What are you listening to now?

[Chris]

My eldest son says "throw out your CDs now Mum" but I just can't!!!

Good heavens, no! What if something happens to your iPod? Plus, all the artwork and liner notes!

[Bonn1827]

This is also my argument! Andrew (my son) says the music remains on the hard-drive of this lap top, plus I can buy a secondary hard-drive (I think this is what he said) to protect it. He also said liner notes are available on the internet, but this wouldn't apply to whole librettos etc. Artwork for covers have been downloaded from the net too. Some CD covers we have had to scan. Then I can use a docking device to link it to my sound system.

However, I am nervous about having my music permanently in this format, and it is less convenient using a computerized menu than scanning one's own shelves for the music of choice.

(All of this has absolutely catastrophic implications for the classical music recording industry, which I'm only just getting my head around!!)

I've told my son this morning what you said and his reply was, "notice, he didn't mention anything about QUALITY"!!!

[Roehre]

Today:

Lyapunov:
Christmas op.41 (1910)

Bridge:
Sir Roger de Coverley

Jolivet:
Pastorales de Noël

Holst:
Chrissemas Day in the Morning op.46/1

Martin:
3 Chants de Noël (1947)

Balbastre:
Noël Suisse

Bruch:
Gruss and die heilige Nacht op.62 (1892)
Die Flucht der heiligen Familie op.20 (1864)

Britten:
Variations on a Christmas Carol (1947)

Pinkham:
Christmas Cantata

Just under 90 minutes of music (off-air recording made December 1997)

Stravinsky:
Threni (R3: Proms repeat)

[Chris]

This is also my argument! Andrew (my son) says the music remains on the hard-drive of this lap top, plus I can buy a secondary hard-drive (I think this is what he said) to protect it. He also said liner notes are available on the internet, but this wouldn't apply to whole librettos etc. Artwork for covers have been downloaded from the net too. Some CD covers we have had to scan. Then I can use a docking device to link it to my sound system.

However, I am nervous about having my music permanently in this format, and it is less convenient using a computerized menu than scanning one's own shelves for the music of choice.

(All of this has absolutely catastrophic implications for the classical music recording industry, which I'm only just getting my head around!!)

I've told my son this morning what you said and his reply was, "notice, he didn't mention anything about QUALITY"!!!

True, you can make redundant electronic copies, and that makes it very safe, but there is no guarantee that you will be able to find electronic versions of all the art and liner notes (I'm sure you can't).

Quality is definitely an issue if you are not ripping the music in some lossless format.

If I were starting a collection now, I'd certainly go all electronic for the convenience, but as it is, I would never part with my CDs.

[Chris]

Well, I haven't posted much to this thread, as I tend to forget about it, but over my vacation I am listening to some old favorites and new purchases, so a few posts are in order. Today:

Beethoven - Bagatelles Opp. 33, 119, 126, Woo 53, 59, 60, Rondo Op. 51, No. 1 - Alfred Brendel - It's Beethoven, it's Brendel. What more could you ask?

Handel - Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks - EBS/Gardiner - Fine recording that I have never heard before. Puts me in a festive spirit!

Tchaikovsky - Piano Concertos 1-3 (the original version of no. 2), Concert Fantasy - Pletnev/The Philharmonia/Fedoseyev - Great recordings of these works. Nice to hear the original version of No. 2!

[jamesofedinburgh]

Very fine performances of the Bagatelles!

About the iPod query - I spent a lot of time these past few days getting rid of clutter at home, including many CDs. I copied them to my computer, and can now upload them to my MP3 player. The CDs will go to a charity shop.

I also back them up on an external hard drive. This reduces clutter! I do keep my favourite ones though, sometimes for the liner notes.

One note of caution! With multiple CD sets (ie opera), you can end up with two disks in Windows Media Player, both with tracks 1 - 10. It does not spontaneously separate the tracks outs as:

CD 1: track 1,2,3....
CD 2: track 1,2,3...


Rather, you can get;

Track 1,1,2,2,3,3,......

Thus you have to manually reorder the tracks by referring back to the original CD. When doing so, I find it is best to take all the tracks from the second CD and give them very high consecutive numbers (50,51,52....). This was, if I move a track to position 18, I don't run into the problem of now having three track 18s (one from CD1, one from CD2, and now a third one from CD2)! Once I have sorted this, I then move them back by giving them consecutive numbering from the conclusion of the first CD.

I hope this makes sense! Otherwise you can get a funny shuffle effect where Fidelio starts with the Overture, proceeds to the Dungeon Scene of Act 2, then goes back to the first number of Act 1, and then back to the second number of Act 2......!

