying tutorial videos that will take you by the hand and guide you through the exact procedure. Look out for them soon.
It basically works using this step-by-step procedure:
1 Get a music score or sheet music from your local library or online
2 Copy the position and duration of the notes into a midi notation editor
3 Play about with the different instuments to creat the desired sound
4 Save as midi music file or convert into mp3, wav or wma audio
Midi is the format used by all electronic keyboard manufacturers and is the standard universally compatible format. Electronic keyboard manufacturers use midi to create different instrument sounds to play on the keyboard and to add pre-programmed music tracks to their equipment.
Midi is a very small file, taking only a few kilobytes of memory as opposed to many megabytes such as mp3, wma and wav. This invariably means that you could store hundreds of midi files in only a few megabytes of storage. For example just one standard cd-rom can store thousands of midi files; so a 4 gigabyte memory stick will therefore hold millions.
The biggest advantage is that although only small, many midi files will still offer great instrumental sound quality. I say instrumental because midi is not able to work with vocals.
The basic procedure in a little more detail:
1 Using your normal public library membership you can borrow sheet music or music score books to read and use at home for no cost. Alternatively you can sometimes download sheet music for the tune you require, search the title of the song or tune and free sheet music into a decent search engine such as Google.
 |
| Noteworthy Composer in action |
Alternatively you could download a pre-recorded midi file from the internet and edit it to your requirements. Search for the name of the tune followed by mid or midi in a good search engine.
3 Standard midi notation will use piano type sounds as the default so you may want to change this to different instrument sounds to create the desired effect. Pre-recorded midi files will also load into the notation editor with ease. Your notation editor will make changes easy to do. Not only will you be able to edit the instruments but also the tempo, pitch and many other aspects.
4 Once you have what you want you can save the result as a midi file for use later. If however you wish to play it back using standard audio playback equipment you will need to convert your midi file into a different audio format such as mp3 or wav, there are plenty of free downloadable applications that will do this for you.
I will be releasing a tutorial eBook and accompanying tutorial videos that will take you by the hand and guide you through the exact procedure. Look out for them soon.
Video creation and editing
You can easily make your own videos by making use of one of the totally free video creation or editing software packages available from the internet.
It is not difficult once you've got the hang of the functions and controls, but you will need to pay attention to detail.
Here is my very first attempt at video creation using free software. It's not great but I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt, I have a lot to learn yet! Let me know what you think.
Wednesday 8 June 2011
A suitable alternative method to p2p file sharing, but with less risk
I'm sure you know that you’re at risk from viruses if you use p2p programs for getting hold of your videos, music, pictures, and other files, and although modern anti-virus protection goes a long way to help stop malicious files and programs getting into your system nothing is 100% guaranteed.
So what is the best way to get around the problem? Well here’s one way you can avoid risking it but still get the free music and videos you desire.
I remember spending hours in front of the PC years ago slowly downloading mp3 music (and several viruses also) from ‘Napster’ through a dial up connection.
Thankfully nowadays things have changed for the better; with super fast broadband connection and mega efficient anti-virus software downloading anything has become commonplace because it’s now easier, quicker, and safer.
First though let me briefly explain what p2p is about (just in case you don’t know).
P2p is short for ‘peer to peer’ and basically this means a software program that allows you to connect directly with other p2p users and download or upload files direct from and to the other user without the need of a middle-man, so to speak (for example: ‘winmx‘, ‘limewire‘ etc. but there are many others). It can be likened to having a connection direct to your friends computer without nothing in between, then you can access each others files without anything else getting involved. So effectively if you or the other user have any virus files on their system there’s nothing in between to stop them.
As I mentioned earlier, modern anti-virus protection will in most cases stop any virus entering your system, or
at the very least they can warrn you about any impending viral issues, but like most contraception methods nothing is 100% guaranteed.
So what’s another way?
How about using internet video sites. The biggest and most famous of course is ‘YouTube’ which is owned by ‘Google’ so you know you’re dealing with the big guys; but there are lots of others out there, you just need to sign up (or if for example the site is adult orientated, you just need to confirm you’re over 18 years of age) and you have access to thousands or even millions of free streamed flash videos (known as flv. files). The big advantage for us is that with these sites files are automatically checked for virus before they are permitted on the site (just what we need, safe files).
