Steve Clark is a member of both the American Matthay Association and the American Liszt Society and he appears frequently in recital.
Students from his studio have been declared winners and finalists in
state, national and international piano competitions. He is a
nationally recognized clinician in the field of music technology and
the creator on numerous Internet-based resources for musicians
including web pages such as The Piano in CyberSpace and Internet
mail lists: Pno-Ped-L and Chopin-L. He serves the Georgia Music
Teachers Association as chair of the Committee on Technology and the
Music Teachers National Association as National Chair of Student
Competitions. Mr. Clark serves on the faculty of the Schwob
Department of Music at Columbus State University where he teaches
Piano, Piano Pedagogy and Music Technology.
Steve Clark
School of Music
Columbus State University
Columbus, GA 31907
706.568.2049
CLARK_STEVE@colstate.edu
It's an ironic fact that the Internet, which began its existence primarily as cold war tool of the United States military industrial complex, has some thirty-five years later developed into a world-wide hot-bed for the arts. In their attempt to overcome the anticipated effects of nuclear war, the single most important concern designers of the Internet had been to make it as decentralized and as free of a single authority as possible. Much to the surprise of the original network administrators, who had intended use of the Internet strictly for long distance computing projects, it was this very characteristic of decentralization which opened the door to use of the Internet in other and eventually every aspect of human endeavor. Musicians who use the Internet today owe a debt of thanks to those early "Born to Be Wild" days on the Internet which established the credo that use of the Internet should be left to the discretion of users and whatever they could accomplish technically.
Although the association of the arts with the Internet has been almost from its beginning, the development of the Internet as a driving force in the field of music occurred only relatively recently. Perhaps the single major technical obstacle that had to be overcome by musicians using the Internet was the huge size of sound files. In order to be of sufficiently high quality, sound files had to be so large that it was completely impractical to transmit them over the Internet. Recent advances in file compression algorithms and faster Internet connections, such as cable modems, have done much to eliminate this barrier and now there is literally an explosion of musical happenings on the web.
The personal computer has overtaken the stereo as the preferred means of audio playback and creative musicians of every stripe are discovering the overwhelming advantages of distributing their music over the web. While there is obviously no way to anticipate details of what the future will bring, the one thing which is perfectly clear is that the web is the future place for audio.
Get Your Motor Running...
As one might expect from the wide-open beginnings of the Internet, no single file format is standard for all of the overwhelming audio resources of the web. What's more, some audio formats are delivered over the web in static format while others are streamed. Through the use of a software buffering system, streaming audio allows playback to begin before an entire file has been transferred to one's machine. On the other hand, static downloading requires an entire audio file's content to be downloaded before it can be accessed for playback.
Several software media players are capable of handling multiple audio formats, but no single player accommodates the performance of all file types. Therefore, having two, three or four different media players and switching between them is essential if one is to make the most of web audio.
Included below are the web addresses for several sites where some of the more common and better media players can be downloaded. In addition to software downloads, these sites often feature information about web audio and links to other audio content sites. Several of these sites also offer "deluxe" versions of their products for sale. While these deluxe versions do have some interesting "bells and whistles", basic versions feature the same audio technology, deliver just as high quality sound and, best of all, they are free. Furthermore, after trying the basic versions for a while, you can always return and get the upgrade if you are sufficiently impressed.
The Microsoft Media Player easily handles a wide variety of audio formats and is available for free download. The QuickTime media player is generally preferred by Mac users, but there is also a version of this software for Windows users. An excellent player for Macintosh is the SoundJam Player which is also a free download in its basic version.The Winamp Media Player supports a fairly wide variety of file formats and even more through the addition of various plug-ins. Real Audio charges for the deluxe version of their audio player, but the basic version is a very recommendable media player and it's a free download. Liquid Audio, one of the premier audio web sites, makes their really cool Liquid Media Player available for free download and one of best media players around is the Sonique Media Player. The Sonique Media player is also a free download.
Downloading all or a selection of the above free media players will position you to handle almost any audio format you're likely to encounter on the web, but it is a simple fact of life that more and newer software makes increasingly complex demands on a computer's operating system. The variety and complexity of Internet files, particularly multi-media files like audio, can be an ever-increasing challenge for a computer's operating system.
Sluggishness of response is often undeniably due in large part to a function of hardware, especially random access memory (RAM), but it is also true that keeping one's operating system updated in and tip-top running condition will assist in obtaining the maximum performance possible from ones current system. After all, every piece of software makes use of the machine's operating system in some fashion or another and those applications can run no faster than the operating system will allow. Therefore, it is a good idea to periodically check the web site of the manufacturer of ones operating system for "What's New" type announcements and the like, and to take advantage of these almost always free improvements which are yours simply for the downloading.
To update your Windows operating system, go to Microsoft's web site, choose the Downloads tab and select Windows Update. From the Windows Update page select the link to Product Updates. The Windows Update will automatically examine your hard drive and create a customized list of suggested updates for your operating system. Anything listed as a Critical Update should definitely be downloaded and of course you may download anything else which appears interesting as well. Similar updates, add-ons, plug-ins and supplemental software for the Macintosh Operating System can be acquired by visiting the Mac OS X section of the Apple web site.
Of course, the ultimate quality of one's web audio experience can only be as good as the weakest link in one's entire audio system. With that in mind, no audio tune-up would be complete without a look at a system's hardware. Minimum requirements these days would call for a minimum processor speed of Pentium 200MHz or faster, a minimum of 32MB of random access memory (RAM) and 64MB preferred, and a 16-bit sound card.