You have to do this in Edit Mode in Media Player. Perhaps Apple has sorted this problem.

[jamesofedinburgh]

Ravel - Piano Concerto in G
Concerto for the Left Hand (second time this week!)

Ravel - Miroirs
Sonatine (an old favourite that I used to play)

Delius - Walk to Paradise Garden

Haydn - Creation: Chaos (Introduction)

Mozart - Armoured Men's Chorale (Magic Flute)

[Megan]

I had a real nice afternoon listening to B's Missa Solemnis on Radio 3.

I hadn't heard it for a while, so it was lovely treat. So tender and magnificently performed.

[Michael]

Very fine performances of the Bagatelles!

About the iPod query - I spent a lot of time these past few days getting rid of clutter at home, including many CDs. I copied them to my computer, and can now upload them to my MP3 player. The CDs will go to a charity shop.

.

James and Bonn - please please listen to Chris. Do NOT get rid of your CDs. Keep them in the attic if you will but do not trust hard drives or flash drives. As I have said before, there are only two types of hard drive - those that have failed and those that haven't failed yet.
Leaving aside the question of sound quality, there is something nice about going through your shelves, picking out a CD, having a glance at the cover or liner notes, remembering where or when you bought it, and then placing it carefully in the disc tray. You really feel that you have selected a piece of music - a feeling you don't get from pressing a tiny button, squinting at a menu and selecting from a list of thousands of pieces - and hoping for the best.

[Sorrano]

James and Bonn - please please listen to Chris. Do NOT get rid of your CDs. Keep them in the attic if you will but do not trust hard drives or flash drives. As I have said before, there are only two types of hard drive - those that have failed and those that haven't failed yet.
Leaving aside the question of sound quality, there is something nice about going through your shelves, picking out a CD, having a glance at the cover or liner notes, remembering where or when you bought it, and then placing it carefully in the disc tray. You really feel that you have selected a piece of music - a feeling you don't get from pressing a tiny button, squinting at a menu and selecting from a list of thousands of pieces - and hoping for the best.

I concur, especially from an IT point of view. Besides, there is degradation in quality as you get away from the primary sources. This past week I've lost my backup drive to a faulty USB connection, so these things are not 100% secure. CD's can, for that matter, be put into folders with pockets designed specifically for CD storage, and you can always scan linear notes (although they really do not take up that much space). Again, what you scan can be stored on CD/DVD media as well as USB drives, but the drives will eventually fail.

[Bonn1827]

Thank you, all, for that excellent advice. Last night I was in the supermarket with my I-Pod and a "the girl" behind the counter in the seafood section (I was buying prawns for the NY Eve bash!) told me she had dropped her I-Pod and ruined it. This raised another "safety" issue and has made me further wary. But for the purposes of travel I think it's going to be extremely convenient. My son argues that digital recording techniques are not reduced in quality when transferred to I-Pod or MP3 because of their very nature. I don't know anything about this but others might. It's 8.49am New Year's Day here in Australia and outside it is silent - presumably the locals are sleeping off their hangovers. You have yet to have your 12 midnight. Enjoy!

[Roehre]

Today:

Mathias:
Magnificat and Nunc dimittis op.53
A Babe is born op.55
In Excelsis Gloria
O Nata Lux op.83/3
Festival Te Deum op.28
Jubilate Deo op.90/2

Honegger:
Und Cantate de Noël

Nicolai:
Weihnachtsouvertüre

Leoninus:
Viderunt omnes

Perotinus:
Viderunt omnes

[Chris]

Gershwin's complete solo piano music played by Paul Bisaccia (well, I guess more has been published since this disc was released, but whatever).

[Chris]

My son argues that digital recording techniques are not reduced in quality when transferred to I-Pod or MP3 because of their very nature. I don't know anything about this but others might. It's 8.49am New Year's Day here in Australia and outside it is silent - presumably the locals are sleeping off their hangovers. You have yet to have your 12 midnight. Enjoy!

It has nothing to do with how the original recording was made - analog or digital. Once it's on CD, it's in a digital format, and it is certainly possible to to make a full-quality electronic copy of it. It all depends on how you do it, though. Ripping to a wav file will be full quality (but quite large). Ripping it to an mp3 will NOT be full quality (though the size will be much smaller). There are various formats that can make smaller full-quality versions with more processing. I'm not sure off the top of my head how Apple does it with their products.

[Bonn1827]

I am now out of my depth with this!!! Thanks anyway.