Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Music Media

Free CD-Quality Music 74

Posted by timothy from the get-yourself-a-foley-box dept.
Scaife writes "I make a video project for school each year, and this year we want to produce it on DVD and sell it. The only catch is that we don't have the time or money to get copyright permissions for the 100+ songs we use for it. I'm wondering if there is a large repository of CD-quality royalty-free music somewhere. Whenever I try and take one of the royalty-free MP3s available on the web and use it on a DVD, the quality is awful as it pops and hisses. I suppose this is because of the lossy compression. Any ideas?"
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Free CD-Quality Music More

Free CD-Quality Music

Comments Filter:

  • pops & hisses? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Tumbleweed ( 3706 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @10:36PM (#5421676)
    Lossy compression isn't what's causing pops and hisses - that's likely coming from a bad rip from the original source (not from the compression into mp3). FYI.

    • Re:pops & hisses? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Meowing ( 241289 )
      A less-than-great decoder can cause that too, and a really common mistake is to assume that because a player is popular, it must be a good one. There's lots of good stuff out there, lots of crap too. This applies equally to commercial and open-source offerings.
      • Really? I've never used a 'less-than-great' decoder, then, I guess. All the rips & encodes I do play just fine in WinAmp. :)

        Of course, I use Exact Audio Copy to rip and LAME to encode, so it's not like I'd run into that kind of problem.

        • Re:pops & hisses? (Score:5, Interesting)

          by Meowing ( 241289 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:11PM (#5421798) Homepage
          One big problem for a long time was that a lot of (badly) "optimized" versions of the reference Fraunhofer code were in circulation. There were also some commercial outfits (I think Xing was one) that tended to put out just plain buggy libraries. All this code ended up embedded into lots of front ends.

          So it's definitely worth pipng the mpeg streams into a variety of decoders to see if the results improve.

    • Re:pops & hisses? (Score:4, Informative)

      by jason718 ( 634659 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:33PM (#5421881)
      If you're using MP3 for a video project - and you're bringing into the timeline of a Premiere / Final Cut Pro / other NLE project - you'd be best to uncompress it back into into a native WAV/AIFF.

      I've certainly heard Premiere 6.0 crack and pop sometimes when playing back mp3s on the timeline, especially if you have limited machine resources. Also, watch out for the sample rate - as the audio track on DVDs runs at 48KHz, you may want to do convert your audio to this rate in a tool like Sound Forge (or one of the open source equivalents), rather than leaving it to your NLE package.

      • I agree with the parent poster -- I had a lot of noise in mp3 files imported directly into Final Cut Pro 3; when I converted them to AIFF first, then imported them the noise disappeared.

  • What type of school? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Do you have a band? Could they play some royalty free music? Perhaps some classic works?

  • Open Music Registry (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 02, 2003 @10:51PM (#5421734)
    Open Music Registry [openmusicregistry.org] might have something you could use. Mp3.com might too, depending on what you consider to be "CD quality".
  • another problem is that, i don't know if you do this already, but it is a good idea to convert to wav with a good mp3 decoder before you import it into your video editing program, because they usually don't have the best mp3 decoders built-in.

    • Re:make sure to convert to wav beforeimporting (Score:5, Informative)

      by MalachiConstant ( 553800 ) on Monday March 03, 2003 @12:22AM (#5422101)
      I would second this. I don't know what software (if your editing digially) you're using, but I do my work in Final Cut Pro, and if you just dump an mp3 onto the timeline it sounds very nasty. Pops, skips, noise, it's totally useless. But if I convert it to a quicktime file in sounds perfectly smooth.

      We have a voice over talent (who I've never met face to face) who emails all her VO work to us as mp3 files. We just convert to quicktime and it's fine. If the file sounds worse in your project than it does just playing it on your computer I'd suspect the problem is incompatibility between the mp3 and your editing software, not the file itself.
    • Also consider using a good sample rate converter.. most .mp3s are 44.1 khz, dvd has to be 48khz. A bad sample rate conversion can also cause those symptoms.
  • Just direct your little fingers over to KazaaLite.com or WinMX.com . Plenty of free stuff. Plenty.

  • Hit up local bands (Score:5, Interesting)

    by n1ywb ( 555767 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:10PM (#5421797) Homepage Journal
    I'd hit up all your up and coming local bands for cheap rights. They'll usually do anything for exposure, maybe even let you use their stuff for free.
    • a HAM on slashdot?!?!?! I dont believe that!
    • My thoughts exactly.

