Tech: How to create short sound clips?

Subject: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 01:26 PM

I finally put together a quick web page for ShoreGrass band, after the 20th time I was asked for a promo picture. It's going to be so much easier now to just point the newspaper or whoever to the website and let them pick whichever one they want.

In the process, a bit of the ole techie nerd in me came out again, something I thought I had adequately squelched when I retired. So instead of just photos and bios and schedules, I got involved in sound samples of our cd.

I managed to figure out a work-around to get a short sound clip by starting up a freeware music converter program I found. By taking a guess at the number of seconds it runs (can't hear the original during this time) and cancelling before it's done, I end up with an mp3 file with a clip from the beginning to whenever I cancel.

The problem is that I'd like to pick a section from the middle somewhere which is more representative of the song, maybe a bit of verse and chorus rather than the kickoff.

So, can anyone give me some tips on ways to do this?

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: InOBU
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 07:57 PM

You can create short sound clips by writing short songs.... Larry

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Cluin
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 08:02 PM

Extract the file from the CD as a WAV file and edit it to the point you want (trim off the before and after bits and a even add some fades). As long as it is CD quality--16 bit, 44.1 KHz--you can convert that sample to an MP3 file.

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Cluin
Date: 01 Jan 03 - 08:06 PM

CoolEDIT is a pretty good WAV editor. An evaluation trial version can be downloaded here. It can even create a Realaudio file for streaming from your file.

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Mr Red
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 06:35 AM

if you want them to play through the browser remember there are going to be a few who can't hear mp3. Its the same for real audio and flash movie. If you want it to be universal and reach the last x% (there are more than you think) consider WAV files. Same goes for moving words and some of the fancy IE6/Netscape 7 finery.
Some 'catters have WebTV browsers and they seem to have difficulty with Java. I try my pages on IE5.5 / Netscape 4.5 and that does not cover enough old browsers. And then there is the Mac collection............ Its anarchy out there I tell you.
I usually prevail on the goodwill of friends and 'catters to have a look for me. Its amazing what you miss.

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Mitch the Bass
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 07:07 AM

Barbara,

There's a very handy way of taking wav fles from CDs called "alternate CDFS.VXD". It's available at http://www.maz-sound.com/cd-rippers.html

You can then edit the wav file in the editor of your choice (There are lots listed at http://www.audiotools.co.uk/editors.shtml) and convert it to mp3 for your web site.

Howard Mitchell
http://www.stradivarious.co.uk

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 09:27 AM

Thanks for the responses. I have converter software to put the cd tracks into either wav or mp3, so it looks like I need to get a program to edit the files. I was hoping for something simple and free. There have been several threads mentioning things like CoolEdit, so I guess I'd better go back and read them.

Mr Red, you're so right about the "anarchy" out there! I set up the page quickly using FrontPage (yes, threads about that too!), and I have trouble myself using the hover buttons. They go dead after one use because of some sort of Java error. This apparently does not happen to some other users.

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Cluin
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 05:12 PM

The problem with WAV files, Mr. Red, is that they are too damn big. You have to remember that not all your visitors are on a fast connection. They won't want to wait 15 minutes for the WAV file to download before they can hear it. The nice thing about the MP3 format is it is compressed without losing much sound quality (in higher bitrates >190 kbps, it is pretty much indistiguishable from the original uncompressed sound file). RealAudio loses quite a bit of quality, even in higher bitrates. Windows media fares better but is MicroSoft-based (a good enough reason to avoid it in some people's view).

Most people interested in music on the Web (that is your audience, y'know) will have software on their computers to listen to MP3s. Winamp is a free download anyway and you can provide a link to that on your website too.

Subject: RE: Tech: How to create short sound clips?
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 02 Jan 03 - 05:58 PM

Makes me wish I could find a player for .omg files... the format used by my Sony Mini-disk... those files are smaller than MP3's and sound just as good... I'd convert all 3+gigs of my mp3 library to omg, and save a ton of space...