Metafilter Music makes its debut.

April 13, 2003 3:31 PM

It's here! MetaFilter Music.

I've uploaded most of the files people have sent me (I'll be adding more all day today). Lots of great stuff already. Electronica, rock, folk, it's all there. It uses the Andromeda streaming/download server which lets you download songs, stream folders/songs, and lets you make playlists on the fly.

Oh, I also added a new MetaTalk category to discuss music.metafilter.com-related stuff here.
posted by mathowie (staff) to MetaFilter Music at 3:31 PM (95 comments total)

WOW!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 3:50 PM on April 13, 2003

Perhaps the artists who have uploaded multiple tracks could have an "I recommend this one" flag of some kind? You know, in order to steer us towards what they consider their "best" or maybe "most representative" work? Maybe an ***Artist's Pick*** displayed next to the cut?

Just a thought.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:53 PM on April 13, 2003

MCD, I've been streaming all the songs and I've been pretty impressed all around, but you're right, it'd help out if someone blogged a "best of" list, or if the server allowed for ratings by listeners.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:59 PM on April 13, 2003

[this is good fucking awesome]
posted by dg at 4:12 PM on April 13, 2003

[this is good fucking awesome]

This fucking vibrates.
posted by armoured-ant at 4:19 PM on April 13, 2003

Maybe an ***Artist's Pick*** displayed next to the cut?

I believe the andromeda software prints out the ID3 tags as accompanying text, so if you add that to one of your song titles, it'll show up, but it's a super kludge.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:22 PM on April 13, 2003

am i missing something? http://music.metafilter.com/ just displays the regular mefi homepage. windows, ie6.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 4:24 PM on April 13, 2003

Cool! Maybe some form of the submission instructions should be written somewhere.
posted by eddydamascene at 4:25 PM on April 13, 2003

when exactly is it appropriate to lift my jaw off the ground and start naming names and downloads?
like this
posted by victors at 4:26 PM on April 13, 2003

Aye, 'Gsalad - Loose Id For Orchestra' rules! Also, ThePhil's 'Macintosh Girl' had me laughing. Good show!
posted by armoured-ant at 4:33 PM on April 13, 2003

Cortex -- Great stuff!
posted by Hildago at 4:43 PM on April 13, 2003

ya know, there is always MusicFilter for discussing this stuff...
posted by victors at 4:49 PM on April 13, 2003

I recommend jimbob.
posted by four panels at 4:52 PM on April 13, 2003

jimbob, I recommend monolake.
posted by four panels at 4:55 PM on April 13, 2003

i'd throw one for cortex as well.
posted by folktrash at 4:57 PM on April 13, 2003

Error Occurred While Processing Request
/index.php


Please try the following:
Check the CFML Reference Manual to verify that you are using the correct syntax.
Search the Knowledge Base to find a solution to your problem.

This is the error I got when I clicked folktrash's link.

Also, where am I supposed to be clicking from the musicfilter homepage? It just looks like the MeFi homepage...
posted by dhoyt at 5:03 PM on April 13, 2003

Is this something you need speakers to listen to?
posted by lazaruslong at 5:10 PM on April 13, 2003

ok, i just had to hard refresh the page. whatever!

really likin' the cortex (things fall apart).
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 5:14 PM on April 13, 2003

There is some dns weirdness that still needs to work itself out, but you should be able to reach the server soon.

I'm not much of an electronic music fan normally, but there is some fantastic stuff here. I just uploaded starkeffect's stuff, which is quite danceable.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:23 PM on April 13, 2003

stark effect cracks me up.
posted by juv3nal at 5:30 PM on April 13, 2003

is there a way to sort?
posted by folktrash at 5:32 PM on April 13, 2003

The sorts are just alphabetical I think.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:36 PM on April 13, 2003

Here's a question to you all who uploaded music: would you mind if the music.metafilter.com site was limited to mefi members, or would you prefer it to be open to the public?

I'm going to let it run as is for the next few days to see what kind of bandwidth and server resources it uses. If it's too much I can either block all non-mefi members from it, or I can move everything to a free spot I have somewhere else and still allow access to all.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:41 PM on April 13, 2003

Ungh! Wasn't like this earlier!