      When I was in the local music scene a lot of bands actually put something like "Please copy this for all your friends" on their album labels, in the hopes that it would get more people coming to their shows. I'd be very suprised if you couldn't find several local or semi-local bands who would be thrilled to have their music used for something like this. Just make sure they get proper mention in the credits!

      Just go to a show and try to talk to the band after they play.

  • If you have a .mac account form apple, one of the freebies is a whole lot of such royalty free music. There may be a limit on what you can use, but there are 10, 15, 30 sec and fill length stuff for news, background, motivational, etc. themes. It's called "Freeplay" and it's in your /username/Software/Extras/ directory. Hope this helps.

  • Royalty Free != free (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:20PM (#5421828)
    Don't confuse royalty free with free.

    With most royalty free recordings, of any decent quality, will certainly cost you a bit. The point of them being royalty free is once you've purchased it, you are allowed to use it how you want, for as long as you want (and that does include for profit). That's why its usually more expensive, because you're not just paying for the music, but the ability to use it how you want, without worry of lawsuits, fees, fines, paperwork, etc.

    If you just take music that's royalty free, as opposed to free (as in beer), you're probably still violating copyright law.

    I assume the exceptions to this is if you obtain the royalty free music from a place that has already purchased it, such as your local library. Your local college may also have a library of royalty-free music you can check out, especially if they have a decent-sized TV/Radio/Film program.

    You could also try checking out some local musicians if their music fits what you're looking for, and try to make a deal with them. In that case, not only are you helping to support local talent (as well as possibly giving them some exposure if you give them a credit), you'll probably make off with a low-cost solution that will be mutually beneficial.

    And as others somewhat mentioned above, check if there are any internet resources that will give you free (as in beer) music that also happens to be royalty free.
    • This is a good point - there are a number of royalty free music libraries available, however there is an initial licensing cost for the library.

      Just do a search for 'royalty free music' [google.com] on Google, and you'll see some vendors on the right hand side. The quality does vary a lot, but, if this is an ongoing project, it may be worth investing in a decent sized library (they vary from 1 CD to 20+ CDs), it should fulfil your current and future requirements.

      Now, as you're doing this for your school, maybe it's worth getting the music department involved, and getting some home-grown content.

      • I agree. Look around your school, find some bands to play stuff.

        As for royalty free libraries, the CDs can cost anywhere from 5-50 dollars per. Its still cheaper then licensing. If there is some audio whiz floating around, have him write and use a good MIDI sampler. I did this and came up with some pseudo James Bond like themes that couldn't get tagged for copyright innfringment.

  • Easy peasy. (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Just have your video point to *.mp3, and it'll play whatever is on the guy's computer. It'll make for a surreal experience the next day...
    "You know the part where that song ..."
    "No, it's that song by..."
    "No way!"

  • Doesn't sound like an MP3 problem (Score:4, Informative)

    by elan ( 171883 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:25PM (#5421848)
    Bad MP3s don't "pop and hiss". They warble, like as if played underwater.

  • Master Zap (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Apreche ( 239272 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:28PM (#5421861) Homepage Journal
    There's an awesome dude called Master Zap. He's got some of the best techno tracks I've ever heard. I listen to his stuff all the time, and he gives it away for free at www.z4p.com and www.mp3.com. He also has CDs. He's looking for a job too. He's the kind of guy who can probably hook you up.
    There are also tonss of college kids who make music with keyboards and PCs in their dorm rooms. I know of about 5 just in one or two colleges, I'm sure there are tons more elsewhere. Just find one of them and have them help you out. Even better, just head to a local dance club and talk to the DJ after he's done, if you like his stuff.
    If you want rock, find a place with a live band. Or find one of those shitty cover bands and have them play shit for you. They'll do anything for a little bit of green.
  • 1. make DVD
    2. ???
    3. profit

  • A few thoughts (Score:3, Interesting)

    by _iris ( 92554 ) on Sunday March 02, 2003 @11:49PM (#5421962) Homepage
    I'm pretty sure you don't need to pay royalties if it will only be used for school credit.

    • Re:A few thoughts (Score:3, Informative)

      by samoverton ( 253101 )
      Except if you read the post, it's not just for school credit, he wishes to sell the DVDs. For money.
    • Another option you have is to just use the first 30 seconds of the same songs. There are plenty of sites out there that let you download "previews" of songs for free, and most times they are good quality. Just do a "google" search and see what you can find.
      Yeah you might have to use more songs but this will save you from having to get copyright licenses.
      And anyway, people watching might get bored listening to a whole song, they would probably prefer to hear the start of the song instead.

