 |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:47:22 +0100, Tor Olav Kristensen wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:20:53 +0100, Tor Olav Kristensen wrote:
>>
>>> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> ...
>>>> Actually, I was surprised that the Amazon downloadable Complete LOTR
>>>> soundtracks are in MP3 format. I don't *think* there's any DRM
>>>> involved (which was really surprising).
>>> But maybe they can tell who bought the mp3 file by looking at it...
>>>
>>> http://www.google.com/search?q=mp3+watermark+amazon
>>
>> I'm sure they probably can. That's a bit different than DRM, though,
>> which has the explicit stated goal of preventing people from
>> "inappropriate use". Watermarking allows them to act reactivley - and
>> I believe is fairly easy to remove anyways...
>>
>> mplayer -ao pcm:file=temp.wav file.mp3 lame -h temp.wav
>> file-without-watermark.mp3
>
> Yes, but then you assume that the watermarking is done on the bit-level.
>
> What if they change the music somewhat in a way that will survive format
> conversion ? (E.g. tiny changes in volume levels within a frequency
> band, small phase shifts, changes in the dynamic range, added noise or a
> combination of some of these.)
>
> There will only have to be minor changes to the sound, as they will only
> have to encode something like e.g. 30 bits into more than 100s of sound
> in 2 channels.
I'd think that the conversion back and forth would modify an attempt like
this enough. Remember that mp3 encoding is lossy, not lossless.
Of course, though, the best option is to not give the files away.
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:08:06 +0000, Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>
>> You played violin? That's cool. :-)
>>
>> Did you just take lessons in school, or private lessons, or self-study?
>
> All students at my school were required to learn violin and recorder.
> But then the music teacher retired, and the music lessens stopped.
> Eventually they found a replacement, but we only learned how to play
> electronic keyboard [or rather, how to call up the autobacking]. Oh, and
> guitar. Ever heard a Persian guy sing "Amazing Grace"? That song is
> boring at the best of times...
Interesting; I was going to say that I had never heard of a school doing
that, but we were required to learn recorder, autoharp, and to sing in
the choir.
> Interesting fact: When *you* play a violin, it sounds nothing like what
> you hear on the TV. It sounds like somebody dragging a strip of horse
> hair over a cheese wire. (Which, actually, is what it is.) I always
> assumed my violin was just naff. But then one day the teacher is, like,
> "no no Andrew, that F is flat. Give me that!" She takes my violin and
> plays what I had just been playing. Except it sounds amazing.
>
> Um, OK. So it's *me* that's naff. :-|
No, it just takes practice - years of practice - to get good sound out of
an instrument (doesn't matter what). I can make my violin make horrible
sounds as well - it has to do with getting the right pressure and speed
of the bow across the strings - too much pressure and not enough speed,
and it sounds exactly like you described.
There also is a factor of the instrument itself as well; each instrument
has different tonal factors. In my case, I had some work done on it a
few years back, and the people doing the work dripped varnish inside the
instrument and have very solidly attached the sound post to the top face
of the instrument. Going to cost about $400 to get it fixed, and it's
unplayable in the condition it's in (the E string makes a horrible,
horrible screeching sound whenever played). And of course the guys who
did the work have since gone out of business.
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:14:20 +0000, Orchid XP v7 wrote:
>>> I do enjoy certain forms of orchestral music. However, from what I can
>>> tell, most classical music isn't really to my taste.
>>
>> Entirely possible, though I think it helps to know the story behind the
>> music - a lot of it tells a story.
>
> Yeah, probably.
I played in a youth orchestra when I was in high school, and the
conductor was having trouble getting us to learn the Symphonie
Fantastique, so he told us the background story. That really did
motivate us.
>>> Every time I listen, I end up wanting to turn off the light, take a
>>> deep breath, and light candles. Actually, last time I *did* light
>>> candles... hmm. LOL!
>>
>> Which album or albums do you have?
>
> MCMXC AD, The Cross of Changes, Le Roi est mort, vive lr Roi, The Screen
> Behind the Mirror, LSD, Voyageur, A Posterioiri. I also have the DVD
> Remember the Future.
Cross of Changes is the one I have; I was looking at a few others at he
used CD store the other day, but wasn't sure if they were similar in
style or not - I've been bitten a few times by having one really cool
disc from someone and buying another (or having one gifted, more often)
and finding out that the one I have is the exceptional one. Satriani was
like that for me.
How are the other discs?
