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 | MP3 About:
MP3 is the file extension for MPEG, audio layer 3. Layer 3 is one of three coding schemes (layer 1, layer 2 and layer 3) for the compression of audio signals. Layer 3 uses perceptual audio coding and psychoacoustic compression to remove all superfluous information (more specifically, the redundant and irrelevant parts of a sound signal. The stuff the human ear doesn't hear anyway). It also adds a MDCT (Modified Discrete Cosine Transform) that implements a filter bank, increasing the frequency resolution 18 times higher than that of layer 2.
The result in real terms is layer 3 shrinks the original sound data from a CD (with a *bitrate of 1411.2 kilobits per one second of stereo music) by a factor of 12 (down to 112-128kbps) without sacrificing sound quality. *Bitrate denotes the average number of bits that one second of audio data will consume. Because MP3 files are small, they can easily be transferred across the Internet. Controversy arises when copyrighted songs are sold and distributed illegally off of Web sites. On the other hand, musicians may be able to use this technology to distribute their own songs from their own Web sites to their listeners, thus eliminating the need for record companies. Costs to the consumer would decrease, and profits for the musicians would increase. [source: webopedia.com] Recent NewsInspector Owl to give away free EP online Dekalb, Illinois based Inspector Owl will be launching last year's EP release as a free MP3 digital download on their website. The digital download for the EP Life Finds A Way will be available until July 1st, 2008. And of course, here's obligatory reference to Nine Inch Nails, who have been working with album giveaways for part of last year and this year. The band released…The New Enemy, The Serlingtons, Chronic Seizure Toronto, Ontario's The New Enemy have released their debut Outsourced EP as a free download. In return for the free tunes the band is asking for a donation to Amnesty International. The Simon Head produced EP features five original songs and a Kid Dynamite cover recorded at Toronto's Brown Room and mastered by Michael Dominici at Music House Mastering in New York City. You can download the EP from their website. Binghamton, NY based pop-punk band…Toasters Not Torpedoes, Project 27, Confession Detroit's Toasters Not Torpedoes have uploaded three new tracks from their forthcoming album. You can stream the three new songs on their MySpace page. Check out "Of Bastards and Sin," "Sundial," and the insufferably titled "Zombie Roflcoptor." Long Beach, New York's Project 27 has posted four new songs from their debut full length, Smarten Up!, coming out on Rally Records. You can listen to the songs…This Time Next Year post EP preview This Time Next Year has posted a preview clip of their upcoming EP, The Longest Way Home, online here. The album features two brand new songs, a Kid Dynamite cover and an acoustic version of the song "Sweetest Air" from last year's A Place for You. The new EP is due out July 22, 2008 via Run For Cover…Unwelcome Guests, Epidemics, Getaway Drivers Buffalo, NY's Unwelcome Guests has posted a new song on MySpace. The song "Colors Of Fall" was recorded by Jay Sallese of the Buffalo band Love Parade. You can check out the track here. Epidemics, from Umeå, Sweden, has just finished recording of 11 new songs. THe tracks were recorded at Tonteknik in Umeå and produced by Inge Johansson (tINC, Knugen Faller). You can check out three of the tracks on…Gatorface (New Mexican Disaster Squad, Polluted Youth) forms, posts music New Mexican Disaster Squad's Alex and Richard has teamed up with Nick of Polluted Youth and Quilty -- "from the internet" -- to form Gatorface. The band claims influences from acts like Bad Religion, Descendents and Adolescents among others. You can check out a few unmastered songs at their MySpace page. The act is currently unsigned, and Punknews.org has No Idea where they could possibly end…Guiltmaker / Born Ruffians Brian: Don't be fooled by Guiltmaker's home on Kiss of Death Records; if you're expecting filthy basement punk rock, you'll be sorely disappointed. That label released the band's 2006 EP, Driven by Arms, which was promising enough. However, Dilemmas seems like a huge growth for the band judging by the songs they've been posting on their MySpace page. Guiltmaker inject a bit of atmosphere and deep emotional textures into their new songs: picture a…Carousel, The Widow Jenkins, Gray Lines of Perfection Whitby, Ontario's Carousel have posted a few tracks from their debut EP released in March. Visit their Myspace page to take a listen. Muncie, Indiana's The Widow Jenkins (ex Emery/Brazil) has just posted two new demos online for your streaming pleasure. "Gallows Hill" is available on the band's MySpace page, while "The Skeleton of Dorian Grey" can be found at the group's…April Fools: Boiling? Blood!, Beard Goggles, Catapult City Indianapolis, IN's throat-punchcore group Boiling? Blood! have posted two new tracks from their debut full length, Fist in Your Face, Dude. The album was released via the band's own United X Hands label. You can visit their MySpace page to take a listen. Chicago, IL's Beard Goggles will be playing Abbey Pub on April 14th with dancehall…Alcina, Teenage Rehab, War Tapes Nashville, TN's Alcina has put up a new track up off of their new EP titled The Road Less Traveled. The song is available through the group's MySpace page. Paducah, KY's Teenage Rehab have posted a new song titled "Suicide" from their Goodbye Sanity EP. You can find the song on the group's Myspace page. Los Angeles, CA's War… |
