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Mirror Magazine

Techno Page - By Harendra Alwis

Music on the Net
Like to learn to play that instrument that you always dreamed of?

I've recently developed a passion for the saxophone. Then there are times (especially with guys) when all you want to do is, just hold your guitar and strum the hours away. It is nice to know how to play a musical instrument that you really like. It may be the one thing that reflects your moods, your thoughts and emotions. It will just let you express yourself and feel good about yourself. But then how do you learn? Hear is where I say over and over again 'Search The Net!'

Right now www.saxlessons.com/ is one of those internet sites I visit very often. My friend 'Maroon' who strums his guitar extremely well, considering the fact that he has learned almost everything he knows through the Internet in less than two years, says that his favourite site for guitar lessons is www.guitarnotes.com/.

But what if you are finding it hard to stomach the Minims and the Demi-Semi-quavers? What if the theory behind it 'Diminishes' you or 'Augments' you? Don't panic because I know exactly how you feel. Most of these sites begin with simple introductions to the same theories. They give you lessons that are easy to follow even if you are a total novice.

Soon after this, the next step may be buying the instrument you want. Here let me warn you that the Internet may not be the best place to buy musical instruments. This is because all of us third-world dudes and dudettes have the luxury of having musical instruments of reasonable quality being available for cheap over here. So check out the shops in town before you try to drag that Gibson Classical guitar from the Internet because that way, I am sure you will save quite a lot of money.

What player ?
When choosing an audio player for you to listen to your favourite numbers; the choices are innumerable. Out of all the 'audio players' available, Nulsoft Winamp is by far the most popular. But if you're looking for a little excitement in your MP3 player, check out Sonique. This free player may not offer advanced features such as CD ripping or batch conversions, but it does provide a dizzying array of skins and visualizations. There are a host of other 'players', but chances are that you will ultimately end up with Winamp for its practicality and simple interface.

Audio formats and compression types
There are a number of audio formats out there and your 'player' may not be able to handle them all. Here again the advantage of using Winamp is that as much as it supports a whole galaxy of audio formats, most new formats that come out have the required 'Winamp plug-in' that is necessary to play it in Winamp. This is because Winamp has become almost everybody's favourite thus its wide-spread use.

I will spare you the talk on the different audio formats, as it can get too technical, but I have to mention that MPEG-4 will be dominant in days to come and a whole new open source compression type called 'Vorbis' is lurking in the horizon. When I say 'open source', I mean that it will be free for everybody to use. It may even surprise you to hear that MP3 is not an open source audio compression type, and there are times when you have to pay a royalty to its 'creators' in order to use it!

Download 'em all
For some of us, music is all about popular bands and themes. So have you got that latest album? Do you want some posters to put up in your bedroom? The internet offers all that, but you can do very little without a credit card.

I don't think pinching your father's credit card is a good idea, because there are much more sensible ways of getting that song you wanted. Well maybe not the posters, but at least the music. www.audiogalaxy.com and www.napster.com can save the day for you, but they are just two of the thousands of sites that let you download MP3's so if you have any of your own favourites, do share them with us.

Are you a budding song writer?
There are many online song-writers' workshops and competitions that you may want to take a look at. This includes tips on creative writing, music composition and a host of other resources including forums where you can find out what others think about your work. But then who said you should worry about what others think? I mean your music is your personal signature and it will always be beautiful if it comes from your heart.
Then there is free software and share-ware to help you compose or synthesize your music. One such simple program is 'Fruity Loops' that my friend 'T-chucky' uses to great effect. But then it is your talent and creativity, not the supremacy or limitations of the software that makes all the difference.

What else?
All this information and much more are available on the Internet if you know how to look for it. I suggest that you try the Google directory for a start. It has links to all avenues of music that I have not even mentioned here. So get out of the blues and start rocking baby!

Or should I say 'Reach higher and higher ??? (Thanks for the inspiration)

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