      Just an idea.
  • You are probably having problems with the audio quality becase you are using a less then good conversion program to convert the audio from 44.1 khz to 48 khz. This doesn't seem like a big deal but it really makes all the differance in the world.
    • YES. This is definite... A bad sample rate conversion can REALLY kill your music.

      Case in point: esd (aka eSound), a soundserver common on Linux boxes. esd SUCKS if it needs to do samplerate conversion. 48 kHz MP3s sound HORRIBLE on any system I've used if played via esd.

      Same goes for trying to play a 44.1 kHz file at 48 kHz.

      I think sox has a decent converter, so do most sound editing programs. Heck, depending on your school you might even be able to use Matlab. (It's not intuitive by any means, nor is it fast, but you'll learn a LOT about audio processing in the process.)

      And yes, I've processed audio files in Matlab, mainly at a time when I was playing with some DSP tricks for amateur radio use.
  • I read the post and understood it that this guy was dissapointed with the quality of the royalty free music that he was finding, not that there was any problem with decoding it, but that it was just encoded at a lower quality _because_ it was being given away as royalty free. Of course he could just go out and download the music illegaly, but i think he wanted the challenge of being able to produce something that could be distributed without any kind of worrys. and no, i am sorry, i dont know any good places for a high schooler to find royalty free music for free, unless maybe you know someone that works in a production studio like i used to, they usually have shelves of royalty free music, but, airc, most of it isnt really what you would consider... um... not sucky...

  • What about... (Score:3, Informative)

    by xagon7 ( 530399 ) on Monday March 03, 2003 @02:20AM (#5422404)
    What about the Guitar class or some bands at your school? Yeah, they may suck but you get A. Free Music, B. They get exposure, and C. it is just something "nifty" to do.

    The other option would be my favorite ;)

    -- www.acidplanet.com (yeah they may all kinda sorts sound alike, but it is still fun)

    You may even be able to get permission from some of the old skool MOD authors at www.modarchive.com for their MODs

    Another option may be to use a MIDI file with a real good sound bank.

  • Isn't it simply "fair use" if you use a short excerpt from a song?
    My highschool video yearbook project used plenty of mainstream music, but did not use more than 30 seconds or so from a song at a time. The "fair use" reason was what our video production teacher claimed.

    It's strange how our society works; in that we are not taught the laws, but often rely on what our acquantances tell us or common sense, 8^)

    • For your project yes, as your yearbook is a school project not being sold for profit. His video is going to be sold for profit, and fair use goes away instantly.

  • How to get rid of the pops. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday March 03, 2003 @04:14AM (#5422701)
    I'm going to assume you're doing this on a Mac because I had this problem there, but it might be a PC problem too.

    Importing an mp3 directly into, say, Final Cut Pro, or DVD Studio Pro, will cause pops and hisses, I think it has something to do with the fact that it has to convert from mp3 to wav and from 44.1khz to 48khz at the same time, but it always screws things up. I know it sounds like I dunno what's causing the problem, I don't; I only know how to fix it.

    Convert the mp3s to wav using an mp3-to-wav converter of some sort (Quicktime Pro will do this) BEFORE importing them into the project. Then import the wav instead. If you can, create 48k wavs instead of 44.1k wavs, that'll make it easier.

  • 100 songs? (Score:4, Informative)

    by Andy_R ( 114137 ) on Monday March 03, 2003 @04:49AM (#5422801) Homepage Journal
    How long is this DVD, 15 hours? Why on earth are so many songs needed?

    It's very difficult to know what to suggest, since we are given no clue as to what kind of music is required, and why there is such an extaordinarily high number of songs involved.

    There are 2 people who you have to pay to legitimately use music, the performer and the composer.

    So, if you are looking for specific songs, you are out of luck, as you would still have to pay the composer of the music even if you do find a 'free' performance with no mechanical rights fees to pay.

    Classical music is (usually) out of copyright because it is long enough after the composer's death, but you still have to pay mechanical rights for the particular recording you are using, you can usually cheat your way past that by fending off anyone chasing for money by saying it's not their recording you used - a defence that would be almost impossible to deny if there are dozens of recordings of the work in question.

