Downloading MP3’s Made Easy May 7, 2008
Posted by admin in : Music , add a commentThe MP3 movement started out with a huge audience of music enthusiasts on the internet. The MP3 digital music format has had, and will continue to have, a huge impart on how people, gather, listen to and share music.
The MP3 format is a compression system for digital music that helps reduce the size of a digitized song without disturbing the sound quality. Digital music is converted to MP3 format and made available for use, usually via the web. MP3 files can be downloaded onto your computer from the internet and special software, either commercial or freeware. Using your computer and software you can convert digital music from a CD into MP3 format.
MP3 files can be played in three different ways:
1. They can be played directly onto your computer.
2. They can be decompressed and recorded onto a CD.
3. These files can be played on a portable MP3 player.
The advantage of MP3 players is that they are small, lightweight and rugged. They are a great way to carry your MP3 files with you!
With a portable MP3 player, a personal computer, and the appropriate software, you can do the following:
1. Obtain free or low-cost music from the web.
2. Create your own mix of music by downloading MP3 files from the web and converting the tracks from CDs.
3. Listen to near-CD quality music wherever you go.
4. Listen to more music (up to 10 hours’ worth).
If you want to convert your songs from your CDs into MP3 files, you can use ripper and encoder software. A ripper copies a song’s file from the CD onto your hard disk. The encoder compresses the song into the MP3 format. By encoding songs, you can play them on your computer or take them with you on your MP3 player. The ripper and encoder software may come with your MP3 player.
The specific instructions will vary with the individual software programs, but the following steps will definitely take place:
1. Place the CD from which you want to convert songs into your drive.
2. Select the track(s) that you want to convert to MP3 format.
3. Convert the selected track(s).
4. Copy the new MP3 files on to your computer’s hard disk.
Now you are ready to download these MP3 files into your portable MP3 player.
Once you have MP3 files on your computer, you can use the software that came with your MP3 player to download the files into your MP3 player. Again, the specific instructions will vary depending upon your software program and player, but you will:
1. Create a playlist from your MP3 files.
2. Plug the player into your computer’s parallel of USB port.
3. Transfer the MP3 files according to the instructions.
Once you have downloaded the MP3 files into your portable MP3 player, you are ready to take your music anywhere. Most MP3 players are small, lightweight, and solid-state. Because most players are solid-state, there are no moving parts to break down or skip, so the sound quality is uninterrupted regardless of your physical activity. MP3 players are equipped with various types of headphones or earpieces.
Portable MP3 players can play music longer than a portable CD player. The length of play for a CD player is about 74 minutes, the length of one CD. However, the length of play for an MP3 player depends upon its memory capacity, which can be upgraded on some models. A standard MP3 player can play for about half an hour (32 MB) to a few weeks (40 GB)! Some models can be upgraded with additional memory devices.
Keith Kingston is a professional web publisher, offering information on downloading mp3’s such as Eminem MP3 and finding free internet radio stations
Tags: mp3, music, radioMusic & Emotions Can Music Really Make You a Happier Person May 6, 2008
Posted by admin in : Music , add a commentHow many times have you turned to music to uplift you even further in happy times, or sought the comfort of music when melancholy strikes?
Music affects us all. But only in recent times have scientists sought to explain and quantify the way music impacts us at an emotional level. Researching the links between melody and the mind indicates that listening to and playing music actually can alter how our brains, and therefore our bodies, function.
It seems that the healing power of music, over body and spirit, is only just starting to be understood, even though music therapy is not new. For many years therapists have been advocating the use of music - both listening and study - for the reduction of anxiety and stress, the relief of pain. And music has also been recommended as an aid for positive change in mood and emotional states.
Michael DeBakey, who in 1966 became the first surgeon to successfully implant an artificial heart, is on record saying: “Creating and performing music promotes self-expression and provides self-gratification while giving pleasure to others. In medicine, increasing published reports demonstrate that music has a healing effect on patients.”
Doctors now believe using music therapy in hospitals and nursing homes not only makes people feel better, but also makes them heal faster. And across the nation, medical experts are beginning to apply the new revelations about music’s impact on the brain to treating patients.
In one study, researcher Michael Thaut and his team detailed how victims of stroke, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s disease who worked to music took bigger, more balanced strides than those whose therapy had no accompaniment.
Other researchers have found the sound of drums may influence how bodies work. Quoted in a 2001 article in USA Today, Suzanne Hasner, chairwoman of the music therapy department at Berklee College of Music in Boston, says even those with dementia or head injuries retain musical ability.
