Ineligible song issues with iTunes Match.

I have several albums of mp3′s that iTunes Match claim are ineligible albums for iTunes Match that I have no idea why they have been marked as such. They are CD’s that I have ripped, I own the CD, and I know they are are available in the iTunes Store.

I also noticed that iTunes suddenly had two of the songs listed with the incorrect times on them. Instead of being 4 or 5 minutes in length, they were now listed as being 29 or 30 minutes long! I thought maybe this was just an error, so I clicked the play button in iTunes. They actually played fine for the length of the actual tune but then iTunes kept playing, in silence, for the rest of the 30 minutes! I dragged the song out of iTunes and opened the mp3 in several other programs, QuickTimes, SoundStudio and Audacity. No other program had issues with the length. So I figured that possibly these mp3′s were corrupt in some way or another.

SOLUTION
I went back into iTunes, went into my preferences, and made sure that my import settings were set for AAC. I then  went back into the iTunes library, selected several of the songs that were ineligible, and created an AAC version of the song. After iTunes had updated my iTunes Match results these songs became eligible! They were now marked as being Matched! I went through and did all the other songs in this album and they are now all Matched. If you take a look at the screenshot from below you can see where some of the files are mp3′s still and are marked ineligible, whereas other songs have been converted into aac’s and are now Matched. You can also see that after going through this process of converting the files you will need to wait for iTunes to re-post the iTunes Match results – or you can force iTunes to update by going to the store menu and selecting update iTunes Match. After getting the results you want… Matched files… then you will of course want to go through and delete the bad files. If you want to make sure to get the best file possible after getting your tunes Matched in the Cloud then you will want to follow my previous post where I talked about how to get iTune Match’s better file.

iTunes Match Issues

I just ran into an issue with using iTunes Match and having tunes that are ineligible. I have a list of songs that for one reason or another are not being uploaded to iTunes Match Cloud. I’m sure Apple has a list of reasons why songs may not be eligible, I’ve seen it. That list explains a few of the songs on my list but not all. So at first I wasn’t concerned. No big deal, who cares if they are in the Cloud or not right? Well, the issue came in when I wanted one of those songs on my iPad to use in class. iTunes will not let you put an ineligible song on your iTunes Match enabled iOS device.

This could be a huge issue. For instance, I have songs that I have recorded accompaniment tracks for the choir for, using my keyboard and laptop at home in my studio. Those are songs that I would obviously like to be able to have on my iPad so that when I am at school I can use them. For some reason some of these accompaniments that I have created are in that list of ineligible songs.

The solution I found was easy enough. I simply put those songs into a playlist, burned a CD of them, deleted them from my library, and then imported that CD of songs back into my library. Issue gone. You could get into a pickle though if you need a certain song FAST and it is on your ineligible list though so it would be a good idea to make a SmartPlaylist of all songs that are ineligible for iTunesMatch and check through so you know what all is on that list.

Good luck with your conversion to the Cloud… it will be a journey full of twists!

iPad AppGuides

What a wonderful resource!

A ton of AppGuides that give you a list of different apps for a specific purpose.

http://appadvice.com/appguides

iPad recording of up to 8 audio tracks at once!

Tonight as I was ALMOST ready to go to bed I read one more thing…. and it blew me away!

It is possible to record up to 8 tracks of audio at one time using an iPad! I had no idea we could do this! I knew that it was possible, using the Alesis i/o dock to get 2 tracks of input. Now we are at 8 though. Of course you have to have an audio interface that allows for 8 inputs and has USB output.  Here is a list of a few of the features from this app – it is call MultiTrackDAW….

More features

• Stereo Recording – up to 24 stereo or mono tracks
• Non-linear, non-destructive editing using Regions and Bins
• Fader, pan, mute and solo for each track
• Record up to 8 tracks at the same time on iPad with supported hardware(requires iOS5)
• Per Track EQ and Compressor (3GS or later)

and the list goes on. Visit their web site for more info… the app is $9.99

Here is a picture of the Tascam US-800 that allows up to 8 inputs at once… now I have to go to bed… (Leave comments if you have used this app and have opinions about it. I don’t own it yet and want to know if I should buy it.

