Convert file free mp3 wma

No Money Down: Free software never sounded so good - Internet

Some of the best music software costs almost nothing. A lot is even free. But as with many things, if you choose by price alone, you'll often get burned. I spent several weeks scouring the Web and turned up ten top-notch Mac and Windows programs any desktop musician would be proud to own.

In evaluating programs, usefulness and stability were my paramount considerations. Programs that crashed or expired were punted immediately. I also shunned programs with major features disabled (such as the ability to save files) unless they did something really special in their demo state. The winners are grouped into four categories: Internet audio, recording/editing, synthesis, and utilities.

How is it possible to get high-quality software so cheaply? Thank efficient online distribution, the honor system, and the benevolent notion of sharing. Many great apps are given away under the shareware model. For sharing their work, the programmers request money from satisfied users. If you come to rely on such a program, kick a few bones to the creator.

Freeware comes with no such obligation. Sometimes it's designed to introduce you to a program in hopes that you'll upgrade to--and pay for--a more full-featured version. Sometimes it's released as a competitive move (think Microsoft's Internet Explorer). Sometimes programmers release freeware just to share the fun of making music. It's all proof that once in a while there really is a free lunch, or at least a free multitrack editor.

INTERNET AUDIO

Microsoft Windows Media Encoder (Win)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/en/wm7/encoder.asp

Windows Media Audio (WMA) is a great-sounding file format with many advanced features. The coolest part of Windows Media Encoder (see Fig. 1) is the ability to insert Scripts, a feature that's turned off by default. Turn it on by checking the Script checkbox in the Session Properties dialog (under the Sources tab). This lets you add extra information, called metadata, to your music or video. By inserting URLs in the metadata you can push Web pages to listeners every time they play your file. The ability to present lyrics, art, ads, animations, or other material to your listeners is limitless.

PRICE: free

Apple iTunes (Mac)

Apple put software engineer Jeff Robbin (author of Casady and Greene's SoundJam MP and Conflict Catcher) on the job, and the result is iTunes (see Fig. 2), the last word in Mac player-encoders. It plays, it rips, it burns CDs, it has a truly attractive interface, and Apple paid the Fraunhofer license, so you get unlimited MP3 encoding. The program also includes support for portable players and streaming Internet radio stations, onscreen light shows that react to the music, and a full-featured jukebox. All that power and beauty requires some muscle: you'll need at least a G3 or iMac with OS 9 or higher.

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.apple.com/itunes

PRICE: free

Ashampoo MP3 Check & Convert (win)

One of the problems with file-sharing networks such as Napster and Gnutella is the lack of quality control. Poorly ripped songs, corrupt files, and transmission problems render many downloads unusable. If your favorite network is about to be unplugged by the RIAA, you might not have time to listen to each download individually to make sure it's okay. Ashampoo to the rescue! MP3 Check&Convert (see Fig. 3) scans batches of MP3 files, detecting those that have been damaged. Registering the program adds MP3-to-WAV conversion and extra "bad-file" handling features.

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.ashampoo.com

PRICE: $9.95

RECORDING/EDITING

Digidesign Pro Tools Free (Mac/Win)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.digidesign.com/ptfree

It says a lot about the evolution of the audio-software market that companies are now giving away digital recorders and editors. Pro Tools Free (see Fig. 4) is the real deal, a fully functional S-track audio recorder/editor with 45-track MIDI sequencing and AudioSuite signal-processing plug-ins. It's distributed as a no-cost point of entry into the Digidesign family of products. Naturally, a few things are missing, and Mac sessions can't be transferred to Windows (or vice versa). But who's complaining? Pro Tools Free runs on most current Mac or Windows setups, particularly those with basic sound cards. It's a great way to get going with Pro Tools.

