DL 32R using hard drive for backing music

[Kev tyler]

Here's something that will give you guys a giggle, my mate is a DJ, and he is a real Apple snob, I don't know how many times I have had all the "rock solid " this that and the other, spiel from him, so one night we are doing a gig together, me cabaret and him the karaoke disco, some bloke rolls up with a stick with some obscure MP3 +g file on it , and the pub is full, he announces the guy and inserts the stick and the Mac crashes, so he boots it up again and to my amazement he says, " it's a Mac, it will be fine " and reinserts the stick and bang off goes all the sound and the Mac again,

I am always very weary of people and their usb sticks,  And wonder could this be an issue when we get To the point of plugging them in to our desks?

I worked with this guy again at gigs with big name band and  bloke off the telly, the supporting acts all rolled up with m3u playlists on sticks which seemed to really confuse the iTunes of that time, poor DJ had to figure out what the songs where and then relabel them all?

Cheers

Kev

[Wynnd]

Could that be DRM interfering?  Itunes does take DRM too seriously.  For example, you can't download music from someone else's ipod onto your computer.  You probably can't play it through the USB port either. 

[sam.spoons]

It's pretty easy to get music from your iTunes onto another device such as a USB drive,  (right click and 'show in finder' then simply drag and drop) and I believe iTunes 12 will also convert it to .wav for you (will check tonight, only have iTunes 11 on the laptop). All iTunes purchases are now (since 2009?) in iTunes Plus lossless format and free of DRM.

[robbocurry]

iTunes has had wav conversion available for years Sam, I've been using it since iPod v2.
The thing that gets me is performers turning up with a cd or usb drive without:
1: checking in advance you have a device that will play their media.
2: not bringing their own device that will play their media.
3: blaming you for their lack of preparation, usually not to your face.
4: not bothering to buy their own equipment, not even a mic.
Rant over

[dpdan]

don't you love the people who say "here's my CD"

and it looks like it spent the day on the highway.

[Keyboard Magic]

don't you love the people who say "here's my CD"

and it looks like it spent the day on the highway.

Road Rash Audio CDs. 

[sam.spoons]

I had one recently for a signed, ex TV "Stars In Their Minds" type show graduate which arrived with a scruffy handwritten piece of paper (looked like it had been torn from the back of an envelope), ambiguous track numbering (two columns of numbers) and, come the show, I played the wrong track..... I did play the track with the number I was asked to play but...... Typical gig, no problem, the talent laughed it off and apologises to me afterwords..... Sadly not this time due to the 'local radio' ar$eh@les in charge....... Needless to say I won't work for them again even if they ask (which they won't  )

[Keyboard Magic]

I have them mostly well trained at the school, always get the CDs well before, but once in a while I get handed an audio cassette, at dress rehearsal. I guess I should throw the tape deck in with the gear. Try to find the right song on a tape deck even with the tape counter.    It is old school (no pun intended) but it really does happen.

[dpdan]

all that old analog crap, I don't miss it.. AT ALL
WOW and flutter,
tape hiss louder than the music,
distortion,
bad bias settings,
Dolby pumping... 
GEEZ,,

don't get me started 

but really, those things do make me really appreciate digital audio and all that it is capable of... and yes,
I love how digital sounds. I am old enough to apppreciate where we have come from.
 

[Sir Krang]

iTunes has had wav conversion available for years Sam, I've been using it since iPod v2.
The thing that gets me is performers turning up with a cd or usb drive without:
1: checking in advance you have a device that will play their media.
2: not bringing their own device that will play their media.
3: blaming you for their lack of preparation, usually not to your face.
4: not bothering to buy their own equipment, not even a mic.
Rant over

Robbo, you musta been working for the exact same acts as I've have.

I haven't owned a functioning CD player this century...well apart from the one built into my truck stereo.
I've lost track of how often I'm expected to play some format CD/DVD when there are literally squillions of MP3 players out there.
3mm stereo jack, plug straight into a mixer with the necessary lead. Easy peazy to dial up and play the correct tracks.

Luckily there's always been some other group member who has their stuff on their personal iPod thingy and we get through the show without a hitch.

Handing me a CD to play these days is almost as archaic as handing me a floppy disk LOL 

[Wynnd]

What I've been getting mostly lately is the music is on their phone.  This is one of those places where having airplay available has been a plus.  Because I already have a cable with the right sized phone plug feeding two channels.  The only real issue I have, is that I'm not familiar enough with each phone to operate them all.  Just taken to having the person whose phone it is turn the music on.  This has also been useful with a number of break music situations where the crowd is black.  I've got some R&B on my phone, but it's all very old school.  Mostly stuff I play and grew up with.  It wasn't right for the wedding reception.  Couple was in their 30s.  I just didn't have or even know what music would have been right.  But someone's phone had the right stuff on it.  (And that's not the only situation where this has saved my ass.)  And I don't listen to modern music much at all.  So I'm out of touch with most crowds under 45.   Playing with some younger players has introduced me to some of the new music, but I'm getting ready to start playing the "animal circuit".  (Moose, Elks, Owls, Eagles.....  My Wife's term for those clubs.)

[Kev tyler]

Hi guys

I still find iTunes to have a mind of its own when dealing with m3u imports and exports,

I have a set of 259 songs compiled in Winamp, when I have to import it in to I tunes and it says 242 songs successfully imported, and then I have to run two pcs and go through the list song by song to find  which songs I tunes failed to import, etc etc.

My mate rang me last month in a panic, he wa doing pa for some bloke from benidorm who showed up on the last minute with a mini disk and no player, "superstars"

Funniest night ever, I was doing sound for myself and some river dance show, the two girls barely acknowledged me, sat as far away from me as possible and then right before their show they passed me a cd which I ran through Winamp on my laptop, just press play they said,

Ok, well I always use gap killer on playback, how was I supposed to know they had  2 minutes of silence on track two to stand static on stage and catch their breath lol.

I love the hand written notes, track three track six, then change cd, track one, when the plonkers have the cd in the wrong case.

Show business

[sam.spoons]

With CDRs costing around 15p there's no excuse not to burn the tracks to a fresh CD in the correct order for every gig (or at least every time the set changes or the CD starts to look a bit dog eared). 

[slystewart]

looking at the Denon DN 300Z rack unit 1 u  in size looks like it has all  the input needs  for music playback

[Keyboard Magic]

I make sure I get the CDs from the different teachers 3-4 days before a concert. I rip the required tracks with CD-DA Extractor on the laptop, normalize them, put them into the appropriate order for the concert in iTunes and
finally into the iPod/iPad ready for the concert via AirPlay of course. 

For my playback app I use One Track Mind it allows me to play only one song at a time and stop when the song has played. It's a lot of work but it does save me a lot of headaches. No more 10 CD's at concert with the selections hastily written down on pieces of paper with each disc and sometimes it's the wrong song. And of course it's all my fault.  No more. Hurray for digital playback devices!