UPDATE – I just went to look up more info on this Audio Interface. The Sweetwater sound web page says that it is no longer available. The Musicians Friend and Amazon web pages has it for sale at $99. Music123 and Guitar Center has it for sale at $249 B&H says they are temporarily out of stock.

When I’m not supposed to be sleeping and am more awake this requires more looking into!

Updating your iTunes songs to the higher quality using iTunes Match

So I have turned on iTunes Match, as I’ve mentioned in several other posts here. Apple has made an attempt to give a good description of what the service is and how to use it – check this out from them… and then there is even more here “Learn More About iTunes Match.” They even have a nifty “Understanding the iCloud Status Icons“

There are gaps though. I consider myself a pretty good reader and I consider myself someone who digs around for answers – more so than the average person trying to figure this stuff out! For instance I had an icon show up in my iTunes Library that is not listed on the above page. Another question i had was how to get the better quality file from iTunes Match that I had read about in all the advertising.

I had to dig around on the web to find an answer. I still can not find the answer on Apple’s web site. CNET gave me the answer. Follow along here and I’m going to go a bit more into depth.

Apple told me that iTunes Match would upgrade the quality of all those songs I recorded into my laptop from all my old cassette tapes. I have a ton of tapes that I simply put into the old tape deck, hooked an 1/8inch cable to RCA plugs, then pushed record on an audio program and proceeded to record all those old tapes – TOOK FOREVER! Plus at the time when I did it I made the choice to save the files as mp3 files. (I was thinking – save space and it’s about the same quality sound) Well, when I read that Apple would match those old mp3 files and upgrade their quality to the files they sell in the iTunes store, I liked that idea! I liked it even better when I realized that I would be able to keep those files in a year if I choose to not pay for iTunes Match again! Plus many of my tapes were WELL worn out – so the quality of sound coming into the laptop was questionable many times! But at least I had a digital copy of my tapes and I could listen to them from my iPod. I was happy, was being the key word here! So let me give you the short version….

• MP3 files recorded from old worn out cassette tapes that barely played at times
• Upgraded to 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality
• I keep the better files at the end of the year!
• SCORE!

So, like I said, I signed up. Took two days for Apple and my laptop to upload and match songs. (Short in comparison to Google Music’s 2 weeks!) Now I want my upgraded songs! Here’s how I did it…

We will look at one of my my cassette tapes that I had worn out so you get the picture of how this works.

First thing I want to bring up here is that when I knew I was going to turn iTunes Match on… I went to my iPad and deleted all the songs off my iPad. I did the same thing with my iPhone and iPod Touch. I had a ton of songs on there that were “Just in Case” songs. You know… the ones that I “MIGHT” want to listen to but probably never have or will (like at the end of an album – I mean with 6 kids when do I ever get to listen to an entire album?!) So on my iPad every time I listened to a song I was automatically downloading the newer, better quality file from the Cloud. So everything below here is simply so I could get the better quality file on my laptop and have a permanent copy of it on my hard drive.

SHORT VERSION

On my laptop, in my iTunes library, I had to…

1. select the songs that I knew iTunes had Matched,
2. delete them from my iTunes library but keep them in the Cloud
3. re-download them
4. Enjoy the better songs!

LONG VERSION WITH PRETTY PICTURES

STEP 1- So here is a screen shot of my album…Notice that some of the songs under iCloud Status say Matched and some simply say Uploaded. Why some songs on this album got Matched and some didn’t is a question for another day.