    I would suggest getting the school music department to come up with something for you.
    • there are also lots of old enough classical recordings(surprisingly good in quality) that they are out of copyright by the recording orchestra, and sometimes i guess they just give the rights straight out because they're not doing it for (commercial$$$£££)profit in the first place..

      at least in europe..

      those recordings tend to be on clay and a bit hard to come by sometimes though.. but at least in my country the national radio has big enough archive of those.

      anyways, if i had to do something like this(look for royalty free music), i would a) check out local bands, probably some are even in the school, local artists, hobbyists doing some tracking at home and people like that, and second b) look on the net for some demoscene composers and ask permissions directly from them, there's surprisingly good music available this way(good enough that if recording industry died overnight i wouldnt miss them for a second).
    • I really don't see any reason to flame me for my post (this goes for everyone). I'm just trying to get a little help. Anyway, we need about 100 songs because we only use about 10-15 seconds of a song, if that much.

  • Free Live recordings (Score:2, Informative)

    by fiffilinus ( 45513 )
    Amazing that no one here has mentioned etree [etree.org]. They offer thousands of live recordings done with the permission of the bands. Recording is done on DAT, then converted to a lossless file format 'shorten'. Those files then can be converted back to CD-audio using tools offered on their site. Great stuff, go have a look!
    • or look at http://www.archive.org/audio/

    • check the rights (Score:3, Informative)

      by akb ( 39826 )
      Most of the recordings circulating in the etree community are for personal use only. Very few grant blanket permission for commercial use. If the recordings that are released wind up in commercial projects bands will likely withdraw taping permission at their shows, so rights should always be checked.
  • I'll get flamed for sure by all the "everything should be free" crowd but here goes anyway.

    How is it that you don't want the various artists to get paid but you want to sell their art? Shouldn't the people who produced the art get a 'taste of the gate' or do you think we should all work for free and just pass the fruits of our labor around for others to make money off of?

    Nice work when you can find it, I suppose. No wonder the courts are backlogged.

    Money for nothing and chicks for free... Send me some free chicks while you're at it. Seniors only, please.

    • Perhaps you should take remedial reading, at least you'd have a skill to make up for your total lack of social skills.

      HE said he was selling it, if you had bothered to read his minimal letter. It was only a few sentences after all. He wanted to accumulate free music for a school project that was to be used as a fund raiser.

      You must have been a real hit with the ladies in school, toad, have you ever had a date? With your conversation skills I'd say 'just with your mother, and she went home early.'

      Try fresh air and sunshine a few days a week, it would do something for your, for lack of a better word, personality. Try a walk in the park. Talk with people, but go slow, you might get arrested otherwise. You might even develop a social skill beyond ridicule and blind hatred.

      Get a life.
  • Depending on how many your distribute and other factors, licensing can be very cheap.

  • Uhh, pops and hiss? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by delus10n0 ( 524126 ) on Monday March 03, 2003 @12:35PM (#5424636)
    Sorry, but pops and hiss are not caused by lossy compression in the MP3 format. Most likely you're forgetting to convert your 44.1KHz audio to 48KHz (which is what a DVD uses..)

    If your video/audio editing software was decent, it should have done this for you automagically.

  • Does it have to be popular music? (Score:3, Informative)

    by jclenman317 ( 654834 ) on Monday March 03, 2003 @12:48PM (#5424729)
    If you're willing to take the indie route, there are quite a few sites I could recommend where you can download good quality music for free. Sites like SonicAwareness.com, Ampcast.com, Indielaunch.com, ...there are others, just can't think of them off the top of my head. You'll have to do a little browsing in order to find music that works well with your film's content, but you're bound to find something. Here's a suggestion...go to Sonicawareness.com and in the main search engine, in the field that says "influence", enter the name of the band whose music you like, or would like to include in your film. So let's say you would like music by U2 in your film....type U2 into the "influence" filed, and hit submit. The site will display all the bands influenced by U2 on site. This is a good way to find music that sounds like the music you want. I know that may be second best, but you most likely won't get a call from the industry, demanding royalty payments. Then again, I could be wrong. I just figure that indies would want their music in movies.
  • All professional sound studios have hundreds of CDs of "royalty-free" music - it isn't entirely free, but the costs are not prohibitive - more a licensing fee, based on the type of audience. In the television industry we talk about "sound-alikes" - professionally produced music that sounds similar to hit songs. Look for a studio that does post-production sound in your area, and ask them how up-to-date their library is. Ads in trade magazines should steer you in the right direction, or ask at TV studios near you. there are also quite good original tracks on some CDs - listen to "Xtreme" library for everything from hip-hop to latin jazz.

Slashdot Top Deals

Truly simple systems... require infinite testing. -- Norman Augustine

Close