SOUND FILES
Now you can finally play through your music the way it was meant to be played!
- Hours and hours of music accompaniment for each instrument
- Your accompanist can play at your tempo without making mistakes or getting lost
- It is hard to put together a brass quintet or a woodwind quintet. Now you can play through that music whenever you want in your own home.
- Use your stereo speakers or your computer speakers or even headphones or earbuds.
- Loads of fun! Now you can have a blast while practicing!
There are two types of files in these archives:
1. MP3 Files - These files provide high quality sound and can be played by your computer, your home stereo system or even through your phone or tablet.
2. Midi Files - These files are played with a midi player. A midi player can either be built in to your computer or connected to your computer. The midi player provides its own sounds, so it can either sound great... or terrible. It all depends on the sounds that come with the midi player.
There are many different ways to play the music files in these archives:
1. Play either the DVD or the thumb drive on your computer and use your computer speakers for the sound.
2. Load the files to your phone, tablet or cloud. You can then broadcast the music via bluetooth or wifi to your bluetooth speakers or sound system.
3. You can play the files on a DVD player, but only ones that can handle MP3 files and folders. If you are planning to use a DVD player or stereo, test it first to make sure it can handle MP3 files and folders. Most stereos that claim to play Mp3 files cannot handle folders. We do not recommend playing the archives this way.
4. If your sound system has a USB port, you can play directly from the thumb drive. Test it first to make sure it can handle folders.
5. Load the midi files onto a midi keyboard
These are just a few suggestions. Getting the music from the MP3 or MIDI files to your speakers is limited only by technology and your imagination.
Here is an ambitious example.... Our good friend, Robert Ernenwein, has cloud storage. If you don't back up your files to the cloud, you should consider it. There are many free options and the ones that cost money don't cost very much.
Robert uploaded the contents of the Trumpet sheet music archive, volume 1, to his cloud storage. He also uploaded the contents of the Trumpet sound files archive to his cloud storage.
Robert has a tablet. You can get one for around $200.00 these days and they are really indispensable if you have tons of music to read through. Robert accesses his Trumpet pdf files using his tablet connected to his cloud storage. Now he can see the sheet music on his tablet.
Robert has a Fire Stick attached to his TV. He could also use a Roku or an Apple TV or any other way to connect his TV to the internet. Using this connection to the web, he is able to access the Trumpet sound files that he loaded to his cloud storage. Now he can play the sound files through the speakers on his TV.
Melissa has gone a slightly different route. She loaded her Oboe sheet music archive directly on to her tablet. She doesn't even bother with paper music anymore. Then she loaded the contents of the Oboe sound files archive to her phone. She bought an inexpensive Bluetooth amplifier and now she broadcasts her sound files from her phone to her Bluetooth amplifier.
How to Use This Music
Each piece of music has two files. The first file is the complete recording with the solo instrument and piano (or orchestra or chamber ensemble). The second file is the piano (or orchestra or ensemble) alone. Each version has identical tempos.
We recommend that you first listen to the recording we have provided. Get a feel for the tempo and how the different parts work with each other. Sometimes the beat is difficult to make out and you need to listen carefully to subtle chord changes. Many of the pieces include taps to get you started or to help you through parts where there is no accompaniment.
Get out your pencil and mark up your music. The more you write, the better. Remember, this accompanist won't follow you. YOU have to follow it!
If your first attempt to play with the accompaniment doesn't go well, keep trying! It takes practice to play well with an accompanist. Even when playing with a live person!
Changing the Tempo
Most of the music in this collection has been created at the correct tempo or slightly under tempo. Even so, it may be too fast or too slow for your taste or ability. No need to worry! Many of the pieces have alternative versions recorded at 15% slower. Enough to take the edge off while still sounding good. There is also lots of software available online designed to change the tempo of both MP3 and MIDI files. You have options....
Try using Audacity. Despite being completely free for Windows PC, Mac and Linux computers, Audacity is an excellent mp3 editor. It is simple to use and produces high quality results. Tracks from our playback files can easily be modified within Audacity to suit your practice needs. You can create as many versions from the original as you like, at different speeds, and save them on your computer to use whenever you want. No cost. No subscriptions. You can also easily create practice loops, very useful for taking difficult parts and practicing them over and over again!
To download Audacity, visit audacityteam.org. While you are on the website it is worth viewing the online manual. There are also tons of great video tutorials to be found on YouTube.
Open the mp3 file you want to modify into Audacity by going to the File menu and selecting Open. You can use the playback buttons at the top, or you can press Space to play and stop the track, P to pause/unpause or X to pause and set cursor. Remember that if you make an editing mistake press Ctrl Z (Cmd Z on Mac) to undo.
It is very easy to slow down or speed up an entire track by a desired amount. Open the track into Audacity, then select the whole track using Ctrl A (Windows) or Cmd A (Mac). Go to the Effect Menu and select 'Pitch and Tempo/Change Tempo' (please note, do not select ‘Change Speed’ as that will also change the pitch). In the next dialogue box, you can change the tempo either by a percentage, a new bpm if you have this information, or by specifying in seconds how long you want the modified track to be.
Make sure 'Use high quality stretching' is selected before clicking Apply - although this takes longer for your computer to process, it is worth it to ensure the stretching process doesn't significantly lower the quality of the audio. You may still be able to hear some slight distortion of the sound compared to the original, especially for large tempo changes, but nothing to prevent you using the modified tracks effectively.