Warning: OpenDir: Permission denied (errno 13) in /home/matt/public_html/music.metafilter.com/index.php on line 1265
Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/matt/public_html/music.metafilter.com/index.php on line 1266
Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/matt/public_html/music.metafilter.com/index.php on line 1269
Warning: OpenDir: Permission denied (errno 13) in /home/matt/public_html/music.metafilter.com/index.php on line 1275
Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/matt/public_html/music.metafilter.com/index.php on line 1276
Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid Directory resource in /home/matt/public_html/music.metafilter.com/index.php on line 1278

etc.
posted by armoured-ant at 5:42 PM on April 13, 2003

Ungh! Wasn't like this earlier!

Yeah, I'm adding some files to it, and I think permission to read them is being denied to the script while they are still being uploaded. It should clear up when the files get there.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:52 PM on April 13, 2003

OMG this is so cool (someone reccomended me? I feel all warm and fuzzy). Although it looks like one of my tracks didn't upload properly - the last one is only a few seconds long for some reason. Probably my fault.

Alas, it's pseudo-streaming, not real streaming. I was hoping for a service that would stream over port 8000 so I can listen at uni without the proxy server noting my massive data transfer :)
posted by Jimbob at 5:54 PM on April 13, 2003

i need to go to the bar now. but i can't wait to come back and sift through all this wonderfulness. this is fucking awesome indeed.
posted by folktrash at 5:55 PM on April 13, 2003

Like I said matt, if you're ever strapped for cash I'll pay a premium for your man babies.
posted by holloway at 6:04 PM on April 13, 2003

I'm not much of an electronic music fan normally, but there is some fantastic stuff here. I just uploaded starkeffect's stuff, which is quite danceable.

You are aware that starkeffect's 'We like Repartee' is a parody of the Venga Boys We like to party - or is that a cover. Im not sure what the legal issues are, if any.
posted by vacapinta at 6:05 PM on April 13, 2003

Matt: I'm cool with it being open to the public eye.

And yes. So. I just started listening at the beginning -- this Austin Hall stuff is pretty faboo -- but I'd just like to reiterate and me-too on the this fucking rules sentiment.

And thanks for the saying of nice things, you people.
posted by cortex at 6:07 PM on April 13, 2003

stark effect rocks my dictionary.
posted by VulcanMike at 6:16 PM on April 13, 2003

it's up to you matt -- if you need to clamp down the server then it's not really a matter of what we want. do what you gotta do...
posted by victors at 6:29 PM on April 13, 2003

"bunny rabbits, satan..."

omg, stark effect is the real deal.
posted by victors at 6:33 PM on April 13, 2003

The only thing more fun than watching new content appear before my eyes is downloading and listening to it. Great stuff. Favorites so far are cortex's "Dark Hollow" and the terrific "Battle Hymn of BoBo Balde" by sgt. serenity. And I jump wholeheartedly on the Stark Effect bandwagon.

If I may be so bold as to make a request to those handing out riches in return for nothing: could all tracks be labelled with at least 1) the artist, 2) the title, and 3) the user name of the MeFi member who submitted it? I just want to make sure I a) know who created the music, b) know the title, and since the music is sorted by username, c) know where to find more after I lose track of which subfolder a track came from in a downloading binge like tonight.

This rocks, Matt! Thanks to you (as always) for the site and to everyone putting up music.
posted by Inkslinger at 6:43 PM on April 13, 2003

I'm really enjoying what I've heard so far! Stark effect . . . whoa! mighty fine!

