inCommon
How to listen to music
Virtual Hootie

What a day. Your stupid boss dropped a huge project on you at 4:59 on a Friday, with a first-thing-Monday-morning deadline, and you're supposed to drive to Tucson to see Yanni this weekend. Dang. It's almost enough to make you want to listen to mean Houston blues.

So you're sitting there trying to figure out how you can sell your ticket, get your work done, and exact revenge on your boss without getting violent. Music -- your usual solace -- would be great, except for the fact that you're at work and the CD drive on your computer isn't working, and your boss broke the stereo in the kitchen.

But look! Up in the sky, out in the ether, it's music online! Faster than a 78 rpm record, more powerful than a Bose speaker, able to leap tall CD racks in a single bound, it's a plug-in! You've got Web access, you've got a brain, you can do it.

Well, almost. You also need a sound card and some headphones, too, unless you want your co-workers to set you on fire. Depending on your system and your speakers, the quality can range from pretty good to quite bad. But there's so much you can do with online music that it might not matter that the sound is worse than your 15-year-old AM radio, permanently banished to the bathroom. Now new streaming technologies such as Liquid Audio, Shockwave Director, and Microsoft's NetShow feature digital audio at near-CD quality.

If you're far removed from music stores with listening stations, you can check out potential CD purchases online. In addition, previously unreleased music is also available on the Web, not to mention bootlegs. Catch cybercasts being broadcast as the concert happens. Just check the time and be at your computer. Maybe you can listen to the Yanni show while you're working.

Don't forget your hip musical friends. If they're Web-savvy, you can get the URL of their home page and hear what kind of tripe their band is calling music these days.

But perhaps the most interesting reason to listen to music online is that you can learn instruments and songs online. Musicians are everywhere on the Web, showing you how to rock out like Hootie and the Blowfish. Taking it one step further, at some sites you can actually play music interactively with other people. So even though Yanni's in Tucson, you and some stranger in Tunisia can play "One Man's Dream" simultaneously on the Web until the sensitive New Age guys weep from the beauty of it all.

-- M. Trouble Sample

Here's How - Click for more!
Click for more!


Here's How - Click for more!
Kathryn M. McGrail tells how
to get it done on the Net:
How do I set up my computer to access Web audio?
How do I listen to sound files that I have to download?
How do I listen to on-demand audio files?
How can I influence the sound quality of Web audio?
How do I find music to listen to on the Web?

Snappy Picks

Tune in to plug-ins
RealAudio Player
DiscPlay
Liquid Music Player
Acoustic Player
AWave
Crescendo Plus
GoldWave
InternetWave
Koan
PlayWave
WebTracks
XingMPEG Player

Music labels
A&M Records
Atlantic Records
Bar/None Records
Island Records
K-tel
MCA
Polydor
Rhino Records
Rounder Records
Rykodisc
Virgin Records
Warner Bros.
Windham Hill

Audio-based music lessons
BassLobster
The Drum Lesson

Music comes alive
Jazz Central Station
NOMA -- The National Online Music Alliance
Online Music and Audio References
The T.O.M.B. -- The Online Music Box
Sites with Audio Clips
Sony Music Online


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