AN EARFUL ON EMBEDDING

I read David Battino's article (“More Than Meets the Ear,” March 2002) and did not find the one piece of information I thought would have been the most obvious — how do I embed simple titles, tracks, and copyright information so that they appear in a computer media player such as Windows Media Player and CD Player? Did I miss something?
Randy Tobin
via e-mail

Author David Battino replies: Randy — Embedding CD-Text is simple, but because the information is written directly to the subcode area of the CD, both your CD-burning program and your CD-R drive must support CD-Text creation. On Windows, Roxio's Easy CD Creator and Ahead's Nero can do the trick; on the Mac, you can use Emagic's WaveBurner or Ahead's NeroMax. Note that Roxio Toast and Jam, the leading Mac burners, don't yet support CD-Text, which is why the process may not have seemed obvious. With the other programs, you simply select a menu item or click on a checkbox and enter the information you want to display. For links to those programs (and many more enhanced-CD resources), visit www.emusician.com.

Unfortunately, few CD players support CD-Text; in fact, the majority of software players actually grab the information from CDDB.com, not the disc itself. Uploading information about your own projects to CDDB is possible but needlessly clogs the database if you'll be distributing only a few hundred copies.

AND THE WINNERS ARE …

I have been subscribing to EM since its beginning. Most of it is good most of the time. In real life, everything cannot be a “10” all of the time, but you sure had a pair of winners in the March 2002 issue. Gary S. Hall's article “Burning Ambitions” explains everything you should know about CDs and CD burning. Hall is totally brilliant. I read all the replication publications in addition to other related publications, and it has taken me years to gather the knowledge that Hall condenses into one, albeit long, article. Anyone who runs a recording studio should have that article tattooed on his or her arm. It is truly fine writing and presentation.

The other article, “Desktop Musician: Windows Washing” by David Roach, was of the same quality. I've been in the business a long time and have gathered much of that same data, but I have never seen it all in one concise article. That's quite an achievement for EM.

I often pass my magazines on to my friends. Can I obtain those articles electronically or point people to the articles on your Web site without having to resort to photocopying? These articles should be saved on the computer hard drive of every electronic-music geek on the planet.
Clark Ferguson
via e-mail

Clark — EM makes the most recent two years' worth of articles available online in the back-issue section of www.emusician.com. At this time, we can provide only the text, but we are considering ways to include the graphics.
— Steve O

LOST IN CYBERSPACE

I just finished reading the March 2002 issue and wanted you to know how valuable it is. I tried to provide my feedback through the magazine's Web site, but it appears to be in a state of disarray. I received script errors on the first page and found many links that seem to send me off into space.

However, the March issue's focus on CD construction (“Burning Ambitions”) was well represented and appropriate to EM's audience of technolust gear-heads. Bottom line: Wow. Great issue, but the Web site needs work.
J. Perry Lamb
via e-mail

I'M WITH THE BAND

I enjoyed reading Marty Cutler's February 2002 article “Virtual Bandmates.” I have been using Soundtrek's Jammer Professional and PG Music's Band-in-a-Box programs on my PC with a Yamaha CLP 560 MIDI keyboard since 1998. Band-in-a-Box has one of the easiest user interface windows. In the article, however, Cutler states that Band-in-a-Box has a significantly more complex interface than other programs.

My first reaction was astonishment. When I saw the Band-in-a-Box interface window in Fig. 2, I saw a window that I had never seen before. I wouldn't have recognized it except for the program logo at the top.

I agree that the interface window shown in the article is a complex layout of buttons, icons, and menus, but it doesn't look anything like the Band-in-a-Box versions that I have been using. I use version 11 — what version did the author use?
Gerald Losser
Gloucester, Virginia

Gerald — The screen shot you refer to shows Band-in-a-Box version 8 for the Mac, which is the most recent version for that platform. However, I spent a good deal of time with version 10 for Windows. (Version 11 wasn't announced until the article was being proofed.)

I never stated that the user interface is difficult. I did say that it was more complex and that the array of buttons, menus, and icons were confounding at first glance. Part of that problem is redundancies between menu commands and onscreen buttons that take up screen real estate. I agree that the program is a breeze to use; that said, the user interface found in the most recent Windows upgrade doesn't appear to be any less complex than the versions I reviewed.
— Marty Cutler

THE MEEK SHALL INHERIT

Barry Cleveland's article about Joe Meek (“Production Values: Meek First,” February 2002) was one of the most enlightening articles I've read in a music magazine in a long time. It was great to learn about Meek's story — both the technical and personal info — and to discover that he was behind two songs from my musical childhood that left distinct impressions on me.

“Telstar” was a song I always remembered hearing but never knew anything about — not even its title. “Have I the Right” was another one of those songs I recall jumping right out of the radio, stark and clear.

I was amazed to find out that Joe Meek had a hand in this and was also so far ahead of his time as an innovator of music and technology. Why I haven't heard more about him, other than the Joemeek line of products, baffles me. Thanks for a great article. It's definitely a keeper.
Rob Chanter
via e-mail

Rob — You got that right! Until recently, Joe Meek was sadly underappreciated on this side of the Atlantic. In fact, the first time I heard his name, I thought the person was referring to Joe Meek, the famous mountain man who trapped furs with Kit Carson and Jim Bridger in the 1830s. I admit it was an ignorant mistake, but at least both Joe Meeks were extremely talented mavericks!
— Steve O

HOLD ON A MINUTE!

In the “Chain, Chain, Chain” article in the February 2002 issue, the information regarding the typical configuration of TRS signal flow is incorrect. The majority of mixers and other pro-audio equipment typically send signals through the tip and receive signals through the ring of the patch cable.
Eric Hold
via e-mail

Eric — There is no standard or “typical” way to wire mixer inserts. Soundcraft, for instance, makes some consoles with TRS inserts wired tip = send and some that are wired ring = send.
— Steve O

BLOW THAT HARP, SON

Thanks for finally having an article about recording harmonica (“Recording Musician: Taming of the Shrill,” January 2002). I am a harmonica and keyboard player, and it was great to see the harmonica given the same treatment enjoyed by other instruments in your fine series. It's also great to know that author Brian Knave is a harmonica player.
Erik Eisen
via e-mail

WE MEAN IT, MAN

I have been a subscriber since October 1987. The magazine is really top-notch. Although at times it seems that much does not apply to me, I constantly find that it really does. I refresh my memory by rereading articles long after they appear. For example, the stuff about compression, sound cards, EQ, reverb — it is all so relevant. Unlike many other magazines, EM has never fallen into the trap of publishing senseless articles. Whereas other publications recycle boring and fictitious debates that carry on for months, EM takes a professional, sincere approach.
Cooke Harvey
via e-mail

WE WELCOME YOUR FEEDBACK.

Address correspondence and e-mail to “Letters,” Electronic Musician, 6400 Hollis Street, Suite 12, Emeryville, CA 94608 or emeditorial@primediabusiness.com. Published letters may be edited for space and clarity.