I have a question, though, which is aimed at the artists. How would you feel if your material was played on the radio? The reason why I ask is that I will be (hopefully) djaying at a local university station and I might want to play some of what I'm hearing. Your thoughts, please.
posted by ashbury at 6:48 PM on April 13, 2003

I'd love to know more about some of these songs, sgt serenity's especially - I can't stop listening to it. Matt, is there a way, via Andromeda, to upload .txt files too, or just mp3s? I'd love a .txt file with some comments by the artist - something that can be added to their mp3 folders - an explanation or note about who wrote the songs, why did they choose the names that they did, what instrument/s they're playing, who else is involved, credits, thanking the little people, etc. Sort of like liner notes. Is that a possibility?

gsalad's Id for Loose Orchestra is wonderful. Again, I'd love to know more. And this is such a great thing.
posted by iconomy at 6:52 PM on April 13, 2003

(reads the documentation at andromeda)

This just in: I can put descriptive text within each member's music folder that will show up in the headers, and I can even put some text to go with each and every track, if anyone feels like supplying that.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 6:53 PM on April 13, 2003

Totally find with me ashbury; my music is free for use for whatever purpose as long as no-one else claims they made it. By the way, technically my tracks are by "Atriplex" - what I call my electronic stuff - but I renamed everything to "Jimbob" to avoid confusion.
posted by Jimbob at 6:53 PM on April 13, 2003

Could use some more cowbell.
posted by Hildago at 7:00 PM on April 13, 2003

And question number 2: if you don't mind your material going on the radio, what name should be used? Your MeFi moniker, your real name if you have one, your band name?

If you publish your music, or would publish your music under a different name than the one you've given, it might be wise to include that name. (thanks jimbob :)

With regards to iconomy's question, I have seen some very extensive comments in the id3v2 tag, but I don't know how they get there. This would be a great place to put any sort of extra information.
posted by ashbury at 7:00 PM on April 13, 2003

reads the documentation at andromeda

Show off.

I did look, but I'm downloading 2 mp3s on a dialup and I gave up after 2 excrutiatingly long page loads at andromeda. Thanks! Now come on, everybody - send in your liner notes. And thanks to ashbury too.
posted by iconomy at 7:06 PM on April 13, 2003

With al the skills here, radio MetaFilter would also be a good idea.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:22 PM on April 13, 2003

Matt: would you like the description/whatever text e-mailed to you, or is there some reasonable self-service way of saving you the trouble?

Re: Dark Hollow That's the only I posted that isn't an original work -- it's an old, old song, very public domain (and thus not skirting the 'covers' issue).

Radio play is fine by me. Perhaps those interested in all things radio-ish -- the college DJs, the potential net-casters, whoever -- should pow-wow and put together some sort of home page for these sort of questions. Or something.

I babble because I'm excited and pleased. This is just dang neat.

Dang neat.
posted by cortex at 7:30 PM on April 13, 2003

My feeling is that this should be a MeFi member only deal. While it may not seem like the most rational of logic processess, I know that when I eventually submit my music, I want it to be listened to by the same people who have agreed to the canons that make MeFi what it is today, and not the general public. If I wanted the gen pub to hear it, then I would be over at mp3.com. That's what makes this thing so great....MeFi people posting their music for other MeFites. Not to say that the tunes could not or should not be played on the radio or elsewhere, but I gotta vote for the actual page being a members only deal.

[ / $0.02 ]
posted by lazaruslong at 7:35 PM on April 13, 2003

Regarding the radio DJs thing - probably the easiest way to do it would be for users to produce hour long "shows" that can be streamed, rather than relying on live production. Of course the issue of music that could be played on these shows would have to be dealt with - I'm assuming it would all have to be public domain / MeFi music.
posted by Jimbob at 7:37 PM on April 13, 2003

Wow, I'm really impressed by sgt serenity's and jimbob's music.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:40 PM on April 13, 2003

cortex, just email me stuff you want to say about each song, or in general, and I'll toss the info up on the site.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:53 PM on April 13, 2003

this is great! thanks matt, and all u talented folks!

and green eggs and ham is wonderful!
posted by amberglow at 7:59 PM on April 13, 2003

I think what would be cool is a link to the member's Profile Page so that we could quickly thank the artist[s] or an way to email the artist[s]. I know, some may call this laziness, but I call this efficient. Oh, I would recommend Folktrash. Can't stop listening to it!
posted by plemeljr at 8:44 PM on April 13, 2003

Hey! Thanks for all the nice comments, and props to mathowie for setting this up.

