Umazon Blog

If you want to convert your video clips in the 3GP2 format to AVI then you can depend on your Need4 Video Converter. Play them on your computer, along with various mobile devices, cell phones or exhibited on video sharing files. You can convert 3GP2 videos to AVI right away. Need4Video’s cutting edge technology can meet all of your needs, if you only want to convert a little segment at a time, or a whole video clip or audio extract at once.

Launch

To start off you will reqire a video converter program, such as a Need4Video Converter. Download the program and follow the simple instructions.

Add 3GP2 Video To Converter

To add video that you would like to convert, click the +Video button. In the Files of type field, select 3GP2. Select a necessary video file and click Open. The selected file will be added to the list of opened files.

Select Output Format

Choose general Video in the Profile list. Open the Presets list on the right. Choose therelevant output format in the Presets list and click open.

Specify Folder to Save Video

Enter the name of the converted video in the Save as field. Outline the folder where you want to store the converted videos in the Save to field. Point out any extra options that you may need for saving video. Overwrite any existing files and check it to replace any existing video files with the same name with brand new ones. Open the output folder. You can then review the folder with a ready file.

Select a Video Segment to Convert

If you only wish to convert an individual segment of the video clip, then click the Edit button next to your video in the list. You can drag the left marker, in the open window, to the start of the video episode you want with the right marker at the end.

Hit Convert to Save 3GP2 Videos to AVI

You can check the added video in the List of opened files. Hit Convert 3GP2 to convert it to AVI.

Need4Video can create a wide range of video converter software programs to meet any requirements.

Most of the music lovers are well familiar with different electronic gadgets and portable digital media players like iPods, MP3 players and MP4 players. The latest in the serious is MP5 portable digital media player. In some quarters of the consumers, people are still skeptical about any such gadget as MP5 player. They are of the opinion that this is merely a marketing tactic of manufacturers of this item for selling the old version under new umbrella. But this is not the true picture of the matter. The following are the additional features that make MP5 apart from MP3 and MP4 players:

1. MP5 digital player is equipped with built DV camera to record videos, which obviously means you can expand memory of your player which you cannot do with its earlier versions. Besides this, MP5 player supports number of media formats.
2. With MP5 media player you can carry your favorite movies along as it allows transcoding movies into RealMedia’s RM and RMVB format. This is not possible with MP3 or MP4 players that support only video formats.
3. Various advanced technological features to avail functions like DVB-T, WI-FI, Global Positioning System, Blue Tooth and various other functions can be synchronized with MP5 Player.
4. 2.4 inch vivid color TFT display screen of MP5 portable digital media players provides excellent viewing experience of high resolution video which is not possible through MP4 players.
5. MP5 digital media player eliminates the inadequacy of memory that exists in MP3 and MP4 players as you can expand the memory through build-in SD and MMC card slots and store as much information as you like.

Bacardi Spreads Music

Bacardi, a name associated with rums and spirits, is launching a music label. The Bacardi Bat Project, the label’s name, will commission songs from various musicians and artists and give them for free as MP3 downloads.

The Bacardi Bat Project is patterned after the free online music provider RCRD LBL. RCRD LBL, a music blog that provides downloadable music through the Internet, started its operation in the middle of 2007. They offer MP3 versions of various songs with description of the artists and their respective record labels. RCRD LBL pays the artists a cash advance ranging from $500-$5000 depending on the label artists’ bankability.

The Bacardi Bat Project follows the same scheme. The only difference is that the Bacardi Company acts as the program’s sole sponsor. Apart from commissioning studio recordings, the Bacardi Bat Project also plans to include remixes and live performances.

The Bacardi Bat Project has already posted its first single, A Thing For Me by Metronomy. The song was originally composed for a film Bacardi showed in Miami in April. Four remixes of the song will be available soon.

A follower of the trend observed that this move by Bacardi is a win-win situation for those involved. People get free music, artists get paid, and the Bacardi name enjoys immense publicity.

The name of the label was derived from the company’s logo, the fruit bat. The first Bacardi distillery was inhabited by fruit bats when Don Facundo Bacardi, the founder, bought the building in 1862.

Aside from the Bacardi Bat Project, the Bacardi Company is also involved in other musical and entertainment endeavors, most notably the Bacardi B-Live Project. Such highly popular events have made the Bacardi name a constant and favored party drink for party goers and music lovers.

Most audio files, from MP3s to tracks on a Compact Disc, contain textual metadata. This metadata contains information such as song title, album name and the compression rate. I say most because some songs that were ripped by an amateur may not contain this information. If you downloaded the song free over the Internet using Kazaa or the alike, it may not contain this important metadata. On the other hand, if you downloaded the song from a service such as the iTunes Music Store then you’re guaranteed this metadata.

Metadata is not a necessity to play your MP3 collection but it’s a nice addition to have. Music players will read this metadata and display it (artist name, album, genre, etc.) when the song is played, rather than just displaying track number or file name. If you have MP3s that are missing metadata, you can easily add this information using a tag editor. A lot of PC music players come with such an editor but there are other alternatives out there.

