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Burning Down the House: Ripping, Recording, Remixing, and More!

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Burning Down the House
Ripping, Recording, Remixing and more!
Nov. 2004

This book is about putting music on the computer, editing it and then playing it back. Or, "That's No Computer - It's Your Music Machine". As the book further states, "It doesn't matter whether you can play an instrument, read music, or carry a tune - as long as you like music, all the projects in this book are within your grasp".

The desktop computer now can do things that used to require thousands of dollars worth of equipment. This book gives the novice computer audiophile a lot of great basic info to get started, and also has many tips and tricks for more experienced users

It is well-written , with many screenshots illustrating the text, and though short, it is extensive and very informative. The book identifies software needed to perform the various functions which, in almost all cases, is freeware or shareware, to limit costs.

Of course, an initial question is "Why do I want to know all this?" My short answer - because it allows one to obtain a digital audio file with content just as wanted.

I have a few projects in mind which would make good use of the computer. In some cases there are no commercial CDs available presently. Other projects would transfer audio from records or tapes that will continue to deteriorate - records when the phonograph needle wears out the grooves and tapes as they age and lose magnetic material - and also continue to accumulate scratches and other artifacts that cause blips in the sound. Computer processing can eliminate these artifacts and improve the sound quality. Also the computer will allow me to make CDs with my own compilation of music - and in a manner so it can be played on any CD player, anywhere.

The following are my initial projects which can be handled quite well on the computer.

1. I have old tapes of my children's music performances while in school. I would like to produce an audio CD with the numerous tapes combined on the one CD.

2. I have some old 78 rpm records of Enrico Caruso, Fritz Kreisler and others, which are no longer available. It will be interesting to listen to these on modern equipment.

3. I have a 33 rpm record of Porgy & Bess with Cab Calloway as Sportin' Life singing It Ain't Necessarily So which is not available on CD.

Before describing how this book helps me with these projects - and other music-related uses of the computer - it will be helpful to define certain of the terms relevant to this processes used in this book - and thereby indicate the scope of the efforts described.

* Digitizing - converting the analog sound signals from tapes and records to digital format for the computer
* Burning - writing data onto a CD-R or -RW
* Ripping - reading audio data from a CD and saving to a computer
* Recording - capturing audio on to a media
* Mixing - creating a group of selected songs, including songs from different CDs or other sources
* Re-mixing - further editing of mixes, including excerpting portions of songs
* Downloading - obtaining music from the Internet and saving it on the computer [see Streaming]
* Streaming - receiving and playing, without storing, music from the Internet [see Downloading]
* Broadcasting - sending audio signals to remote receivers or speakers
* Codecs -technology for compressing/decompressing data files, in this case audio files:
o MP3 - a popular codec
o WMA - Microsoft's codec
o RealAudio - Real.com's codec
o WAV - Microsoft's uncompressed format
o Numerous other
* Mash-up - splicing all or parts of two or more songs into one unit

The book's Chapter headings also are descriptive of the content


1. That's no computer - It's your music machine
2. What you need [and what you don't]
3. Copy a CD
4. Rip a CD
5. Download music
6. Record and mix live audio
7. Burn the perfect mix
8. Digitize your vinyl [my primary interest]
9. Turn your digital pictures into music videos
10. Build a beat and sample library
11. Broadcast audio to every radio in your house
12. Turn out your own DJ set
13. Make a self-playing or self-burning CD
14. Create your own Internet Radio Station
15. Remixing 101
16. Create a mash-up remix
Appendix - Legal considerations


The low-cost music software covered includes Audacity, CoolEdit Pro, Windows Media Player, MusicMatch Jukebox, PC DJ Broadcaster, Shoutcast Server and more, with explanations of the various file formats. The discussions of editing include fixing artifacts [defects], creating effects, using multiple tracks and more. They describe the way to capture and restore the quality of audio from old media.

I was struck by the number of times the author refers to the legal issues pertaining to copyright and fair-use - describing relevant copyright law, and what is advised to do and not to do, and much more. Besides the Appendix, there are many sidebars within the chapters making note of the potential issues and the conflicting opinions regarding fair use.