Incidentally, a few track notes if anyone's interested:

"Green Eggs & Ham" and "We Like Repartee" were created as part of the Dictionaraoke project. If you go to my homepage, you'll find an interview I did on NPR's "On the Media" about it.

Also, "Bunnyrabbits, Satan..." and "Think of Me" are part of a project I'm working on now, mic in track, using "found" (or is it "stolen"?) personal recordings. The album should be done by the summer.
posted by starkeffect at 8:53 PM on April 13, 2003

To Matt or whomever has it, can you provide me with the actual DNS of http://music.metafilter.com/ cause the page just keeps on loading up at the metafilter.com hopepage? (have tried using all my browsers, deleting cookies, etc.)
posted by jmd82 at 9:19 PM on April 13, 2003

This stuff is really cool. How long until we do other media? Photos, text, movies, etc.

Some friends of mine set up a website where we all share stuff we're working on--music rarely, but usually pictures and text. It's worked out pretty well. I can only imagine what one with 16,000 members would be like.
posted by tss at 9:24 PM on April 13, 2003

Could use some more cowbell.

cowbell.NET!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:25 PM on April 13, 2003

This is fantastic. Yay, Matt!

I'd like to second Iconomy's request for text file "liner notes" - musicians, tell us your stories! Thanks for the info starkeffect, and I love the audio vérité idea.
posted by taz at 9:27 PM on April 13, 2003

jmd82, the music should be at 207.44.144.7. You'll probably need to hit it by modifying your local dns (hosts file).
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:02 PM on April 13, 2003

Wow. I'm having such a blast sampling this stuff. starkeffect, I must have downloaded half your homepage by now.

I do not like them here or there I do not like them... anywhere
posted by Galvatron at 10:12 PM on April 13, 2003

starkeffect, the sound sample in the "think of me" song is freaky cute. It makes me think of being 19 again and being in relationships where you do silly things like record mix tapes.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:15 PM on April 13, 2003

Ah, I was hoping using the DNS would help, but doesn't at all (just get a neato graphic). How would I go about updating my local dns host files (WinXP, use Phoenix, though IE gets the same problem)?
posted by jmd82 at 10:19 PM on April 13, 2003

jmd82: (1) Are you connecting through a proxy server? If so, maybe it's the proxy's problem. (2) Just be patient and wait another couple of hours for the DNS to propagate. The music ain't going nowhere.
posted by Jimbob at 10:25 PM on April 13, 2003

Heh, you think that's cute, take a listen to this, or this, or this.

I put up a new mic in track on my page every weekend. I've got about sixteen hours' worth of these little goodies.
posted by starkeffect at 10:31 PM on April 13, 2003

jmd82, here are some good instructions

You'd just want to make an entry that said this:
207.44.144.7 music.metafilter.com

I just added a couple more good bunches of music: adrober's funny piano song and a sklero-mikrophon rock trio thing.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:35 PM on April 13, 2003

Is MP3 the desired format, or will MIDI be acceptable as well?
posted by Orange Goblin at 3:08 AM on April 14, 2003

Outstanding! I hope you do open it up to the public Matt, as I'm on dialup and don't have a cd burner as yet, but I do have generous friends who would download the music for me.

Jimbob, not only is your music great but I couldn't believe it when I saw one of the tracks has the same name as my studio!

If and when I can get it downloaded I'll choreograph something for the girls and send you the video via the post office or something.
posted by Tarrama at 5:20 AM on April 14, 2003

matt, would there be any way for users to post comments to these music posts. it would be nice to read what others think about the music before downloading it. not only that, it would also be a good place to respond to the artist and all that fun stuff.
posted by chrisroberts at 7:37 AM on April 14, 2003

Ah, finally got it to work! Thanks for all the help!
posted by jmd82 at 7:47 AM on April 14, 2003

A. Fucking fantastic, Matt.
B. What lazaruslong said about keeping it a MeFi member only deal, for the same reasons.
posted by dong_resin at 8:16 AM on April 14, 2003

I am rarely so delighted with MeFi as I am today. Nice work Matt. Also yes, agree with nearly everyone, MeFiers only. Does this thing have a "play all" feature?
posted by jessamyn at 8:27 AM on April 14, 2003

It's at the bottom, jessamyn.