As a general rule, yes you have to watch these vids on the net, that’s what you’re meant to do! But do you know that with the right software - available totally free through the internet - you can download these videos to your computer, convert them to almost any format (such as ‘mpg’, ‘avi‘, ‘mp4’, ‘3g’ for example), copy only the audio part of the video to use as ‘wav’ or ‘mp3’ music/sound file, or even get a ‘codec’ to use with ‘windows media player’ so that you can actually watch the flash (flv.) streamed video through ‘media player’.
So there you have it, though only briefly; download the vid and save it on your computer, watch it whenever you want (with help from the codec) through ‘media player’, perhaps convert it to dvd or mpg or whatever, or if you like, copy the audio from it and use it as a music file.
Just type: ‘free video downloader’, ‘free flv codec for media player’, ‘free video converter’, ‘free video audio extractor’ or similar into a good search engine.
Alternatively you could purchase my new ebook in which I take you by the hand and guide you through the process one step at a time.
RECENT FOOTNOTE
Unfortunately, due to several reasons it is now not possible to download from 'YouTube' using this method. But if it's music you're after then nowadays it's perhaps best to record from 'Spotify' using any of the FREE audio editing software programs on the net, such as 'Audacity'.
So what is the best way to get around the problem? Well here’s one way you can avoid risking it but still get the free music and videos you desire.
I remember spending hours in front of the PC years ago slowly downloading mp3 music (and several viruses also) from ‘Napster’ through a dial up connection.
Thankfully nowadays things have changed for the better; with super fast broadband connection and mega efficient anti-virus software downloading anything has become commonplace because it’s now easier, quicker, and safer.
First though let me briefly explain what p2p is about (just in case you don’t know).
P2p is short for ‘peer to peer’ and basically this means a software program that allows you to connect directly with other p2p users and download or upload files direct from and to the other user without the need of a middle-man, so to speak (for example: ‘winmx‘, ‘limewire‘ etc. but there are many others). It can be likened to having a connection direct to your friends computer without nothing in between, then you can access each others files without anything else getting involved. So effectively if you or the other user have any virus files on their system there’s nothing in between to stop them.
As I mentioned earlier, modern anti-virus protection will in most cases stop any virus entering your system, or
at the very least they can warrn you about any impending viral issues, but like most contraception methods nothing is 100% guaranteed.
So what’s another way?
How about using internet video sites. The biggest and most famous of course is ‘YouTube’ which is owned by ‘Google’ so you know you’re dealing with the big guys; but there are lots of others out there, you just need to sign up (or if for example the site is adult orientated, you just need to confirm you’re over 18 years of age) and you have access to thousands or even millions of free streamed flash videos (known as flv. files). The big advantage for us is that with these sites files are automatically checked for virus before they are permitted on the site (just what we need, safe files).
As a general rule, yes you have to watch these vids on the net, that’s what you’re meant to do! But do you know that with the right software - available totally free through the internet - you can download these videos to your computer, convert them to almost any format (such as ‘mpg’, ‘avi‘, ‘mp4’, ‘3g’ for example), copy only the audio part of the video to use as ‘wav’ or ‘mp3’ music/sound file, or even get a ‘codec’ to use with ‘windows media player’ so that you can actually watch the flash (flv.) streamed video through ‘media player’.
So there you have it, though only briefly; download the vid and save it on your computer, watch it whenever you want (with help from the codec) through ‘media player’, perhaps convert it to dvd or mpg or whatever, or if you like, copy the audio from it and use it as a music file.
Just type: ‘free video downloader’, ‘free flv codec for media player’, ‘free video converter’, ‘free video audio extractor’ or similar into a good search engine.
Alternatively you could purchase my new ebook in which I take you by the hand and guide you through the process one step at a time.
RECENT FOOTNOTE
Unfortunately, due to several reasons it is now not possible to download from 'YouTube' using this method. But if it's music you're after then nowadays it's perhaps best to record from 'Spotify' using any of the FREE audio editing software programs on the net, such as 'Audacity'.
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