If you rip your own MP3s from compact discs, or you’re simply interested in cleaning up your MP3 music collection, then you have several choices in obtaining accurate metadata for your audio files. CDDB (which stands for Compact Disc Database) is a database for software applications to look up CD (compact disc) information over the Internet. There are also great sites, such as www.freedb.org and http://musicbrainz.org, that make this a snap. I personally use MusicBrainz and I love it.

If you’re a MusicMatch Jukebox fan, you can not only add metadata to your MP3s but you also can add album covers and even song lyrics. There are now Web sites dedicated to album cover images, such as http://www.slothradio.com/covers/ and http://www.cdcovers.cc/. As for song lyrics, there are hundreds, if not thousands of sites offering song lyrics - simply Google it.

If you’re interested in an all-in-one package, including a player, tag editor and converter, check out MediaMonkey at http://www.mediamonkey.com. The free version comes fully loaded and ready to get your music collection in order.

In conclusion, be sure to include this metadata when converting your MP3s in preparation of burning the audio files to compact disc. In some audio converters this is not always set as a default but as an option, such as with the DBPower AMP music converter.

For more information on MP3s, visit http://www.theMP3plug.com.

Blake Daniels is the author and creator of http://www.theMP3plug.com.

Have you ever walked by a piano and wondered “how can anyone make sense of all those keys?” If that’s you, then you’re going to love this.

Listen, 16 years ago I was in the same boat. You see, I was a guitar player and the thought of actually making music at the piano seemed way out there. In fact, the whole idea that anyone could make heads or tales of all those keys always amazed me.

But, I did enjoy the piano - especially the solo piano music of George Winston. I loved his music and wondered if I could create like that. I then started my journey of musical discovery. At that time, it led me to all my local libraries in the city of San Diego. I hit local libraries, college libraries… anywhere there were books on music.

And do you know what I discovered? Very little! That’s right.

There was a pitiful amount of information available on how to improvise and create your own music. Oh, there were books on how to compose. But most of these authors assumed you already knew counterpoint and other higher-level harmony knowledge taught at colleges.

What a disappointment!. But my luck was about to change. Just by chance, I happened upon a very slim volume at San Diego State University. I forget the name of the title (it was a long time ago) but basically, the book showed you how to play chord changes within a given framework. That framework was something called phrases. Four-bar phrases, eight-bar phrases, etc.

Anyway, playing chords within these phrases taught me how to improvise. How? Because it solved the problem of repetition and contrast! I didn’t have to think about when to change chords or where I would be playing them. The chord chart took care of that! Now all I had to do to improvise and create my own music was to come up with chord changes of my own.

Here’s the thing… learning how to play chords is the first step towards creative piano playing. But you also have to know what to do with these chords. The chord chart solves this problem and gives you a template upon which you can chart out your own unique arrangements!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music’s online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Practicing with a metronome will improve your time keeping dramatically! What… you say you can already keep time? Try to keep time with a metronome for about twenty seconds. It will show you how good you really can keep time. If you have never tried it…try it! You will see there is room for improvment.

In order to be an outstanding drummer you’ll need to keep good time, and practicing with a metronome can help you do that. A metronome can improve your time keeping almost by magic. And, we know how important time keeping is, particularly for a drummer.

You may wonder what the big deal is and think, “No one is gonna be able to distinguish any small changes in tempo in the middle of a song.” Well, that may be true, but the major importance of keeping good time is at three different places in a song…

1) The times when you break away for a fill and come back to the original rhythm. 2) If the song contains pauses and later returns to the original rhythm. 3) If the song contains different tempos and returns to the original rhythm.

A metronome is such a vital tool in music education that most teachers of guitar, piano, and violin all utilize the power of metronomes within their lessons. How then, even more important for the time keeper of a band to practice with a metronome.

I can’t strees enough the importance of practicing with a metronome. Once you go out and invest in one, start out by setting it at 80 beats per minute and play along with a standard 4/4 disco beat. This is a good pace to begin. It will give you enough time between beats to concentrate and land your beat in sync with the beat of the mertonome.

You will see that when you first start practicing with a metronome it can become very discouraging, but then you will eventually get the hang of it and keep pretty good time. Then it may become a little boring. It’s at that point where you must challenging yourself a little bit more.

Adjust your metronome to a few more beats and increase your speed. Not so much where you will sacrifice your form, though. You don’t want to become sloppy. Once you feel like you are really getting good at staying in sync with the metronome using a 4/4 beat and at various speeds you should begin to practice a variety of different rhythms, also at various speeds.

Practicing with a metronome will improve your drumming dramatically, so if you don’t have one, get one. You will be amazed at how much it will increase your level of playing.

Copyright 2006 Daniel N Brown

Dan Brown has been drumming since 1976. Sign up for his FREE weekly newsletter and get tips, ideas, articles, and merchandise!
http://www.dbdrumtips.com/