I love your song, adrober!
posted by iconomy at 8:45 AM on April 14, 2003

Does this thing have a "play all" feature?

Yeah, on the home page, click the green, round play button next to the top folder, before the list of artists. This will start streaming every single song in one big playlist.

Basically, I've been hitting that and setting my player to "random" for the past few hours. You never know what comes next. The tough part though, is figuring out which songs are by who, when you find one you really love.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:45 AM on April 14, 2003

I just wanted to add that if anyone here wants to produce their own CD "free", cafepress now does audio (AND data) CDs, in case you didn't know. Just send them a master CD and then set your own price, etc. EXCELLENT stuff everyone! I'm currently strolling through jazon's directory - right up my alley! :-)
[Shameless plug - If you DO sign up, feel free to use my store ID "artoffoxvox" (link) as a referrer - LOL - or not, *grin*.]
posted by thunder at 9:09 AM on April 14, 2003

Addendum: Or even better, use "metafilter" as the referrer ID so Matt gets more money through HIS store! (Why didn't I think of that first - ignore my previous self-promotion - DOH!)
posted by thunder at 9:14 AM on April 14, 2003

meta music. victors has remixed cortex. finally, its ok to doublepost. nice job everyone.

matt, glad your love of music brought this about.

so, musical metafilter meetups?
posted by th3ph17 at 9:36 AM on April 14, 2003

Any chance to get vague categories? Electronica, rock, etc.
posted by gramcracker at 10:06 AM on April 14, 2003

click the green, round play button next ... this will start streaming every single song in one big playlist.

actually, it doesn't, but I get all the other streams to play fine. I'll mess about with Andromeda help and see if I can't find a solution.
posted by jessamyn at 10:27 AM on April 14, 2003

gramcracker - I was going to say the same thing.. next to the artist's name, have some general 'genre' comments..
posted by rich at 12:43 PM on April 14, 2003

pick of the day: modge

matt: 2 features:

yea, I'm going to need a sort by latest-upload to keep up...

most music/mp3 hosts will whack the ID3 tags just enough to identify the artist and song (and even genre) in case the artist failed to do so when rendering the mp3.

I've looked at the free version of andromeda but they obfuscate the code so I can't point you to the place these would happen... I may end up just purchasing it anyway
posted by victors at 12:50 PM on April 14, 2003

Oh, but, dude.. anyone who samples Evil Dead Army of Darkness is totally kick-ass.

I just need help finding this stuff.
posted by rich at 1:03 PM on April 14, 2003

What's a good free zipping-up program for OSX? All I could find was an Alladdin Trial version.
posted by mblandi at 1:04 PM on April 14, 2003

anyone who samples Evil Dead Army of Darkness is totally kick-ass

and when you're ready to come down: "To Be Sung on the Water"

regarding zip: I'm not sure why matt wants this, mp3s are compressed already and zipping them doesn't do anything for size.

meanwhile I got this in private email just now:

your stuff doesn't suck ass at all

All I can say is bless this music.metafilter thing cause now my life has meaning.
posted by victors at 2:22 PM on April 14, 2003

regarding zip: I'm not sure why matt wants this, mp3s are compressed already and zipping them doesn't do anything for size.

It's easy on me. You give me a zip of your 6-8 files and I pop onto the server, load up lynx, download, unzip and your directory is there. Otherwise I need to grab each song one at a time. It's multiple times faster to just grab the zip in one blow.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:36 PM on April 14, 2003

yup -- I can see that... as long as the zip's compression is set to 'none' in which case it's just a packaging medium. Otherwise the "uncompress" can take longer than a download on broadband.
posted by victors at 2:47 PM on April 14, 2003

your stuff doesn't suck ass at all

victors, that person speaks the truth. wow, there's a lot of really talented members here. thanks for this, matt!
posted by modge at 2:52 PM on April 14, 2003

jimbob:
i like subliminal criminal and petra.
good stuff.
posted by juv3nal at 3:13 PM on April 14, 2003

listening to victor's remix of cortex's tune. this is so FUCKING awesome that it can't be said enough.
posted by folktrash at 5:14 PM on April 14, 2003

