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My files must be the opposite of embiggened

18:26 / 12.01.06

Right. I've been trying (unsuccessfully) for a week to make myspace accept my music files. Now, I know there have been site errors, but what do you do when the site tells you your file is too large?

I’m trying to upload an excerpt of i am the utterance of my name, and I have three versions of the piece counting in at just over five, ten and fifteen minutes respectively. It’s an eighty minute piece, so even the largest size file is only a fragment, although I’ve tried to make it as representative as possible. The larger the file I can stick on there the better.

Now the site just ain’t taking the ten and fifteen minute versions, and I’d feel a bit impoverished just putting the five minute version on there. So is there any way of making my music files smaller in size? Preferably without losing too much quality. Does anyone know what kind of music files myspace accepts?

Keith, like a scientist

18:29 / 12.01.06

what kind of bitrate are you using? I'd try taking it down to 128kpbs...losing a little quality, but not a whole lot. But even that is going to give you a 10mb file for a 10minute song. I have 4 5 minute songs on my myspace page, and didn't have any size problems.

18:38 / 12.01.06

Assume - for a moment - that you are dealing with a tiny, innocent child. How do I do that?

18:43 / 12.01.06

This time I watched the screen updating, and it helpfully told me that my fifteen minute file was 93% uploaded before mentioning that it was too large. Thanks myspace! Now I'm trying with the ten minute version again.

Where are you on myspace?

Keith, like a scientist

19:02 / 12.01.06

I am here.

Do you use iTunes to make mp3 files with? If not, how dare you! I mean, er...okay, with iTunes, the first thing I would do is "Get Info" on your file. Under the "Summary" tab there is information on your files technical details. There will be a line that says "Bit Rate." That's the first thing. Figure out which bit rate you have. If it's something about 192kpbs, I'd say it's too high. I wouldn't personally go below 128kpbs.

If you want to change it, you can either convert this file (not totally recommended) or convert the original song file from the original CD. Either way, the steps are the same. Under the "iTunes" menu, go to Preferences, then go to the Advanced section. You'll see a tab called "Importing." This is where you choose what bit rate/format/etc you want.

Make sure "Import Using" says "MP3 Encoder." Below that is "Setting." Choose 160kpbs, 128 kpbs, etc.

Then find your the "big" file you have (either your original mp3 or the original track on a CD inserted into your computer), and go up to the ADVANCED menu and scroll down to "Convert Selection to MP3" - the new file will be made using the settings you specified in those Preferences tabs.

these same basic steps will apply if you are using another program to make mp3s. but i'm not as knowledgeable (i lurve iTunes).

19:02 / 12.01.06

And again the ten minute version is too large. Despite the site being able to handle 93% of the fifteen minute version. Does math apply to this?

Keith, like a scientist

19:03 / 12.01.06

what are the relative file sizes of the files?

19:05 / 12.01.06

Sorry dude. Cross posted. I'll give that a try.

19:06 / 12.01.06

Assume - for a moment - that you are dealing with a tiny, innocent child. How do I do that?

It will involve making a copy of your MP3 at the lower bitrate—more properly, it will involve "converting" or "exporting" your file. 128kbps is the standard, near-CD quality for portable MP3 players and such, but for MySpae samples I would think 96kbps would get the job done—particularly if the source is kinda lo-fi to begin with.

It might help if we knew what software you were using. I could tell you how to do it in painstaking step-by-step detail, provided you're using, say, MusicMatch Jukebox...

19:18 / 12.01.06

Five minutes - 4,961KB
Ten minutes 10,292KB
Fifteen minutes 17,368KB

19:25 / 12.01.06

Sounds like you're at about 128kbps, then. A little over a meg a minute.

Try taking it down to 96kbps, give it a listen, and see what you think.

19:30 / 12.01.06

That's all at 160kbps. The fifteen minute version only seems to fit to under 10,000kb if I copy it at 60kbps.

I'm using iTunes at the mo. We'll see what myspace has to say now...

19:31 / 12.01.06

http://www.myspace.com/sethcooke

19:35 / 12.01.06

Hey, slightly on-topic, but not quite: how did you guys get your myspace music pages? I've been tasked with putting one together for my band Vagus Nerve, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to make it work.

Apparently, you're supposed to send an e-mail to their customer support people, but I've sent mine and haven't got an answer. How you do it?

19:40 / 12.01.06

I clicked where it said "Artist Signup."

Don't listen to me though, 'cos I can't make it work!

19:46 / 12.01.06

OK. I think I've successfully posted two tunes. I'm now posting up a third. At the moment they're all processing so we'll see how it goes...

Keith, like a scientist

19:52 / 12.01.06

Hey, slightly on-topic, but not quite: how did you guys get your myspace music pages? I've been tasked with putting one together for my band Vagus Nerve, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to make it work.

Apparently, you're supposed to send an e-mail to their customer support people, but I've sent mine and haven't got an answer. How you do it?

They suck. I had a regular page originally, then wanted to convert it to a music page. I wrote them, didn't hear back for 2-3 weeks, and by then I had given up and just made a new music page from scratch. But if you have a regular non-music page, they will give you code to paste in that converts it.

but setting up a music one isn't too difficult, i think it's best if you go to the music section first and look for the "artist signup" link that Seth mentioned.

Keith, like a scientist

19:53 / 12.01.06

Seth, glad to hear it's working now. I got your friend request, will check out your page in a moment... looks like they have a 10mb size limit to mp3 files.

15:42 / 13.01.06

I have two myspace pages, which confuses me and my friends all the time. One music, one not. I can't figure out how they've become the *standard* for band pages (everyone, signed and unsigned, seems to have one) when they're so clunky and crashy compared with sites like Garageband.

16:25 / 13.01.06

Was "I am the utterance of my own name" done with brainwave machine software? It has that whatchacallit feel to it -- one interval in one ear, one in the other. Bipolar? That's not the right word.

Gahhh.

16:26 / 13.01.06

Binaural?

17:50 / 13.01.06

No, I generally don't like using computers to make music. I find the visual sense interferes too much. It was made using my telly along with CD, DVD and mini-disc players. I've added a little more to the site about the methods.

01:27 / 14.01.06

Binaural. I was listening to it while typing, so had trouble thinking.

09:35 / 15.01.06

Where can you get hold of brainwave machine software, grant?

13:48 / 15.01.06

Seth, I use the CoolEdit audio editor, which has binaural capabilities. You can still find the shareware CoolEdit96 version free on the web. Programming the binaural beats is pretty simple, and there's a walk-through tutorial.

The Return Of Rothkoid

23:19 / 15.01.06

Seth: check out this page. A google for "Brainwave generator" brings a lot of them up, though.

09:56 / 16.01.06

Thanks boys. Those sound like hella cool toys to play with.

Myspace is now looking much nicer. It's a bit like sticker collecting, isn't it? Only with better conversation. Quite addictive, especially after getting Ghostface.

17:05 / 16.01.06

Seth, how might one get to hear the full-length version of i am the utterance of my name?

02:57 / 17.01.06

if you still need your files smaller, you could try converting them into Ogg Vorbis format. Ogg files are smaller, better quality and its open source so you don't have to worry about fraunhofer chasing you down and trying to take your kneecaps.

Vorbis Website

03:15 / 17.01.06

winrar (www.rarlab.com) has the ability to compress a file (like .zip) to multiple archives.