And let's not forget the audio speakers. Without high-quality speakers including a sub-woofer for improved bass response, your audio experience on the web will be severely compromised. While no place I know of is giving away hardware, the good news is that this may not cost as much as you think. Specific recommendations for hardware upgrades are extremely difficult to provide without a complete knowledge of ones current hardware profile, but a few general recommendations can be helpful by providing an overall list of equipment needs and an estimate of general cost. Click here for a phased list of suggested audio hardware add-ons that would be required beyond the basic system requirements outlined above.
Get Out on the Highway...
After completing your audio system tune-up, you'll no doubt be aching to take it out for a test drive on the web. First steps in web audio would certainly have to include a visit a few of the more famous sites devoted music downloads. Any short list of such sites would include the following:
Listen.com
Real.com
LiquidAudio.com
MP3.com and Napster.com are currently involved in copyright infringement litigation.
(Piano Pedagogy Forum does not endorse Napster, MP3, Listen.com, Real.com, or LiquidAudio.com. These websites are cited as resources in web audio production by the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of Piano Pedagogy Forum.)
These are some of the most visited spots on the web and in many ways they make an excellent introduction to web audio because in addition to free downloads they also contain lots of general information, frequently asked question files, help files, and product guides that will keep you informed of developments in web audio.
Looking for Adventure...
Once you've gotten your feet wet with web audio you'll no doubt want to venture into the into the "deep end of the pool" so to speak and experience more of the full extent of audio resources on the web. One of the best ways to locate audio files is through any one of the major search engines. Some say this is the best approach because large search engines typically offer a variety of options that enable refinement and focusing of a search on a particular type of music, a certain file format or even a particular composer or piece. The following example will serve to illustrate the staggering extent of audio resources on the web. A recent keyword search for "mp3" at the AltaVista search engine listed 4,510,230 web pages found which matched the search criteria. Narrowing the search criteria to "mp3 + Mozart" still resulted in 552,494 pages being found. Further refinement of the parameters of the search to: "mp3 + Mozart + sonata" yielded 42,982 pages found and a search crafted as "mp3 + Mozart + sonata + K.331" still presented 934 pages found. Unless you've got way too much free time on your hands, that's probably more than enough adventure to keep you busy quite some time to come. If you donŐt have that much time, you could try further narrowing of the search criteria through inclusion of a particular performing artist or some other criteria of your own choosing.
Equivalent searches conducted on other major search engines would yield similar numeric though not identical results. Therefore, one often finds smaller, strictly audio oriented search engines found on large audio web sites to be best suited to web audio searches. Scour.com, one of the most outstanding audio sites on the web, makes available to its visitors a search engine specifically designed for web audio files. Use of these so to speak "in-house" search engines is another excellent way of locating high-quality audio on the web.
In Whatever Comes Our Way.
One of the most popular developments in web audio has been the introduction of web radio. Since the debut of streaming audio technology the number of radio stations broadcasting via the web has rapidly risen to literally thousands. Because with web radio broadcasts physical distance from the broadcast source is irrelevant there are now literally thousands of stations available to listeners and the personal computer is now also taking over as the most popular means of listening to listening to radio broadcasts.
Web programming from National Public Radio may be obtained by visiting their web site and audio feed from the numerous broadcasts of the British Broadcasting Company can be downloaded their web site as well. Links to other a myriad of other stations are to be found on web audio sites, through search engines and often though radio channel guides included in various software media players. There is a searchable list of 2500 web radio broadcast stations form which to choose included in the basic version of Real Player software. These days, one can easily find all types of web radio programming from music to news to sports, and yes even talk radio stations.
One of the most exciting possibilities with web audio is the ability to create your own web audio files from compact disc recordings and the possibility of creating your own compact discs from MP3 audio files that have been downloaded from the web. Conversion of compact disc audio files into MP3 requires obtaining a software program called a "ripper". A ripper is used to copy music from a compact disc onto a computer's hard drive in .wav audio format. After that another software program called an "encoder" is used to convert those .wav files into the MP3s audio file format for use in burning your very own compact discs with a writeable CD-ROM drive.
A selection of free, downloadable rippers and encoders are available at the really cool MPFree web site. It is also possible to find a player, ripper and an encoder in a single, easy-to-use piece of software. One such is program is RealJukeBox available from Real.com. This program will not only help you burn you own CDs, if you have a writeable CD-ROM drive (CD-RW), but it will also print CD labels, record from analog sources, such as microphones or cassette players and allow you to rescue your old analog LP record collection by turning it into compact disc recordings or MP3 audio files. While the basic version of RealJukeBox is a free download, RealJukeBox Plus is recommendable because of the simplicity it brings by having all aspects of audio handling contained in a single piece of software and all for less than thirty dollars, US.
(Piano Pedagogy Forum does not endorse Napster, MP3, Listen.com, Real.com, MPFree.com or LiquidAudio.com. These websites are cited as resources in web audio production by the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of Piano Pedagogy Forum.)
... Fire all of your guns at once and
With any technological revolution there can be a down side. At this point a small word of caution regarding observance of copyright laws is appropriate. There are substantial copyright prohibitions for those who wish to distribute the music of others overt the Internet. One should not go lightly into those dark woods without considerable, and accurate legal counsel. This admonition is certainly not mean to rain on anyone's web audio parade, but rather simply to incorporate some consideration of the blood, sweat and tears of fellow musicians and their right to fair compensation for their efforts. As musicians yourself, I'm sure you understand.
Explode into (cyber)space!
The effects of web audio on the music industry have already been tremendous. Consumers now have access to an unlimited supply of audio content from around the world which is only as far away as their desktop and performing musicians are no longer at the mercy of large recording companies in order to get their music before the public. Distribution of audio over the web is now an entirely acceptable alternative from the standpoint of quality and the web and it possible for a single person to reach out and change the world.
"Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf, 1968.
Free audio sample available through www.steppenwolf.com.
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