Regarding wether or not the music should be open to the general public I don't see why not. Of course if the server cant handle everybody then thats a different story. but barring that, if the whole point of these enterprise is to share music, why should it be limited to who it is shared with?
posted by philcliff at 5:22 PM on April 14, 2003

Yeah, I just want to say that the remix thing has made my week. I feel like a motherfucking superstar, over here. Thanks, victors.
posted by cortex at 5:40 PM on April 14, 2003

Oh! And, a related note:

I'd be fascinated by, and all for joining in, some sort of collaboration/remixification/exquisite-corpsification activities within the Metafilter Music neighborhood. I dunno what all that might involve, or what might be produced, but thinking about it in a general, vague sort of way makes my heart tingle with delight.

All else aside, I'd be happy to make individual tracks of anything I've posted available -- since I do all my own recording usually, most of it is sitting on my hard-drive. Could have saved victors a little bit of work isolating the vocals on Things Fall Apart, ferexample.

Man, I feel giddy.
posted by cortex at 5:48 PM on April 14, 2003

That remix is addictive as hell. Really - it's positively evil with addictive goodness. I heard the remix first, and then the original. This is really too much fun. I'm currently hooked on cortex, sgt serenity, folktrash, victors, and gsalad. I can't wait until I get broadband next week so I can download every last one.

In other news, I'm also finally getting a microwave and this cool thing called a VCR.
posted by iconomy at 6:18 PM on April 14, 2003

I'd be fascinated by, and all for joining in, some sort of collaboration/remixification/exquisite-corpsification activities within the Metafilter Music neighborhood.

I've been doing this exact thing for going on five years. I've even been in several "virtual bands" that were spread across the world with people I (still) haven't met. We've gotten it down to where the collaborators don't even need to have the exact tools on either end, just a multi-track recorder/mixer. (Acid, Vegas, Live, Fruity, etc.)

The good news is that there are many, many ways to do this. The bad news is that there are many, many ways to do this.

Remember that none of this necessary, but a recommended jumping off point:

- As a matter of efficiency it helps to have a "designated mixer" -- someone who "owns" the project. Collaborators get sub-mixes from the owner who then collects individual tracks from the other(s).

- In many cases it is best to exchange uncompressed wavs. Everybody I know uses WinRAR which has a remarkable 55% lossless compression ratio and makes transferring wavs back and forth. This is a non-starter for people on Macs, but thats fine because...

- In just as many cases, exchanging 128b MP3s is just fine -- especially when want that scratchy dirty sound ;-)

- Record dry and clean. Don't put any fx on any track, that goes triple for vocals -- some tube dirt on the guitar is ok, but avoid reverb/delay if you can; some compression may be ok, but again, safest thing to do is nothing. Let the mixer/owner person handle ALL fx.

- All parties should have access to healthy ftp/http accounts where the receiver doesn't have to futz with logins/passwords. 10mg is not enough. 500mg is better.

....

I'll post more things, ovens on fire...
posted by victors at 6:30 PM on April 14, 2003

In other news, I'm also finally getting a microwave and this cool thing called a VCR.
Just don't get them confused, will you?
posted by dg at 8:46 PM on April 14, 2003

ah this is depressing, our firewall prevents me downloading any mp3 stuff, and the streaming doesn't seem to be allowed either. blues.
posted by kev23f at 4:43 AM on April 15, 2003

What an unfuckingbelievably excellent idea, Matt. I'll definitely be sending a few things along (and listening too) when I get home tonight.

Thanks matt, and to everyone sharing.
posted by chicobangs at 12:35 PM on April 15, 2003

this is fantastic, cheers matt, almostcool is superb btw.
posted by sgt.serenity at 7:31 PM on April 15, 2003

Stark Effect: I like repartee! Rockin'
posted by jacobsee at 11:05 AM on April 16, 2003

I heart music.metafilter.com

Thanks Matt, and thanks to all the great music makers, I've been listening all day.
posted by Outlawyr at 1:28 PM on April 16, 2003