The article reported results of an experiment in which researchers from the Mind-Body Wellness Center in Meadville, Pa., tracked 111 cancer patients who played drums for 30 minutes a day. They found strengthened immune systems and increased levels of cancer-fighting cells in many of the patients.
“Deep in our long-term memory is this rehearsed music,” Hasner says. “It is processed in the emotional part of the brain, the amygdala. Here’s where you remember the music played at your wedding, the music of your first love, that first dance. Such things can still be remembered even in people with progressive diseases. It can be a window, a way to reach them”
The American Music Therapy Organization claims music therapy may allow for “emotional intimacy with families and caregivers, relaxation for the entire family, and meaningful time spent together in a positive, creative way”.
Scientists have been making progress in its exploration into why music should have this effect. In 2001 Dr. Anne Blood and Robert Zatorre of McGill University in Montreal, used positron emission tomography, or PET scans, to find out if particular brain structures were stimulated by music.
In their study, Blood and Zatorre asked 10 musicians, five men and five women, to choose stirring music. The subjects were then given PET scans as they listened to four types of audio stimuli - the selected music, other music, general noise or silence. Each sequence was repeated three times in random order.
Blood said when the subjects heard the music that gave them “chills,” the PET scans detected activity in the portions of the brain that are also stimulated by food and sex.
Just why humans developed such a biologically based appreciation of music is still not clear. The appreciation of food and the drive for sex evolved to help the survival of the species, but “music did not develop strictly for survival purposes,” Blood told Associated Press at the time.
She also believes that because music activates the parts of the brain that make us happy, this suggests it can benefit our physical and mental well being.
This is good news for patients undergoing surgical operations who experience anxiety in anticipation of those procedures.
Polish researcher, Zbigniew Kucharski, at the Medical Academy of Warsaw, studied the effect of acoustic therapy for fear management in dental patients. During the period from October 2001 to May 2002, 38 dental patients aged between 16 and 60 years were observed. The patients received variations of acoustic therapy, a practice where music is received via headphones and also vibrators.
Dr Kucharski discovered the negative feelings decreased five-fold for patients who received 30 minutes of acoustic therapy both before and after their dental procedure. For the group that heard and felt music only prior to the operation, the fearful feelings reduced by a factor of 1.6 only.
For the last group (the control), which received acoustic therapy only during the operation, there was no change in the degree of fear felt.
A 1992 study identified music listening and relaxation instruction as an effective way to reduce pain and anxiety in women undergoing painful gynecological procedures. And other studies have proved music can reduce other ‘negative’ human emotions like fear, distress and depression.
Sheri Robb and a team of researchers published a report in the Journal of Music Therapy in 1992, outlining their findings that music assisted relaxation procedures (music listening, deep breathing and other exercises) effectively reduced anxiety in pediatric surgical patients on a burn unit.
“Music,” says Esther Mok in the AORN Journal in February 2003, “is an easily administered, non-threatening, non-invasive, and inexpensive tool to calm preoperative anxiety.”
So far, according to the same report, researchers cannot be certain why music has a calming affect on many medical patients. One school of thought believes music may reduce stress because it can help patients to relax and also lower blood pressure. Another researcher claims music allows the body’s vibrations to synchronize with the rhythms of those around it. For instance, if an anxious patient with a racing heartbeat listens to slow music, his heart rate will slow down and synchronize with the music’s rhythm.
Such results are still something of a mystery. The incredible ability that music has to affect and manipulate emotions and the brain is undeniable, and yet still largely inexplicable.
Aside from brain activity, the affect of music on hormone levels in the human body can also be quantified, and there is definite evidence that music can lower levels of cortisol in the body (associated with arousal and stress), and raise levels of melatonin (which can induce sleep). It can also precipitate the release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkiller.
But how does music succeed in prompting emotions within us? And why are these emotions often so powerful? The simple answer is that no one knows yet. So far we can quantify some of the emotional responses caused by music, but we cannot yet explain them. But that’s OK. I don’t have to understand electricity to benefit from light when I switch on a lamp when I come into a room, and I don’t have to understand why music can make me feel better emotionally. It just does - our Creator made us that way.
