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Everything
you need to know to collect live music CDs, including
downloading SHN from the World Wide Web through converting them
into audio files and burning the actual CDs.
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Getting
Started:
So, you
now have a CD burner and you're wondering what to do with it.
How do I start collecting live or tradable music? Well, listed
below are the following ways to absorb music from the World Wide
Web, outlined with brief descriptions on how to go about doing
the necessary steps in order to insure proper download ,
conversion and burning procedures. If you do not have any music
and the inability to trade and do not have a high-speed online
connection for download, you can check out the trader list sites
listed below or join a newsgroup and ask for a
"newbie" B&P.
First off, let me suggest that you are
going to need sources for the music you are looking to collect.
There are many out there. If you don't have a lot of friends
locally to trade with, then you can always consult the vast
cesspool of information known as the World Wide Web. There are
FTP and Internet sites containing SHNs for download using a
high-speed online connection. If you don't have a high-speed
online connection there is always the option of setting up
trades through e-mail using resources on the net for looking up
and storing trader lists, such as Phishhook
and E-tree. If
these other sites don't fit your fancy as a place to store your
list on the web, please feel free to let
me know and I'd be glad to give a URL and keep it updated
here at dubba.com. If
you do have a high-speed online connection, Furthurnet
is an awesome tool for allowing downloads as well as acting like
your own server, allowing people to upload from you. Assuming
you'll be downloading from the net and/or trading via e-mail,
let's get some software that you will need in order to do all
this stuff.
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| You'll
need the following software to get started in taking full
advantage of the web: |
| 1. |
An FTP Client. I
use Smart FTP.
It's simple and easy to use and it's free. |
| 2. |
If you're
downloading SHNs from the net in one browser or another, you'll
need a SHN to WAV converter (and vice versa for uploading). I
use MKW
Compression Tool. E-tree.org has everything you need to know
regarding it's installation. It's very simple once you first
learn it. |
| 3. |
Next, if you're
ripping CDs to burn for others, or plan on eventually converting
music to SHN, you'll need extraction software. I use Exact
Auto Copy in order to extract WAV files (audio tracks) from
a CD to your hard drive, basically creating a disc image to burn
from. This allows you to duplicate CDs to your hard drive and
then be able to burn them flawlessly. It's also free. |
| 4. |
You'll also need CD
burning software. Your burning software choice is left to the
individual, as there a many pieces of software to burn with. I
use CDRWin from Goldenhawk
Technologies and love it. Feurio
is free and un-crippled, but until you register you'll get pop
up windows. Here's the Feurio
Official Page. There are others out there too such as Nero
and Easy
CD Creator. Find one you feel comfortable with and go with
it. |
| 5. |
While you've got
the music on your computer, you may as well be able to listen to
it. Download Winamp
for your listening enjoyment. They also have a SHN
plug-in allowing you to listen to your SHNs in case you
decide never to collect anything but SHN. |
| 6 |
Lastly, you may
want to consider purchasing some sort of software to store your
list. Trust me, if it ever takes off and you have 1000s of hours
of music, you'll be glad it's organized. It also allows you to
easily trade with others. I use TapeTracker.
It's a wonderful database driven tool that has saved me from
hundreds of headaches and ultimately simplified my life in
regards to my trading habits. It imports setlists, creates
covers and keeps track of trades as well as many other things.
Steve is a great guy and it's well worth the money to support
his business. |
| To
download SHN files from the internet (such as gdlive.com): |
| 1. |
Create a folder on
your computer and label it SHN Files (or if you have hard drive
space, you can dedicate an entire drive to it). Within the
folder or drive, label a folder with the date and band (i.e.
dead1995-07-09shnf). Then create folders within this folder
according to the number of discs you have (i.e.
dead1995-07-09d1shnf, dead1995-07-09d2shnf,
dead1995-07-09d3shnf). |
| 2. |
Now you're ready to
start downloading. Find the show you want to download. Go to the
web browser where you wish to download from and click on
the shnf folder (i.e. i.e. dead1995-07-09shnf) and then there
will be a bunch of files. |
| 3. |
Right click on each
file and go to "Save target as". For ALL of the files
for the first disc, save each track (and text and md5 file) to
the SHN Folder-> dead1995-07-09shnf->
dead1995-07-09d1shnf folder you created. Then do the same for
each of the remaining discs (if there are any). |
| 4. |
Hit
"Save" (if you can, save two tracks at a time so it
will go faster) |
| 5. |
Once complete, the
files are all now saved on your hard drive in SHN format. Follow
steps 1 -7 below in converting SHN files into audio wav
files for burning. |
| To
download SHN files from an FTP client |
| 1. |
Create a folder on
your computer and label it SHN Files (or if you have hard drive
space, you can dedicate an entire drive to it) Within the
folder or drive, label a folder with the date and band (i.e.