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:06:36 -0500, nemesis wrote:
> Orchid XP v7 <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>> > Entirely possible, though I think it helps to know the story behind
>> > the music - a lot of it tells a story.
>>
>> Yeah, probably.
>
> no, no, no. Try to love the music for the music itself. Programme
> music is so démodé...
I have to disagree - you can love music for any number of reasons.
> Music is the art of transformation. It's math that pleases the ears and
> the soul. The story it presents is entirely subjective from individual
> to individual.
This is certainly true, though - you can hear stories even if there isn't
one. For example, there is one part of Mozart's Requiem that invokes for
me a chase through the woods. It was used in Amadeus, and oddly enough,
the images they used were pretty close to what it invoked for me visually
prior to seeing the film.
That was really cool.
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 08:23:41 +0000, Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> if you haven't heard Tangerine Dream, give it a whirl. If you enjoy
> crazy synthesizer music, that is...
Ah, yes, I've got some TD on my shelf as well. The first track of one of
the albums I've got is the promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition -
another really great piece of music. I think I've got 4 different
recordings (two piano versions - which is what it was originally written
for, and two different orchestrations). There was a really cool thing
they did at the Proms a few years ago, where they played the entire
thing, but each movement was taken from a different orchestration.
Now I need to find that one....
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:49:37 +0000, Stephen wrote:
> 11CDs SHOSTAKOVICH Complete Symphonies 1-15 Barshai
I got the 10th as I was looking for a recording of the Festival Overture
and it was on that disc. Third movement brings a vivid image to me of a
horse-drawn sleigh being pulled quickly across a snowy field for some
reason.
How are the others?
> CD DVORAK Complete Slavonic Dances Op 46, Op 72 RoyalPO
> 2CDs DVORAK Slavonic Dances & Other Music for PianoDuet
Now there's something I haven't heard in ages - I think I've only got
those on cassette (and sheet music for violin solo at that). I'd
forgotten about those almost entirely.
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
Jim Henderson wrote:
> Interesting; I was going to say that I had never heard of a school doing
> that, but we were required to learn recorder, autoharp, and to sing in
> the choir.
I was *also* in the choir. You know, when we had one...
>> Um, OK. So it's *me* that's naff. :-|
>
> No, it just takes practice - years of practice - to get good sound out of
> an instrument (doesn't matter what). I can make my violin make horrible
> sounds as well - it has to do with getting the right pressure and speed
> of the bow across the strings - too much pressure and not enough speed,
> and it sounds exactly like you described.
>
> There also is a factor of the instrument itself as well; each instrument
> has different tonal factors.
Yeah, well... It's an *old*, cheap school violin. So I had assumed it
was just naff. But like I said, the teacher had no trouble getting the
most beautiful notes out of it, so it can't have been that busted...
Random snippet: I remember when the school orchestra performed Ode To
Joy. (Don't ask me who wrote that.) Our teacher was very strict. She
could tell I was playing the tune rather than reading the music, so she
moved me from 1st violin to 3rd violin, because there is no way in hell
you could play that from memory.
Anyway, the piece starts off telling you to play very softly. And then
after a while it says play a little louder - but just a little. And then
it's like... forte. [OK, I give the bow a little more elbow.]
Double-forte. [OK. I press down a bit harder and really *work* those
strings.]
Triple-forte. [Uh... OK, let me bow a bit faster...]
QUADRUPLE-FORTE!! [Dude... what? This thing doesn't *go* any louder!!]
Still, with a couple of cellos and hons going - not to mention the music
teacher taking the bottom notes of the school piano a lively workout -
it sounded pretty damn good.
Fact: It's almost impossible to hold a violin comfortably while wearing
a school blazer with huge shoulder pads... >_<
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Music is the art of transformation. It's math that pleases the ears and
>> the soul. The story it presents is entirely subjective from individual
>> to individual.
>
> This is certainly true, though - you can hear stories even if there isn't
> one. For example, there is one part of Mozart's Requiem that invokes for
> me a chase through the woods. It was used in Amadeus, and oddly enough,
> the images they used were pretty close to what it invoked for me visually
> prior to seeing the film.
>
> That was really cool.
I almost always find that when [if] I get to see the music video for my
favorite tune, it looks nothing like what you'd expect. Oh well!
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:46:46 +0000, Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>
>> Interesting; I was going to say that I had never heard of a school
>> doing that, but we were required to learn recorder, autoharp, and to
>> sing in the choir.
