Friday, June 29, 2012

Edit Song Tags to Organize Your Music Collection

If you have a large music collection you have probably collected songs from lots of different sources, and may find that some of your music's ID3 tag information is incorrect, inconsistent, or even missing. Stamp ID3 Tag Editor is a fast and easy way to correct, update and add ID3 tag information to music files, including the artist name, song title, album, year and more, which can help keep your music library organized.

ID3 tags can be added to the properties of MP3, WAV and OGG audio formats. These tags not only make it easier to find and organize music on your computer, but audio players also use this information to display information about the song you are currently listening to.

To make changes to the data on your songs, browse through the folder explorer on the left side of the Stamp MP3 Tag Editor main interface. The songs list for the folder will be listed in the top right, and the meta data tags for the selected song(s) are shown below the music list. Enter the tag details for the song or songs you have selected, then simply click Stamp to save your changes.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Where to Learn to Make Music

Guest post by Drew Hendricks

Today music is no longer just the domain of the romantic, it isn't enough to have a "good ear." Music is a good program for creative students and in the highly complex world of digital music, advanced training at a college is a must. Musicians and sound engineers need training on the complicated equipment for their craft.

There are both traditional campus and online options for studying music and both STUVU Ranked Schools and eHow rankings highlight Berklee College of Music as one of the best music production schools in the country. It is one of the oldest. Located in Massachusetts, this college's stock in trade is that it is very popular among jazz musicians. It's been popular since the 1940s when it was founded.

Musician SoftwareMusic production college is distinctly different from conservatories or traditional colleges of music. These schools focus on the recording or capture of music. Their courses of study emphasize the mechanics of sound fidelity and recording. Traditional colleges of music focus on performance. Among these schools are: McNally Smith College of Music, the University of Texas at Austin, Berklee College of Music, The Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music at New York University's Tisch School of Arts and Indiana University at Bloomington.

There are many methods for locating a music production school. Ehow ranks the schools by their curriculum and student scoring. Stuvu ranks music production schools by student's comments. Hackcollege uses the size of the student enrollment as a quick sort for quality of program.

Because the schools tend to lean towards specific genres or aspects of music production, the best way to determine which school works best is determine what the students wants out of the school. Is it an improvement of existing skills so that a certificate is sufficient? Is it a career in music coming out of school? That will probably require a fully-accredited degree approved by an institution like CHEA.org or something comparable. Make sure that the school is accredited.

The next step is to figure out the type of music that the student is most interested in, because the faculties tend to be somewhat oriented along musical types. Is it rock-n-roll? Jazz? Classical? Then identify the school that has the best faculty for that endeavor. University of Texas, for example, is close to a lot of country music, rockabilly and country-rock crossover music labels. Berklee has many jazz musicians on its faculty. McNally and some schools in Los Angeles, CA have a more rock connections. Find the school whose faculty's musical interests mostly closely reflect the genre of the student's interest. Using this methodology, students will find that they are music production being trained by people whose interests they share.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Remove Background Noise from Audio with WavePad

If you have ever made an audio recording where there are a lot of things going on, like recording an interview at coffee shop, or meetings and lectures with lots of people in the room, you are probably quite familiar with the unwanted background noise that will be a part of your audio when you go back to listen. Sometimes just having a lower quality microphone will add to this background noise, even when you are in relatively quiet surroundings. But the good news is that WavePad audio editor provides an easy way to remove this unwanted noise so you don't need to move all your recording into a studio to get a crisp sounding file. removing background noise and cleaning up audio files is easier than you might think.

To remove background noise, load your audio file into WavePad.
  1. On the Effects tab, click the Cleanup button and select Noise Reduction, Audio Spectral Subtraction. Click the preset drop-menu and select voice or music, then click OK to apply.
  2. Then again from the Effects tab, click the Cleanup button and select Noise Reduction, Multi-band noise gating. Select a preset, then click OK to apply.
Remove Background Noise from Audio Recordings with WavePad

If the presets aren't giving you the best results, try using lower levels on each type of reduction until you find a combination that leaves you with just the audio that you want to hear. Download WavePad audio editing software today to try the noise reduction feature for yourself.

Friday, June 22, 2012

New Music Industry Book Takes You Behind the Scenes

HIT CLICK behind the scenes of the Music Industry by Rory NicollGo behind the scenes of the music industry with Scottish producer Rory Nicoll, author of the new book, HIT CLICK, a must have book for anyone in the music industry. HIT CLICK is packed full of exclusive interviews with industry leaders and artists, contact information and reviews, offering collective wisdom on all aspects of the music industry, from the alchemy of a hit record to the business side of music.

