Category: Music
July 21 2005
Fool for the ChapterTool
Welcome to a new dawn in the science of music ripping. It always bugged me how MP3s add a slight split-second of silence to the beginning of every audio file, adding unwanted gaps between songs, interrupting segues or crossfades, breaking up the flow of live albums. Apple has recently released a crude Terminal-based app called ChapterTool which I’ve found handy in getting around this problem. It’s intended to be used to create enhanced podcasts, to add access points in longer recordings with which to create chapters; which in turn allows one to add artwork or a URL to each cue point. For instance, If someone does a podcast on music, he or she can include different cover art for each album mentioned plus links to the artists’ websites—as Apple itself does with its New Music Tuesday podcasts. What I like best about it is that it can be used to rip entire albums to my iPod, keeping them intact as single files, but with chapter markings which still allow access to each song. I’m having great fun re-ripping a lot of live and concept albums (anything where the music is pretty much uninterrupted) and, finally, be able to retain and present the music with gapless playback.
ChapterTool can be difficult to use, since one is forced to type up one’s own XML code (not to mention the general unfamiliarity of working with Terminal); but a there are a few alternatives. These are best illustrated in the ChapterTool tutorial at Vox Media. They also provide links to alternatives such as the free ChapterToolMe app (which I had problems with) and the Podcaster Enhancer Applescript (which did a good job of walking me through each step of the process, but which might get confusing with larger projects). These work as front-ends, since a free download of ChapterTool is still required. The one I like best is the newly released Vizacast, which costs $25. Its layout is simple and so far it’s produced the best results. It’s got a couple bugs (although a “Set Start Time” button enters cue times, it’s quite difficult to edit these times manually: typing in 11:36 winds up as anything from 00:01:36 to 01:01:36; and it can’t handle international characters or Apple Lossless files, though these might be limitations of ChapterTool itself) but it at least gets the job done quickly and easily. At last I can hear tracks from Klaus Badelt’s Pirates of the Caribbean, Delerium’s Odyssey, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds, Alabama 3’s Exile on Coldharbour Lane, Mark Snow’s The Truth and the Light (to name a recent few) as they were recorded, without gaps.
Posted by Mickey at 12:14 AM in Music, Tech, Apple | Comments (0) | Email this entry
July 9 2005
Live 8: Concert Review (Pt 3)
Intrepid reporter Sith in Heels, of the SEI message board, was at the Live 8 concert in Barrie on Saturday. This is the third and last part of her eyewitness account. As before, all clickable images lead to a larger size.
Jet was next. I missed the first part of this act for another porta potty trip but Mr Heels got some pics. I was back by their last number. I’m not a big Jet fan but thier songs are bouncy and the crowd liked that.
Jan Arden came on stage and declared “I want you to know that I’ve been Motley Crue’s opening act for more than one day now. It’s going good.”
Her tunes were great and her last song she dedicated to “Mothers, everywhere.” We were wondering why she ran off the stage before the song was completely over, but my mom told me that Jan’s mother died very recently and the reason she stormed off was because she was all crying and stuff. She sounded great.
Mötley Crüe!!!! This set rocked and, really, how could it not have.
Posted by Guest Reviewer at 01:40 PM in Music, Photos | Comments (0) | Email this entry
July 8 2005
Live 8: Concert Review (Pt 2)
Intrepid reporter Sith in Heels, of the SEI message board, was at the Live 8 concert in Barrie on Saturday. This is the second part of her three-part eyewitness account. As before, all clickable images lead to a larger size.
Bruce Cockburn was up next. He was a good speaker and one of the few people whose music actually applied to the cause. During the whole show, Mr Heels and I kept hoping that there would be a ‘duet’ with him and the BNL doing ‘Lovers in a Dangerous Time’ (written by Bruce, later covered very well by the Ladies),
(Apparently I’ve already got my order wrong, Sam played before Brian and the big shout out.)
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There was a cut to Green Day at Berlin |
Posted by Guest Reviewer at 01:50 AM in Music, Photos | Comments (0) | Email this entry
July 5 2005
Live 8: Concert Review (Pt 1)
Intrepid reporter Sith in Heels, of the SEI message board, was at the Live 8 concert in Barrie on Saturday. She provides this eyewitness account. (Note: all clickable images lead to larger versions.)
