Music
Music News:
June 2024: I've recently acquired a pair of Damix M20 BT5.3 earbuds - the instructions were non-existent and I couldn't find anything useful online regarding touch controls, so I've compiled a mini-guide and review for anyone else who might be struggling....download from the list below. Hope it helps....
December 2023: As a fan of 'retro' pop music I was dismayed to find recently that one of the best online Android and iOS app offerings presenting the Beatles Music, (Beatles Ultimate Complete v3.1) was no longer working on any of my Android devices. Although no specific cause has come to light on any of the online forums that I've been able to discover, I strongly suspect this will be connected with the recent Beatles 'revival' which culminated with an AI-mixed 'final' track (hopefully it really will be the last !).
The app's designers will probably have taken fright about copyright issues and simply pulled the plug on the server content, thereby depriving faithful Beatles fans of their periodic 'fix'. Needless to say, far from reviving interest in this British 'institution', meddling by 'Beatles inc.' in this way is much more likely to annoy those with a genuine and lasting interest, and is all at the expense of an indifferent final synthetic AI offering which has now already faded into the obscurity it deserves. One day, hopefully the lesson that trying to recreate past glories for the sake of profit is a futile exercise and almost always disappoints, will actually be learnt...
OK, rant over.......so what can we actually do about it ?
Looking back over my old file archives, I managed to dig out a useful little compendium of Beatles Albums which can be played directly via a Windows pc from a USB stick. This has the advantage of being stand alone and not dependent on an internet connection, thereby removing any opportunity for the b******s to switch it off again.
You can download the 'BeatlesAlbums' directory from my Downloads page. This also contains a user guide in .pdf format - please read this before installing it onto your USB stick and attempting to run the program. Happy listening.
(Please note - although this software is designed to run from a CD or USB drive, it can be persuaded to run direct from your HDD - see the Guide to find out how. Note also that it will NOT run on a 64Bit pc - not surprising, perhaps, since it dates from the mid-1990s)
November 2023: For all aspiring music composers - I recently discovered the 'Ensemble Music' app lurking in Play Store's 'remaindered' section. This little 'jewel' of an app will allow you to create and edit sheet music from scratch and will then play it back to you for further modification. You can also save your work as .musicxml files. The app is tiny (ca 3MB) and amazingly will run on Android OS down to v4.0. If you have an Android phone or tablet with OS version later than Android 4.0, you're already good to go - check the Apple store if you use iOS.
Its 'achilles heel' is that, like many otherwise useful apps, it has very little in-app help, and unfortunately there does not appear to be an online user manual. I have therefore produced a step-by step guide with illustrations to help any aspiring composers wanting to use the app for their musical creations.
For those of you who don't yet have a keyboard app downloaded, why not try Virtual Piano Keyboard Free (v1.5), which you can also download from this site. This is a useful adjunct to Ensemble Music, and also works on android OS versions down to at least 4.2. It will also record your musical efforts, and unlike some of the more complex creations, it does not require an online connection.
14.1.24 For anyone interested in the physics of music, I've generated a simple midi emulator in Excel. This allows direct comparison of note frequency and octave/name designation and shows the note's position on a piano keyboard. You can also use it to compose simple melodies and store/retrieve them for later modification. Download it from the box below.
Hope it helps.
You can download the guide, and the .apk files for either or both of the apps, from the directory list below this box.
Happy composing......
For music tracks & titles currently available, see directory box below.
To download a music track or classical work to your pc, click the directory icon and the individual titles should be displayed. Choose your track and double-click the .mp3 file you wish to download to select it . To download, click the download icon at the top right of the screen. You can also download a complete folder if required - please note though that this may take some time to complete. It is usually best to look at the directory's content first before downloading.
You will need appropriate music player software/equipment to play the file(s) once downloaded. If you do not already have suitable software installed or are unsure of how to access and play .mp3 files, please see the guide in the box below.
To request a track / piece for inclusion in the list, please use the Contacts page and specify details of composer and work
Current Music Tracks (pending):
Brahms, Johannes A recent performance of 'Ein Deutsches Requiem'.
Haydn, Josef A wide selection of his Piano Concertos that should surprise and delight in equal measure.
How to access and play .mp3 files
The .mp3 files available on this site are compressed versions of CD quality .mpeg2 files, and are designed to take up relatively little space in your device's memory compared to the original files (only ca 40MB/hour required for a typical 96Kbps rendering). There are a plethora of mobile phone and tablet 'Apps' which will play .MP3s. These are available free from many sources, and most listeners nowadays use these on their smartphones to access music. Most of these devices have built-in apps already installed.
You can also play the files directly on your Windows or Mac pc using pre-installed media players.
Dedicated stand-alone .mp3 players are also widely available second hand at minimal cost - you can normally download the files to these devices via a USB cable from the USB port of your pc.
Version Date 20.5.22