dead1995-07-09shnf). |
| 2. |
Now click on the
Smart FTP icon to open it up. There should be one on your
desktop. If not, go to the Start Menu-> Programs->
SmartFTP. |
| 3. |
Under the View menu
option, click local browser so you can see where you are going
to store the files you are about to download. |
| 4. |
Under the address
bar, enter the ftp site you wish to download from (such as
ftp.dubba.com). |
| 5. |
Click the anonymous
button if they allow anonymous log-ins. If they don't, you will
need a name and a password given to you by the
administrator of the FTP site. |
| 6. |
In the upper left
hand corner, hit the far left connect button. If it doesn't
allow you to, there are too many people logged in and you
will have to try again later. If you are allowed in, go to step 7. |
| 7. |
Once logged in, you
will see the files available for download. Simply drag the
folder you wish to download into the folder you created
above using the local browser you opened up. |
| 8. |
Once you have done
so, the actual download will take hours to do, so it's best done
when you're not planning on being on the computer for a
while (i.e. before you sleep, although it most likely won't slow
anything you are doing down, except you internet speed). |
| 9. |
Once complete, the
files are all now saved on your hard drive in SHN. (with a text
and md5 format). Follow steps 1 -7 below in converting SHN files
into audio wav files for burning. |
| To
convert SHN files into audio wav files for burning: |
| 1. |
Create a folder on
your computer and label it WAV Files (or if you have hard drive
space, you can dedicate an entire drive to it). Within the
folder or drive, label a folder with the same date and band
(i.e. dead1995-07-09wav). |
| 2. |
Open up your MKW
Compression Tool program so that both the folder window and the
MKW window are on your screen. |
| 3. |
In MKW, under the
Options, go to File options and hit Browse under the Output
options and find the folder you created (i.e.
dead1995-07-09wav) to store it in. |
| 4. |
Hit "OK",
then "Close". |
| 5. |
Now go to your SHN
folder (i.e. dead1995-07-09shnf) and simply drag the entire
folder into the box. Once this is complete, you're ready to
burn. |
| 6. |
Now open up your CD
burning software (i.e. CDRWin, Feurio, Nero, Easy CD Creator)
and select the tracks according to each disc (i.e. all the
tracks labeled dead1995-07-09d1 for disc 1, all the tracks
labeled dead1995-07-09d2 for disc 2, etc.) There are specifics within
each burning software that I will not get into for now. Refer to
the Help menu in the program for further questions). That's it,
burn away. |
| Burning
CDs from a CD (the simplified version): |
| 1. |
Create a folder on
your computer and label it WAV Files (or if you have hard drive
space, you can dedicate an entire drive to it). Within the
folder or drive, label a folder with the date and band (i.e.
dead1995-07-09wav). Then create folders within this folder
according to the number of discs you have (i.e.
dead1995-07-09d1wav, dead1995-07-09d2wav, dead1995-07-09d3wav). |
| 2. |
It's now time to
extract the tracks from the disc. Open up the EAC (Exact Auto
Copy) program you downloaded. There should be an icon on
your desktop. If not, go to the Start Menu-> Programs->
Exact Auto Copy. |
| 3. |
First, let's
configure EAC with your burner. You can either use the
"Configuration Wizard" in the EAC File Menu, or
configure it manually. To configure it manually, go into the EAC
File Menu and select "Drive Options". Make sure it is
set to "Secure Mode" (not "Paranoid Mode"
though). Then go to the bottom of the prompt and test your drive
for the "Accurate Stream" and "C2 Feature".
Once done, select the "Gap Detection" tab. Set the
detection to "Accurate". Hit OK. You're done with the
simplified version of your configuration. For further
explanation of all the EAC menu items. Chris Myden has a
fully explained page. |
| 4. |
Next, make sure
that the disc you are about to extract is clean on both top and
bottom before putting the CD in the CD drive. This is important
for error free extraction and a cleaner, longer lasting burner |
| 5. |
Highlight all the
tracks by clicking on the first track, press and hold the shift
key and then click on the last track (or just click within
the browser containing the tracks and hit Ctrl + A
simultaneously). If you wish to highlight only some of the
tracks, hold the ctrl key instead of the shift key. |
| 6. |
Under the Action
tab, click on Copy Selected Tracks (or just hit the F5 key). It
will ask you where you want to save it, point to the folder you
created in step one (i.e. dead1995-07-09wav->
dead1995-07-09d1wav) using the drop down menu and hit
"OK". It will start copying the tracks. |
| 7. |
Once complete, make
sure it copied the tracks successfully and without error. If so,
hit "OK" and "OK" again. Close out of
the EAC program (if without error).
|
| 8. |
Now open up your CD
burning software (i.e. CDRWin, Feurio, Nero, Easy CD Creator)
and select the tracks according to each disc (i.e. all the
tracks labeled dead1995-07-09d1 for disc 1, all the tracks
labeled dead1995-07-09d2 for disc 2, etc.) There are specifics within
each burning software that I will not get into for now (refer to
the Help menu in the program for further questions). That's it,
burn away. |
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That's it. Any questions ,
please don't hesitate to e-mail
me.
ENJOY!
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