| As the soundman and projectionist for my | | | | master "Choir Songs" folder. Of course, |
| local church, I found it to be | | | | this all took some time, but so would |
| frustating and time consuming when | | | | have cataloging all the songs and info |
| searching for a particular song among | | | | into a database. |
| all our cds for choir practice. I was | | | | Then I ran into a problem. Not being |
| determined to sit down at some point and | | | | very familiar with media players I was |
| catalog all those songs and cd's. I took | | | | determined to find one that was small |
| some time to search the Internet for a | | | | and easy to use. After finding one I |
| simple, free database I could use for | | | | liked, I installed it on the pc and |
| this purpose. I even considered creating | | | | simply dragged the song folder into the |
| my own database but never quite got | | | | playlist window. By double clicking the |
| around to it. | | | | first track the song began to play as it |
| One evening during choir practice, as I | | | | should. The problem occurred when |
| was searching for a particular cd, a | | | | changing tracks. Since each track |
| friend stopped by the sound booth and | | | | contains a section of the song, there |
| made an interesting suggestion: rip all | | | | needs to be a smooth, undelayed |
| the songs from the cd's and save them to | | | | transition between tracks in order to |
| my projection computer. The idea sounded | | | | have no interruptions in the song. |
| entirely plausible. Not only could I | | | | Unfortunately, this wasn't happening. |
| have the individual songs available in | | | | There were burps between the tracks that |
| alphabetical order, I could also play | | | | I couldn't remove even by changing the |
| them through the sound board via the | | | | buffer settings in the player. After |
| computer's audio out and eliminate our | | | | more searching I found another media |
| stand-alone cd player for this purpose. | | | | player with a buffer ahead setting that |
| I gathered up several cds, took them | | | | played the song perfectly. |
| home, and ripped the songs from them. It | | | | Since I am responsible for the sound as |
| was at this point I had to use a little | | | | well as the projection of the songs' |
| creativity - here's why. The choir's | | | | words on a screen for the choir to read, |
| practice cd's are recorded in a | | | | this is an excellent setup for me. I can |
| different fashion than a typical music | | | | have the projection software and the |
| cd. Each track is recorded with two mono | | | | media player both running on my |
| channels - vocals on the right channel | | | | computer's desktop screen. I click the |
| and instruments on the left. This allows | | | | play button to sart the music, then use |
| the choir to hear how the song should be | | | | the keyboard to advance the slides with |
| sung with or without music, or to | | | | the song lyrics. |
| practice (and perform) with music only; | | | | Initially, I had some concerns about the |
| simply by shutting off one channel or | | | | sound quality I would get by playing MP3 |
| the other. | | | | files through a computer sound card, |
| Also, each song is divided up into | | | | then through the mixing board. After |
| sections, each one being a separate | | | | hearing the results I can tell you that |
| track. In other words, the first song on | | | | I was very pleased. The sound was crisp |
| the cd might be composed of tracks one | | | | and clear and the reduced quality of the |
| through seven, the second song tracks | | | | MP3 file was not distinguishable. |
| eight through fourteen and so on. This | | | | Obviously, there are hard drive |
| allows the choir director to go back to | | | | recorders/players on the market that are |
| a specific point in the song and start | | | | designed for these kinds of audio |
| again in order to work on a troublesome | | | | applications, but they are somewhat |
| area. | | | | expensive. If you already have a fairly |
| To record the cd's, I would rip all the | | | | powerful computer in place for |
| tracks of a single song and save those | | | | projection, this method costs nothing |
| tracks (in MP3 format) in a folder with | | | | (except for a cable and some adapters to |
| the name of the song title. Then I'd do | | | | run from your audio card to the mixing |
| the same with the next song. I placed | | | | board). Give it a try. |
| each individual song folder into a | | | | |