NCH Software is honored to have been included in the book's reviews of music software. Nicoll concludes that "NCH does exactly what it tells you it will: It provides easy to understand software solutions to many of the activities required of an audio engineer." In another excerpt from the review, Nicoll states:

"I've spent about a day and a half experimenting with various NCH audio programs and one thing that continually surprises me is just how powerful the programs are. With each application measured in MB, the entire suite can be loaded at once without causing any detriment to even the oldest hard drive. The applications run quickly. Speed is always good. The functions are simple to find and they are overall user-friendly."

To read more about all aspects of the music industry, you can find HIT CLICK: Thriving In Tomorrow's Music Industry released today and on sale now on Amazon.

N is for New

NCH Software ABCs Series

New SoftwareWith such a broad range of software products there is always something new at NCH. From new features, taking programs to new operating systems and developing new products, there seems to always be something happening. For example, our KeyBlaze typing tutor software had its first release for Mac and has had two typing games added since January—all that for just one of our over 80 software programs. To stay on top of all the new releases and updates, sign up for the NCH newsletter and subscribe to the NCH Software Blog, for not only updates, but tips and user stories too.


<<< Previous: M is for MobileNext: O is for Optimization >>>

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Remote Desktop Viewing and Control

Remote Desktop Control SoftwareDesktopNow Remote Computer Access Software was first released back in December, giving you a free and easy way to access files on your home or work computer from remote locations. Recent upgrades have DesktopNow growing into its name, providing remote desktop access and control through a browser, as well as the simple file sharing provided in the first release.

Being able to access your desktop remotely essentially means you can control your computer when you aren’t there. Why might you want to do this? You can start, end, or restart programs that are running. Check a program’s status while you are away. Or maybe you act as your family’s computer support department—DesktopNow will allow you to access their computers without you physically being there. Imagine all the time you can save if you can move Grandma’s mouse to the recycle bin without having to describe how to find it over the phone.

Use the web controls to access your desktop no matter where you are, whether you are on another computer or a mobile device. Log into your computer over the Internet using any web browser for fast, easy, and secure access to all your important files. You never need to worry about not having a file you need with you again.

Monday, June 18, 2012

WavePad at the Radio Studio

Guest post by Daan Berg

There are many local radio stations in the Netherlands, 285 to be exact. I am a volunteer at one of these stations, where I produce and present a live weekly breakfast-with-news show every Saturday morning.

However, sometimes I need to cheat, when I need to be somewhere else during broadcast hours. Therefore, whenever I can't make a live show, I pre-record it and upload the three hours of material to the control room server, which plays the recordings during my broadcast hours as if I were there, talking live and playing music to my listeners.
Daan Berg
I do my recording in a small studio booth in the cozy building of the combined radio and television station, in which all the professional equipment -- from audio mixers and microphones to professional recorders -- are installed. I can plug my laptop into an outlet of the mixer and start recording, which usually works fine. But recently, things went wrong.

I had just finished recording three hours of great radio with lots of enthusiasm, which one always needs when hosting any kind of show. I opened up WavePad which I always use for audio editing, to cut off the silences at the beginning and end of the files and listen if everything sounded OK. It didn't. What happened?

It turned out the internal sound processor of the audio mixer, the boards full of sliders and knobs you always see in front of radio producers, had its limiter set to a way too aggressive setting. Limiting is the act of bringing the volume of a device down quickly when it's too loud. For instance, you will notice that if you bring a microphone close to your mouth and shout into it, you will hear that your speakers can't cope. However, radio hosts shout into microphones from time to time. On the radio, it is very rare to hear this, as the limiter in the control room will automatically pull the volume of the microphone down to make sure no gear is damaged and to make the sound more enjoyable.

However, a limiter can also be set too aggressive. Instead of only pulling down peaks that go above a certain maximum level, a limiter can also see every peak as a peak that's too loud. The result: a recording with terribly annoying volume changes every tenth of a second, like someone is heavily abusing the volume knob on a radio.

So I was stuck with three hours of material that I couldn't use. Until I remembered that WavePad has an Automatic Gain Control function, which analyses the volume of the audio file and makes adjustments where needed.

It most certainly worked! Of course, the result wasn't perfect yet -- software can never 100% undo what was done with analog equipment -- but when the edited files were played back through the central server, it sounded fine. This had to do with the fact that the control room also sports a compressor, which is a machine that does the opposite of a limiter; it increases the volume when it's too soft.

Thanks to WavePad Audio Editor, I didn't have to start recording all over again. If I had done it all over with my enthusiasm completely gone it would've sounded terrible.


Daan Berg is a local journalist in the Netherlands. He writes for a national newspaper and hosts a weekly breakfast radio show on local radio. He also makes all kinds of media productions, from radio & television items and shows to websites.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Amazing Tools for Transcription

Guest post by EQ Trans UK

Amazing Transcription Software ToolsAs a transcription services provider which caters to clients all across the UK, we believe in the importance of using technology that enables our transcriptionists to perform at their optimum, while simultaneously benefiting our clients as well. Using the appropriate software while working on a transcript can help a transcriptionist do a better thorough job of transcribing and, of course, help in meeting deadlines faster, too.