Duane Shinn is the author of over 500 music books and products such as DVD’s, CD’s, musical games for kids, chord charts, musical software, and piano lesson instructional courses for adults. He holds an advanced degree from Southern Oregon University and was the founder of Piano University in Southern Oregon. Previous to that he worked as an assistant music therapist at DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California. He can be reached at http://www.pianolessonsbyvideo.com He is the author of the popular free 101-week e-mail newsletter titled “Amazing Secrets Of Exciting Piano Chords & Sizzling Chord Progressions” with over 55,000 current subscribers. Those interested may obtain a free subscription by going to http://www.playpiano.com/
Tags: emotions, moods, music, music therapyHypnotic Power of Music April 23, 2008
Posted by admin in : Music , add a commentMusic is intimately related to the subconscious mind because it stirs our emotions.
Perhaps you can recall listening to a jingle and finding the tune and the advertising slogan replaying in your mind over and over, even if you disliked the jingle. It just stuck in your mind.
Sometimes we may be consciously aware of the suggestions which are becoming impressed upon our subconscious minds. Many others times we may simply act unconsciously upon those suggestions - without any conscious awareness of why we feel propelled to act in a certain way. Big corporations spend billions of dollars on advertisements in order to create exactly that effect - to get you to purchase specific product or to act in a certain way.
Knowingly or unknowingly, all of us get affected by music we listen to. Here is one example from an email I have received:
“I want to tell you a story that you may find interesting. About two weeks ago whenever I walked on the streets, people would stare at me. I am not used to it, so at first I thought that there was maybe something odd about my outer appearance on that day. I looked in the mirror and there was nothing strange about either my clothes or my hair - I was totally normal. This lasted about a week - day after day. I must say that I was quite amused by all this, particularly because sometimes I would notice that these strange gazes were in fact gazes of admiration.
Later, however, I have discovered the possible cause of all this - a song. An ordinary pop song called “Superstar” by Jamelia. Basically, during that week I used to listen to this recording with my headphones while being engaged in other activities (such as working) sometimes without even noticing. One of the main phrases of the song which are repeated over and over again in the song are “You’ve gotta be a superstar, ’cause you’ve got eyes on you no matter where you are.” My subconscious mind understood the lyrics literally and wherever I would go I “had eyes on me”.
I later decided to stop listening to the song and noticed that gradually people stopped staring at me. Isn’t it amusing?”
I suppose you can imagine what happens to people who listen over and over to music with words such as “I am a loser” and similar. Perhaps you want to pay closer attention to the lyrics of the songs you are listening to. It’s also good to remember that when we watch TV, we are in a state of hypnotic trance and what we watch and listen to in that relaxed and entranced state does get into our subconscious minds to a lesser or greater extent - so you may want to choose your listening and watching menu wisely.
Another aspect of music, is the music itself. Some music helps you to feel more relaxed, some music makes your body move, maybe even dance, some music puts you into a sensual and lovemaking state of mind, while other types of music makes you feel unsettled or perhaps inspire you to engage in some form of combat or on a more positive note, jump up and plunge yourself into a vigorous physical exercise.
When you are practicing self-hypnosis without hypnosis recordings, you may want to pick some music that by itself elicits within you the emotional state that is most appropriate for the goal you are working on. The music does not have to be slow and relaxing - it may be quite energizing. If you feel like moving and dancing, rather than lying down, it is OK to use your body and dance your self-hypnosis outcome. There may also be times when you would prefer to relax into your self-hypnosis outcome, and there may be times when you feel more like getting into physical action. Rhythmic, repetitive movement is trance inducing.
One of the main reasons for using music for self-hypnosis is to help you maintain mental and emotional focus on your outcome. The music that helps to elicit within you emotions which are appropriate for your self-hypnosis outcome, will take care of the focus. Your intention can then ride of the wave of music, making focusing an effortless process.
If you are working on increasing sex appeal, the appropriate music would be the one that makes you feel sexy. If you are working on increasing financial abundance, the appropriate music would be the one that brings feelings and images of opulence and wealth. If you are working on healing, the appropriate music would be one that helps you to feel relaxed and peaceful, allowing your body to rest, regenerate and heal.
Dr. Laura De Giorgio is a Clinical Hypnotherapist and NLP Master Practitioner. She has created hundreds of hypnosis, subliminal, supraliminal and supraliminal plus recordings in several languages. She also publishes a free inspiring, informative and motivational hypnosis newsletter designed to help you learn how to use your mind power successfully and offers many free hypnosis downloads at http://www.deeptrancenow.com.
Tags: advertising, hypnosis, hypnotic, jingle, music, self hypnosis, subliminal, subliminal advertising