Woo! Here we go. Take a magical journey with me!
My parents dropped Mr Heels and me at the front gate at about 8:30. Gates were due to open at 9 and the shindig was to go live at 11 AM.
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This is the line up ‘close’ to the main entrance |
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This is where we got in the line up. Way down the street and around the corner. Eventually the line-up spanned all the way to underneath the 400 overpass. |
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These were the guys we were hanging out in line with. Cool folks. |
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And this is a pic of the line from inside the park. Still long, still moving. |
Posted by Guest Reviewer at 12:25 PM in Music, Photos | Comments (0) | Email this entry
July 3 2005
MTV Sucks
Twenty years ago—a little less, actually since it was July 13—I spent an entire Saturday watching Live Aid…and yelling at my TV since MTV’s coverage was so infuriating. They seemed more concerned with showing off their VJs than showing any actual concert content. Case in point, the loving close up of Martha Quinn mouthing the words to Let it Be while the song’s actual performer (and, of course, composer) remained off-camera.
It appears MTV, and I, have learned nothing in the intervening years. I was eager to wear my white ONE wristband and watch the new Live 8 concert today, but it didn’t take long for those old aggravations to return. The event would be on MTV and VH1 this time, but it turns out this was simply a simulcast. Talk about a missed opportunity. They had ten concerts to cover, but the same footage was lazily shown on both channels. And that footage did not amount to much. Every time I tuned in I saw a VJ standing in front of a wide shot of the crowd, telling us how incredible this day was and how awesome the concert was. We had to take their word for it, since MTV (and VH1) barely showed us any performances. I guess they forgot they’re an actual TV network and thought they were a radio station.
Turns out I shouldn’t have bothered with something as quaint and antique as cable TV. I got much better results when I tried out AOL Music’s website. I don’t how “live” they were with their footage, but at least I was able to see a complete song and, if I was lucky, a second. Thank God for the Internet, even if it is AOL.
And, P.S., what’s the deal with the Black Eyed Peas? They’re everywhere!
And, P.P.S., please add your name to the list at the Live 8 site. If we can’t afford to give 0.7%—less than one percent!—of our national income to those who are starving then we are no super power (and have no right to refer to ourselves as a “christian” nation). [8:58 PM]
Update: what’s this crap I’m seeing about Paul McCartney never having playing “Sgt Pepper” live? That’s what was said on MTV and I’m reading in news articles too. How can MTV be so dumb. Not only has the song been performed live before, it’s been a mainstay in McCartney’s concert tours. In fact, it’s on his 1990 (Tripping the Live Fantastic) and 2002 (Back in the USA) live CDs (not forgetting his most recent release, the Live in Red Square DVD). Good going on the research there, guys.
And kudos too to ABC, who stuffed the G8 concerts into a two-hour highlights package between 8 and 10 PM. The UK’s grand finale was, coincidentally, with Paul McCartney (who seems to be a running theme in this entry). Too bad it took so long. Before everyone could say their final thank-yous, the screen went suddenly black. It was now time for America’s Funniest Home Videos! Sure, the ten concerts today were a once-in-a-lifetime global event, but obviously ABC’s hackneyed tapes of fat ladies falling off trampolines must takes precedence.
Posted by Mickey at 12:29 AM in Music, TV | Comments (0) | Email this entry
June 1 2005
40 Top Movie Soundtracks
Another list, this time about movie soundtracks, compiled by the listeners of UK’s Classic FM and revealed during the Monday, May 30 Bank Holiday.