We have been using various NCH software for a while and they are now form basics of what we do. If you are new in the transcription industry, here is what minimum you need to have to get going:

Express Scribe – This audio player which can be used on both PCs and Macs comes loaded with many features, such as support for foot pedals, variable speed playback, as well as speech-to-text integration. This software does a great job of supporting all the popular file formats. It also gives a transcriptionist better control over the audio playback through the use of a foot pedal and even keyboard shortcuts. Express Scribe does not take up too much screen space, unlike other software, and runs quietly in the background while a transcriptionist is at work.

Switch Sound File Converter - Although there are plenty of file converters available, this software wins hands down for its simplicity. Our clients often send us digital audio files in other formats and we use this software to convert them into an mp3 format using 128 bit mono encoding. This makes it easier for uploading files on our secured server so that our transcriptionists can get to work. Switch also gives users an additional option of configuring up to 3 right-click options which make the conversion process faster, too.

Prism Video Converter - This video file converter converts files from any format to the most commonly used formats, either in singles or in batches, and can even convert files directly from DVDs and other multimedia devices. We use this software mainly for converting large video files into mp3 file format so that they can be uploaded on our server easily. Prism also has another option of resizing a video file format and customising it in terms of the frame rate, brightness, and contrast, as well as text and caption addition.

WavePad Editing Software - One factor which can be detrimental to the process of transcribing itself is the presence of background noise in an audio file. The WavePad Audio Editing Software works on both PCs and Macs, allowing the user to cut and paste specific sections of the recording, besides adding features like noise reduction. This software supports a large number of file formats and has a remarkably easy-to-use interface as well.


EQ Trans UK is a transcription agency based in the UK. We have a well-trained and certified team of transcriptionists to address any client requirement.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Video Review of the Best Slideshow Software: PhotoStage

You may already know that TopTenReviews has honored our PhotoStage SlideShow Software, naming it The Best Slideshow Software. Now take a look at their video review, including a look at some of the very easy-to-use features that helped make it number one.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

M is for Mobile

NCH Software ABCs Series

Software On The Go
M is for Mobile Software and AppsFor those of you on the go, take NCH with you! Many of our software programs have a web access feature allowing you to log in over the Internet, no matter where you are. Learn more about business software web access and on the go dictation solutions. For the home user there are DesktopNow remote desktop software and EyeLine home surveillance software that you can try.


iPhone & iPad
If you have an iPhone or iPad you wouldn't want to miss the pocket edition of WavePad audio editor, which has always been an NCH favorite. Also available for your iPhone are RecordPad audio recorder, PitchPerfect guitar tuner, TempoPerfect metronome software and Pocket Dictate.

Android
NCH Android apps have been a long time in coming, but development has started. In addition to being able to log-in remotely to some of our desktop software from your Android phone, we expect to have our first Android app, TempoPerfect metronome software, available within three months, with more Android apps to follow.

<<< Previous: L is for Live StreamingNext: N is for New >>>

Monday, June 4, 2012

Do More with Audio - Blog Carnival June 4, 2012

Here are this edition's entries to Do More with Audio:

Apple buys Redmatica, Italian audio software company posted at TechCrunch, saying, "Redmatica specializes in software for digital music editing for Mac computers."

How to build a Home Recording Studio posted at Home Brew Audio, saying, "This is the first in a series of posts designed to walk you through how to build a computer-based home recording studio."

Why I'm Proud to Work in Radio posted at Byrnes Media, saying, "Perhaps our love of radio comes about because it is free and easy to consume. But the reason I love listening to and working in radio is the emotional connection radio makes with each and every listener."

Live Stream Church Services for Basically Nothing posted at Stephen Robles, saying, "I won’t lie to you, streaming live can be hassle and you’ll deal with many technical issues while setting it up. You probably won’t get a lot of viewers at first either, but I can promise you that people in your congregation will appreciate the option. "

Tips to Make a Great Podcast posted at A Lesson Learned, saying, "Creating a podcast is a great way to get the word out about your website and share your content. And podcasts are becoming more and more popular since people can download your podcast and listen to it whenever they want."

Podcasting Tips and Tricks posted at Business 2 Community, saying, "Every once in a while someone asks me a question about podcasting, so here are a few recent podcasting tips and tricks."

How To Choose Audio Recording Software posted at WCMHP, saying, "The software you want will depend on what you want to record. Here are some features you should look at and consider."

You might also be interested in: That concludes this edition of Do More with Audio. If you have an audio story to share or advice, tips or tricks to share, we hope you will submit your audio posts and articles to the next edition.