Take a look at the bottom two songs – You see that these two say Matched – that means iTunes has a better quality file in the Cloud waiting for you. Look over in the rectangle – you can see that Track 9 is a MPEG audio file. Track 7 is a track I already downloaded and updated, that’s why it says Matched AAC audio file.

STEP 2 – So the next step is to select the files that say Matched, then delete them from your iTunes on your computer but not on the cloud! Look below and you will see the pop up dialogue that appears when you hit the delete button, along with the check box that you DON’T want to have checked!

AGAIN – DO NOT DELETE these songs from the Cloud!

Then you can move these files from YOUR library to the trash. That pulls those old yucky files out of you iTunes library. You don’t want duplicates around wasting space.

I would not go empty the trash though. After downloading the better quality files you will be able to listen to the better files then listen to your old files – In my case it was very refreshing to actually make this comparison – HUGE difference!

STEP 3 - After deleting the files you will see that a Cloud, with an arrow in it, icon shows up next to those songs. That icon means the songs are in the Cloud waiting for you to download them.

Click on the little Cloud Arrow Icon….. Now the file starts to download and you see a little pie, progress icon that starts to fill up as the track downloads. It is a very fast process!

After the file downloads you can now see the songs will say Matched next to them and the file types have now changed…

Step 4 - Now all you have left to do is sit back and listen to your better quality files! Like I mentioned earlier – go pull those old version out of the trash and listen to the new version first then the old version. You will realize how much your were missing before. $25 bucks well spent I think if you have as many old file in your iTunes as I do!

By the way….

The screen shots I used in this post, you know… the ones with the pretty pink arrows and boxes…. were created in Skitch. Skitch is a free app for your Mac, Windows, iPad and a few other things too I think. It is a part of the service that Evernote offers. If you have not downloaded Skitch on your iPad especially, go do it now!

Bring your own Devices in Education and Interactive Student Engagement

If you have not been paying attention to the discussions flying around the internet and school about BYOD then you should be. BYOD – Bring Your On Device – is where the school stops providing the device that students use to enhance their learning. Instead the students must provide their own. Their a many students who have great devices in their pockets already in the form of iPods and phones. Of course now the discussion is exactly how many students do own such a device and what could we use them for? How can such devices be used to enhance learning. That is the most important question we need to ask. What we plan to do with these devices must make what we are doing better, faster more engaging or even better, provide a new opportunity not otherwise available. It is not good enough just to use these devices for the sake of using them or the novelty of it.

Tonight I ran across a web service/app that I have been on the lookout for since the iPad came out. I have wanted a better way to incorporate student response systems in my classroom. I have one set of 32 clickers that the students and I both enjoy using. I have been looking for apps that would take the current experience to the next level. I have also anxiously been waiting for a system that would allow my students to use their own devices that they own. 

http://www.socrative.com/ is the service I ran across. This is a way to engage the entire class using any device. There are a slew of options in Socrative! Quick exercise, Exit Tickets, Quizzes and Games to name a few. These are all ways the student interacts with Socrative. Then the teacher has the capability to run reports on how the students responded.  The compatibility includes any device that is web enabled and any internet browser. This means a student could use Android, iOS, Palm or anything else that lets you access the web! These are the devices that are sitting on kids music stands or are in their pockets anyways! Why not actually use them to your benefit and more to the point allow the students to give you feedback that will help you teach better? Why not give a quiz that is automatically graded for you? How great would that be? Give a test and you walk out of class with the grades already done!

There is a teacher app as well as a student app for iPod Touches and iPads. The sign up was quick and fast. Their website says it takes a teacher 3 minutes to setup and the students apps take 20 seconds to load! Now that should keep them going!

One of the great parts of this service is that this is free (for now!) You need to go check this service out – do yourself a favor and your students as well! Leave me a comment down below if you use this service or if you use student response systems in your music room/classroom.