Once done, you can play this modified track or save it using File/Export, and give it a new name that shows how you changed it.
1. MP3 Files - These files provide high quality sound and can be played by your computer, your home stereo system or even through your phone or tablet.
2. Midi Files - These files are played with a midi player. A midi player can either be built in to your computer or connected to your computer. The midi player provides its own sounds, so it can either sound great... or terrible. It all depends on the sounds that come with the midi player.
There are many different ways to play the music files in these archives:
1. Play either the DVD or the thumb drive on your computer and use your computer speakers for the sound.
2. Load the files to your phone, tablet or cloud. You can then broadcast the music via bluetooth or wifi to your bluetooth speakers or sound system.
3. You can play the files on a DVD player, but only ones that can handle MP3 files and folders. If you are planning to use a DVD player or stereo, test it first to make sure it can handle MP3 files and folders. Most stereos that claim to play Mp3 files cannot handle folders. We do not recommend playing the archives this way.
4. If your sound system has a USB port, you can play directly from the thumb drive. Test it first to make sure it can handle folders.
5. Load the midi files onto a midi keyboard
These are just a few suggestions. Getting the music from the MP3 or MIDI files to your speakers is limited only by technology and your imagination.
Here is an ambitious example.... Our good friend, Robert Ernenwein, has cloud storage. If you don't back up your files to the cloud, you should consider it. There are many free options and the ones that cost money don't cost very much.
Robert uploaded the contents of the Trumpet sheet music archive, volume 1, to his cloud storage. He also uploaded the contents of the Trumpet sound files archive to his cloud storage.
Robert has a tablet. You can get one for around $200.00 these days and they are really indispensable if you have tons of music to read through. Robert accesses his Trumpet pdf files using his tablet connected to his cloud storage. Now he can see the sheet music on his tablet.
Robert has a Fire Stick attached to his TV. He could also use a Roku or an Apple TV or any other way to connect his TV to the internet. Using this connection to the web, he is able to access the Trumpet sound files that he loaded to his cloud storage. Now he can play the sound files through the speakers on his TV.
Melissa has gone a slightly different route. She loaded her Oboe sheet music archive directly on to her tablet. She doesn't even bother with paper music anymore. Then she loaded the contents of the Oboe sound files archive to her phone. She bought an inexpensive Bluetooth amplifier and now she broadcasts her sound files from her phone to her Bluetooth amplifier.
How to Use This Music
Each piece of music has two files. The first file is the complete recording with the solo instrument and piano (or orchestra or chamber ensemble). The second file is the piano (or orchestra or ensemble) alone. Each version has identical tempos.
We recommend that you first listen to the recording we have provided. Get a feel for the tempo and how the different parts work with each other. Sometimes the beat is difficult to make out and you need to listen carefully to subtle chord changes. Many of the pieces include taps to get you started or to help you through parts where there is no accompaniment.
Get out your pencil and mark up your music. The more you write, the better. Remember, this accompanist won't follow you. YOU have to follow it!
If your first attempt to play with the accompaniment doesn't go well, keep trying! It takes practice to play well with an accompanist. Even when playing with a live person!
Changing the Tempo
Most of the music in this collection has been created at the correct tempo or slightly under tempo. Even so, it may be too fast or too slow for your taste or ability. No need to worry! Many of the pieces have alternative versions recorded at 15% slower. Enough to take the edge off while still sounding good. There is also lots of software available online designed to change the tempo of both MP3 and MIDI files. You have options....
Try using Audacity. Despite being completely free for Windows PC, Mac and Linux computers, Audacity is an excellent mp3 editor. It is simple to use and produces high quality results. Tracks from our playback files can easily be modified within Audacity to suit your practice needs. You can create as many versions from the original as you like, at different speeds, and save them on your computer to use whenever you want. No cost. No subscriptions. You can also easily create practice loops, very useful for taking difficult parts and practicing them over and over again!
To download Audacity, visit audacityteam.org. While you are on the website it is worth viewing the online manual. There are also tons of great video tutorials to be found on YouTube.
Open the mp3 file you want to modify into Audacity by going to the File menu and selecting Open. You can use the playback buttons at the top, or you can press Space to play and stop the track, P to pause/unpause or X to pause and set cursor. Remember that if you make an editing mistake press Ctrl Z (Cmd Z on Mac) to undo.
It is very easy to slow down or speed up an entire track by a desired amount. Open the track into Audacity, then select the whole track using Ctrl A (Windows) or Cmd A (Mac). Go to the Effect Menu and select 'Pitch and Tempo/Change Tempo' (please note, do not select ‘Change Speed’ as that will also change the pitch). In the next dialogue box, you can change the tempo either by a percentage, a new bpm if you have this information, or by specifying in seconds how long you want the modified track to be.
Make sure 'Use high quality stretching' is selected before clicking Apply - although this takes longer for your computer to process, it is worth it to ensure the stretching process doesn't significantly lower the quality of the audio. You may still be able to hear some slight distortion of the sound compared to the original, especially for large tempo changes, but nothing to prevent you using the modified tracks effectively.
Once done, you can play this modified track or save it using File/Export, and give it a new name that shows how you changed it.