40 633 Squadron - Ron Goodwin
39 Cinema Paradiso - Ennio Morricone
38 Superman - John Williams
37 Once Upon a Time in the West - Ennio Morricone
36 The Merchant of Venice - Jocelyn Pook
35 Somewhere in Time - John Barry
34 The Shawshank Redemption - Thomas Newman/Mozart
33 Indiana Jones - John Williams
32 The Dambusters - Eric Coates
31 Chariots of Fire - Vangelis
30 Pirates of the Caribbean - Klaus Badelt
29 The Lion in Winter - John Barry
28 The Godfather - Nino Rota
27 Braveheart - James Horner
26 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Ennio Morricone
25 Brief Encounter - Rachmaninov
24 The Last of the Mohicans - Trevor Jones
23 The English Patient - Gabriel Yared
22 The Great Escape - Elmer Bernstein
21 The Deer Hunter - Stanley Myers
20 E.T. - John Williams
19 Gone with the Wind - Max Steiner
18 Titanic - James Horner
17 Ladies in Lavender - Nigel Hess
16 Harry Potter - John Williams
15 Dangerous Moonlight - Richard Adinsell
14 The Big Country - Jerome Moross
13 The Piano - Michael Nyman
12 Saving Private Ryan - John Williams
11 The Magnificent Seven - Elmer Bernstein
10 Dr Zhivago - Maurice Jarre
9 Jurassic Park - John Williams
8 Lawrence of Arabia - Maurice Jarre
7 The Mission - Ennio Morricone
6 Dances with Wolves - John Barry
5 Out of Africa - John Barry/Mozart
4 Schindler’s List - John Williams
3 Gladiator - Hans Zimmer
2 Star Wars - John Williams
1 The Lord of the Rings - Howard Shore
Of course I had to take a look, but I can’t say I’m very thrilled with the choices. I have to admit a couple of those titles I don’t know at all, a few others I know but am not familiar enough with the music, and a couple others come almost as a shock. Pirates of the Caribbean and Gladiator? Superman ranked so low? A “score” by Rachmaninoff? Is that fair? If so, I guess that’s why Gladiator showed up so high, since I guess they are including the unsubtle cribbing from Wagner and Holst.
I can’t say I approve of lumping some scores together either. With Lord of the Rings this is understandable, since the intent was to make one large organic piece; but it doesn’t seem fair not to separate Star Wars (or “A New Hope” as you kids call it) and Empire Strikes Back. Or just to concentrate on Raiders at the expense of the other Indiana Jones scores. With that in mind, it would be hard to argue—even for this LOTR fan—that Howard Shore’s work bests Williams groundbreaking and instantly recognizable themes in Star Wars and Empire.
Those aren’t my only quibbles either. I would much rather have Field of Dreams over Titanic; the latter might have sold more albums but the former has better music. E.T. and Superman should swap places. It’s nice they noted of Elmer Bernstein’s two great themes, but what about his Ten Commandments score? And think for a moment of all the composers who are completely left out of that list. No Jerry Goldsmith?! I’m not his biggest fan, but surely they can’t have forgotten all the significant work he has done. Erich von Korngold wrote several classic scores for cinemas Golden Age, none of which is remembered here. Another unbelievable lapse is the absence of Bernard Herrmann, whose Citizen Kane score was voted best in the recent TIME poll—and of course, the great work he did in many Hitchcock films. If they’re going to give a nod to Elmer Bernstein’s two greatest themes, what about the memorable melodies Henry Mancini wrote for the screen? A lot current moviegoes were came of age with the music of Danny Elfman, but he didn’t make a showing here either. Not forgetting Randy Newman, Alan Silvestri, James Newton Howard to just name a few. There’s a lot of good stuff in the list, admittedly; but there’s so much lacking.
Posted by Mickey at 04:13 PM in Blogging, Personal, Movies, LOTR, Music | Comments (0) | Email this entry
April 20 2005
Best of Motor City Music Conference 2005
The Motor City Music Conference (or MC2) is underway in (of all places) Detroit, for the next five nights. 600 acts playing in over 50 venues, from national acts to local bands. These local bands are being highlighted by conference sponsor the Detroit Free Press in a free compilation CD, which the newspaper has made available for free download. Here is some information about the conference and about the CD tracks.
Motor City Music Conference front page.
Download the songs from the Best Of CD.
Get the CD itself.
The Motor City Music Conference 2005 website.
Posted by Mickey at 12:07 PM in Music | Comments (0) | Email this entry
March 28 2005
“The Boys Play Rock and Roll”
U2’s Vertigo tour is underway. The stage has been assembled [see below], the fans are queuing, the first show of the tour is about to start. The rehearsal setlists which have been shared online looks extremely promising, with old album tracks such as “The Electric Co”, “An Cat Dubh/Into the Heart” and “Gloria” reappearing like old friends.
Now if only I could find if the concerts will be available on iTunes or not! My decision to buy a U2 iPod hangs in the balance…
Posted by Mickey at 06:46 PM in Music | Comments (1) | Email this entry
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