>
> I was *also* in the choir. You know, when we had one...
I couldn't sing to save my life. I mostly didn't sing, just went through
the motions.
>>> Um, OK. So it's *me* that's naff. :-|
>>
>> No, it just takes practice - years of practice - to get good sound out
>> of an instrument (doesn't matter what). I can make my violin make
>> horrible sounds as well - it has to do with getting the right pressure
>> and speed of the bow across the strings - too much pressure and not
>> enough speed, and it sounds exactly like you described.
>>
>> There also is a factor of the instrument itself as well; each
>> instrument has different tonal factors.
>
> Yeah, well... It's an *old*, cheap school violin. So I had assumed it
> was just naff. But like I said, the teacher had no trouble getting the
> most beautiful notes out of it, so it can't have been that busted...
Well, there are lots of different tonal qualities you can get. Comparing
my violin (a copy of a Guineri) to, say, Pearlman's Stradavarius, there's
no comparison in the tone. Pearlman's Strad is one of the most fantastic
sounding instruments out there (similarly, there are few cellos that can
rival the sound from Yo Yo Ma's Strad). My violin only cost about $1500
back when my parents bought it; Pearlman's Strad is worth millions.
> Random snippet: I remember when the school orchestra performed Ode To
> Joy. (Don't ask me who wrote that.)
Beethoven used it in the last movement of the 9th Symphony, but it's a
traditional tune, and I don't know if the authorship is even known. The
words were written by Friedrich Schiller (a poet) in 1785, but it's been
used in music since 1786; Beethoven's use (the best known) is just one of
many uses in music. Even Tchaikovsky used it (which I didn't know).
> Our teacher was very strict. She
> could tell I was playing the tune rather than reading the music, so she
> moved me from 1st violin to 3rd violin, because there is no way in hell
> you could play that from memory.
Heh, maybe not at first, but eventually you learn to just memorise the
music on the page - it's easier that way. I played 1st and 2nd violin
parts myself, depending on which orchestra and at which time. In the
school orchestras, I always played 1st violin (and my senior year, 1st
chair), but in the youth orchestra it varied.
> Anyway, the piece starts off telling you to play very softly. And then
> after a while it says play a little louder - but just a little. And then
> it's like... forte. [OK, I give the bow a little more elbow.]
>
> Double-forte. [OK. I press down a bit harder and really *work* those
> strings.]
>
> Triple-forte. [Uh... OK, let me bow a bit faster...]
>
> QUADRUPLE-FORTE!! [Dude... what? This thing doesn't *go* any louder!!]
Well, it's also a factor of the number of people in the section. :-)
> Still, with a couple of cellos and hons going - not to mention the music
> teacher taking the bottom notes of the school piano a lively workout -
> it sounded pretty damn good.
That was the thing that surprised me the most; the school orchestra
conductor I started with in high school (and had all through jr. high
school) would have us play unarranged music (ie, he'd use the original
scores) and we'd sound not too bad. Listening to recordings now, they
sound amateurish, but compared to sitting in the orchestra actually
playing the music, we sounded really good.
The youth orchestra I was in in high school (my junior year) went to
Russia on a concert tour - so some of the music in my collection is
professional recordings of the pieces we played on that tour.
> Fact: It's almost impossible to hold a violin comfortably while wearing
> a school blazer with huge shoulder pads... >_<
I could see that, even with a proper shoulder rest, you need a fairly
solid shoulder underneath it.
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:48:03 +0000, Orchid XP v7 wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>
>>> Music is the art of transformation. It's math that pleases the ears
>>> and the soul. The story it presents is entirely subjective from
>>> individual to individual.
>>
>> This is certainly true, though - you can hear stories even if there
>> isn't one. For example, there is one part of Mozart's Requiem that
>> invokes for me a chase through the woods. It was used in Amadeus, and
>> oddly enough, the images they used were pretty close to what it invoked
>> for me visually prior to seeing the film.
>>
>> That was really cool.
>
> I almost always find that when [if] I get to see the music video for my
> favorite tune, it looks nothing like what you'd expect. Oh well!
Well, that's also just fine - doesn't make your imagination any better or
worse than the imaginations of those who came up with the video.
Film music is fun to do that with if you haven't seen the film yet. I
did that with the Untouchables soundtrack, and it was surprising with
some of the music how close I was to what was in the movie, and at other
times how very far off I was.
Jim
Post a reply to this message
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