All in all, this is a great book for anyone interested in music and the computer and curious about combining the two. I will refer to it often as I proceed with my own projects.

Burning Down the House
Ripping, recording, remixing, and more!
By Eliot Van Buskirk
Publisher: McGraw-Hill/Osborne
© 2003
ISBN: 0-07-222879-2
List Price: $24.99
Price On Amazon: $16.49

This is a must buy for any newbie and intermediate level digital music enthusiast. i found his book to be chock full of info that i hadn't known.
Now my digital music life is much easier. Thank you! mr. van buskirk
BTW.. please check out his column on c-net, also very helpful.

Buskirk's book is a perfect introduction to the world of digital music and home recording. Many newbies have a hard time coming to terms with digital file formats, hardware, software and the diversity in cost/quality/platforms,etc. and which way to take these choices. If that is you, this is an ideal guide for your initial dive into modern audio technology. If you are only interested in downloading mp3's and burning cd's from this material or are an aspiring producer/home recording/musician, this book is for you. It could also be a good review of modern production options and the free or commercial software to flesh out your sonic ideas. All of the above without presenting the information in a dry or overly academic style. An enjoyable read!

CNet recommended this book for the course they were offering on becoming proficient with the editing of digital multimedia and recording it to CDs. I can attest they knew what they were doing. The book is easy to read, deals with the technology with a non-geek tone and handles the legal issues properly and with a proper tongue-in-cheek manner. An excellent value.

Finally, a friendly, huggable book that answers embarrassing questions like how to "Digitize Your Vinyl" and "Remixing 101." Most of us pretend that we know how to do this stuff, but now we can actually know instead. No one this experienced is addressing what people really do when they remix and make music online and then broadcast it to the world. It's an intelligent and fun read, told with humor and best of all, soul. Take Van Buskirk's dedication for instance: "To anyone who's ever made something because they wanted to." I mean, come on!

This book is a must for those interested in digital audio. It definitely gives the novice computer audiophile a ton of great basic info to get started, but at the same time has loads of great tips and tricks for more experienced users like myself.
It's written in an easy to read, fun style... rather than too technical and boring like so many other computer oriented books.
And the software he mentions and uses as examples throughout are all open-source, which means free.... so you don't already have to have some expensive software package before you can start making remixes, burning cd's, etc....
Anyway, definitely a good book and well worth the money

Eliot Van Buskirk has managed to make his book essential for anyone who wants to do anything at all with music on their computer. Whether you want to start burning cds of mp3 files or do home recording, this book will get you started. If you're already using your computer for music, you'll definitely pick up loads of useful tips. Get it!

I highly encourge anyone to get this book and use the information within to take control of the data that you own for your own personal means.
To merely make a backup copy, to save a damaged CD, or to make your own re-mixes or mash-ups!
I fully believe that the mash-up is a new work and not simply a derivitive work, that inspires revolution and pushes further the creativity in our culture, the mash-up is revolution, resistance and original, oh yeah and fun as hell!
Get the book.

Best single book I've ever read on the MP3 playing and recording boom. I've seen Newsweek articles and the like trying to explain MP3 use to a couch potato, and Wired articles that were WAY too techie, but this book really covers both ends of the spectrum. Buskirk has to be the expert in this field. Great to see some solid literature on this topic.

It's really a book for the ages in that it covers the early "pirate" use of the MP3 and moves it all the way into the next round to come, where MP3's are fully integrated into other electronic components and truly become a part of our lives. I can't quite figure out how the author went from CNET columnist to an author of quite this depth on a single topic, but you have to respect the effort.

I'd quibble with the graphics on the front, as it looks like maybe the author's been playing a little too much SimCity, and the Talking Heads probably want his on a platter, but what is inside the covers was definitley worth my dough.

I use it as a kind of "look back" non-fiction book, a manual for my current mixing, and a bible for what I'm going to look forward to trying with my next recorder/player/mixer/library combo. Keep writing on this topic!!!

Everything you need to convert analog to digital; photos, video, or music.
Dust off and restore those great old LP's or even 8mm movies to DVD or CD.
It takes time but a great hobby with satisfying results.