PRICE: free

Cay-Eric Schimanski Silient-Bob (Win)

If you like to sample audio from TV or radio, Silent-Bob (see Fig. 5) is an easy solution for grabbing sound bites on the fly. (Note that much of what you snag will be copyrighted and therefore legal only for personal use, not distribution, but the rhetoric of public figures is fair game.) Silent-Bob continuously records up to two minutes of incoming audio into a buffer file--essentially a holding pen on your hard drive. Just patch your TV or radio's audio output into your sound card's audio input; then, launch Silent-Bob and put it into Standby mode. Now you can kick back, listen to the news, and when you hear that politician say something mind-boggling, just click Stop/Save. Silent-Bob will have safely preserved the last two minutes of sound as a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz stereo WAV file.

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.silent-bob.de/en

PRICE: free

SYNTHESIS

Image-Line claims Fruityloops is the "No. 1 loop and song-creation tool on the Net," and I find no reason to argue. This thing is deep, with flexible sampling-plus-synthesis drum voices, plenty of fat basses and synths, VST and DirectX plug-in support, and easy step sequencing (see Fig. 6). It's also one of the best-looking programs anywhere, fully documented and packed with tutorials and examples. The Fruityloops 3 demo does everything but save the session; you can render to WAV or MP3, however, and generate loads of grooves for free.

Image-Line Fruityloops 3 (win)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.fruityloops.com

PRICE: $39.00-$99.00, depending on version

Master-zap stomper Hyperion 5 (WIN)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.master-zap.com

Need drum sounds, especially kick drums? Download this extremely cool little freeware app. Stomper Hyperion (see Fig. 7) allows you to import a number of samples, stacking up multiple oscillators-- each with frequency, amplitude, wave shape, modulation, noise, and resonant-filter controls. Build the monster drum sounds of your dreams, save them as WAV files, and then transfer them to a sampler or import them into any audio sequencer. A rock-solid, great-sounding app, Stomper sports a unique revenue model: the program nags the user to listen to music that Zap and his wife made, offering a link to a site that pays him a royalty.

PRICE: free

Buro </Stelkens> crusher-X Live (WIN)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.crusher-x.de

Now in a 2.0 edition, Crusher-X (see Fig. 8) is a synthesis and algorithmic-composition environment with a unique "vapor synthesis" algorithm. This offshoot of granular synthesis works by slicing a sound into many tiny segments and rearranging the pieces. The main draw is that Crusher-X starts churning out bizarre noise almost instantly. The sleek metallic interface with thousands of tiny buttons and sliders is a bit daunting, so just select DSP Start from the Crusher menu to begin generating sound, and then try moving sliders at random. Crusher-X is save disabled until you pay, but it makes a lot of sound even in demo mode and is worth the upgrade to the full version.

PRICE: $49.00

AUDIO UTILITIES

Audio Ease Make A Testrone (Mac)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.audioease.com

Test tones are useful in many situations, including calibrating analog recorders, audio-system troubleshooting, and acoustical-treatment work. Such tasks once required hardware tone generators or test-tone CDs, but now you can do it on your Mac for free. Make A Test Tone (see Fig. 9) creates AIFF, SD2, WAV, and PARIS-format sound files of single-frequency tones or full-spectrum sweeps. With sweeps, it embeds text markers in the file, indicating the frequency at specific points during playback. (How high does your hearing go?) It even gives the output files intelligent, easy-to-read names. See the Web site for detailed application tips.

PRICE: free

Audio phonics HP instrument Tuner (Win)

DOWNLOAD FROM: www.audio-phonics.com

It won't replace the ubiquitous stage tuner, but there are plenty of instances in which this software tuner is just the ticket. Audio Phonics actually offers two tuners, a six-note model especially for guitarists, and a chromatic version (see Fig. 10) that allows you to tune to any note. You can adjust center pitch by [+ or -]10 Hz, input and output devices are selectable within the program, an input-level meter lets you check signal strength, and a help file is included. If your analog synths have tuning issues, check AR Instrument Tuner before every take.

PRICE: free

TODD SOUVIGNIER IS PRESIDENT OF EXPLOIT SYSTEMS (WWW.EXPLOITSYSTEMS.COM), A FIRM THAT ENABLES E-COMMERCE IN PEER-TO-PEER FILE SHARING NETWORKS.