As a side-note, the only reason I came across this app is because I subscribe to many different web-sites using RSS feeds. If you don’t use RSS News Feeds you should. RSS is a quick way to follow your favorite web-sites without having to actually go visit each and every web-site on a daily basis. I simply use Google Reader as the main component, the place I subscribe to my web-sites from. Then I have several iPad apps that I use to go and see what’s new. This is a 2012 version of my Grandpa’s/Mom’s newspaper. I get to see only news that I want to see. I get to QUICKLY go through and look at only new information.

Working with photo’s and Video’s and iOS devices

This past couple of months I have started looking for a different way to handle my photo’s and video’s that I capture with my iPad and iPhone. I used to not have that many to deal with so I simply hooked that cable up to my laptop, plugged in my iOS device and imported it all into iPhoto. Then I would hit the delete option after importing. This would keep my camera roll cleared out and keep me from importing duplicates the next time around. Now that I have my iPhone it has become as bit more complicated because I am capturing many more photo’s and video with the phone. So let me fill you in on how I am dealing with this issue.

First thing to keep clear is the difference between the camera roll and your photo library. The camera roll is where a picture will go when you shoot it with your camera. That picture will sit in the camera roll until you delete it. The camera roll is also where screen shots are stored, any pictures you save from the Safari app and any other app.

Your Photos app is where you put photo’s when you are syncing from your computer.

Apple’s Photo Stream makes these two apps a bit more confusing. If you have Photo Stream turned on then your last 1,000 photo’s will be streamed out to the cloud. (This time I do NOT mean videos by the way. Photo Stream does not do video as of right now.) So you will be able to see the photo’s that are in your Camera Roll, inside of your Photo’s App under the Photo Stream button. Those photo’s are not actually in your Photo’s app though. You are simply looking at your pictures that are out there in the cloud. Now remember that your Photo Stream are the last 1.000 pictures from ALL your devices, your iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch, Computer or whatever else you have hooked up to your stream.

Obviously you would probably want to save the pictures from your camera roll and cherish those precious moments forever. Photo Stream makes this an easy process! Take a look in iPhoto at the options under Photo Stream. Those settings allow you to automatically import the photo’s (not videos) from your iPhone or iPad camera roll and iPhoto will import those into your permanent iPhoto database.

This is an easy way to take ALL of your camera roll pictures (not videos) and get them into your computer for further manipulation. The videos you need to find another way to deal with those – which is easily done by hooking that cable up between the computer and the iOS device.

There is one huge issue though with this process. If you let Photo Stream and iPhoto do all the work of importing your photo’s (not videos) into your computer iPhoto database, you will be left with the original photo’s on your iOS device. This gets confusing after awhile though. I’m constantly forgetting what I have imported and what still needs to be imported. The answer is to delete the photo’s from the camera roll once you know that iPhoto has imported them form your Photo Stream. Of course you can do this one at a time on the iOS device but this gets tedious, especially if you have 400+ pictures like i did tonight. You cannot delete them using iPhoto either – in the old days before Photo Stream did the improving of the photo’s for us, we would click the import button and then click the delete button after the import was done.

There is a quick solution. A very unused app, Image Capture, sits in your applications folder. It comes with every Mac and most of us never use it. If you hook your iOS device up and start that app you will find a very easy way to delete your photo’s (JUST REMEMBER – those videos were never imported by Photo Stream!) In fact you will see that using this app you can import pictures (and those videos), rotate them, and delete them. Plus you can select all or some. Another bonus is that Image Capture is really fast! Take a look at the screen shot below to see what your options look like. There are even other options available. Things like having Image Capture open automatically when you hook up your iPhone or iPad, you can import the media to a folder or even directly into iPhoto or a different app. Image Capture will even let you make a web page of the media and email pictures as well. This app is capable of many things. Dig around and enjoy.

I will be taking a look at several other apps I have found to deal with getting that media off your iOS device and into your computer in the next couple of days. So stay tuned.

PS…. sorry if you are looking for information about using your iOS device with a PC – I am a user of Macs.