A few months ago I wrote an article highlighting some of the best resources on the web for finding 8bit music, all manner of MOD files and the software required for playback. Today I’m going to be venturing a little deeper and digging out the tools you’ll be needing in order to create some chiptune yourself.

The modern MOD-scene is a friendly, care-and-share alike community consisting of programmers producing free software, composers sharing their music for free and those who simply love the music. Thanks to software emulation, there’s no need for original hardware any more – though many do still insist on using classic technology for their musical needs.

This will be a two-part guide, with hardware, samples and VSTs coming next week.

Trackers & Making Music

A tracker is not an absolute necessity for creating 8bit, and many people get away with using digital audio solutions like FLStudio or Audacity. However, If you’re really serious about creating 8bit music then you’re going to want to learn how to use a tracker.

Whilst each tracker is different, the methodology behind making music is virtually identical on each piece of software. The most noticeable difference between standard audio software and a music tracker is the way the track is constructed – vertically, as opposed to horizontally – but there’s far more to it than that.

There are 6 main characteristics common to music trackers: tracks (channels), samples, notes, effects, patterns and orders. Tracks are the vertical strips onto which you construct the music, and whilst trackers of old only had a limited amount of available tracks the modern offerings have vastly improved on this. Samples are sound recordings that must be imported (and sometimes generated in-tracker) in order to construct  music.

Notes then adjust the pitch of the samples in order to match them to musical notes, allowing you to construct complex patterns of varying notes with only a handful of samples. Effects go hand in hand with notes, as these are commands added to the end of the note to instruct it to play arpeggio, vibrato, portamento and so on.

A pattern consists of multiple tracks playing at once to make up part of a song, whilst the order defines when each pattern plays, for how long and specifying other options like whether each pattern should be looped or not. These are the basics, and once they’re firmly implanted in your head then the only thing holding you back is your imagination and eagerness to experiment.

Software

Here are some of the best, completely free music trackers as well as relevant documentation where available.

OpenMPT (Windows) [Official Documentation]

Based on ModPlug Tracker, OpenMPT (Open ModPlug Tracker) builds on this release with a number of awesome features including support for VST effects and instruments. VST stands for virtual studio technology and allows instruments such as synthesizers and drum kits as well as a number of effects to be used in OpenMPT. This is somewhat special as I haven’t found any other free trackers that provide support.

OpenMPT continues the 8bit revival by supporting a number of newer file formats including Impulse Tracker (.IT/.ITP files) as well as good old fashioned (but somewhat limiting at times) .MOD and .XM files. OpenMPT is currently only designed to be used with Windows, and unfortunately I had a lot of trouble getting this to work through WINE on Linux.

One of the most complete, powerful and user-friendly trackers out there.

MilkyTracker (Windows, Mac, Linux) [Official Manual, Unofficial Tutorial]

Another much-loved tracker, MilkyTracker attempts to be a faithful recreation of the popular DOS tracker, FastTracker 2. It also aims to satiate Amiga fans, providing enhanced playback compatibility with the Amiga classic ProTracker. MilkyTracker is able to create .MOD and .XM tracks, has a unique custom user interface and supports MIDI-in.

MilkyTracker has not made the leaps forward that OpenMPT has in the form of VSTs and advanced formats, and this is because it has been designed to be and remain a second generation tracker.

SunVox (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android) [Official Manual, Video Tutorials]

SunVox aims to be a more contained workstation than Milky or OpenMPT and to achieve this there are a lot of synthesizers and effects bundled from the get-go. In addition to this the software has a particularly flexible architecture, allowing it to perform well on older machines, mobile devices and even smartphones.

Indeed, there are iOS and Android versions available – but they’re going to cost you. If you’re weighing up the purchase then luckily all other versions are free. If you’ve still got an old Windows Mobile or PalmOS device then you’ll be pleased to know SunVox is fully compatible, so why not try it out!

SchismTracker (Windows, Mac, Linux + more) [FAQ, Message Board]

SchismTracker is a free Impulse Tracker clone that aims to recreate the feel and functionality seen in the old DOS application. Whilst Impulse Tracker doesn’t add anything particularly new to the plate (unlike ChibiTracker above) it is very flexible in construction, and according to the author: “Schism will most likely build on any architecture supported by GCC4 (e.g. alpha, m68k, arm, etc.)”

As well as Windows, Mac and a handful of Linux distributions, SchismTracker can be downloaded for the Pandora and even the Nintendo Wii (though that version is no longer supported).

SonantLive (Browser) [Instructions]

Because you want to play with a tracker and you’re too impatient to download a portable app and run it – introducing SonantLive, a music tracker than runs in your browser! Yes, it works and should give you a basic introduction to patterns, sequences, waves and of course the process behind constructing a pattern.

It’s not necessarily as powerful as the other trackers on this list but then again it’s web-based, designed for fun and completely free. You can even save and load!

Conclusion

There’s simply not enough space here to go into hardware chiptune, the many free samples the web has to offer or all the gorgeous VST instruments and effects that are floating around for free. You’re going to have to wait for next week in order to enjoy those.

In the meanwhile if you’ve got any other trackers or software you rely on for your chiptune needs then don’t hesitate to add them in the comments below.

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A while back, we received a question on MakeUseOf Answers asking where in the world one can get royalty free music. Naturally, as someone who is constantly searching for this Holy Grail, I jumped on it.

So, dear MakeUseOf readers, I felt that this is a question worthy enough to expand upon. I’m quite sure that some of you out there are wondering where to find royalty free music whether you’re a videomaker, a game developer, or one of those neo-artist stage performance poets that uses a combination of visual imagery, weird music, and the occasional bit of innocent nudity. So with that being said, I’m here to bring you some quality royalty free music.

Vimeo Music Store

The Vimeo Music Store is a brilliant tool to use when in search for music for your videos. Although there are several free items available via the Creative Commons, there are actually a few songs that you can pay for either personal use ($1.99) or for commercial use ($98). The Vimeo Music Store is a nice consolidated catalog of music from all genres, and the best part about it is that each song on the store is available to use for your videos. This way, you do not have to do as much digging. However, you will have to lurk around if you want to find free royalty free songs, and it’s a little harder if you want to use them commercially without paying a dime.

SoundCloud

I recently discovered the beauty of SoundCloud, and the fact is this – they have an entire section of their site devoted to the Creative Commons. What does that mean for you? Well, my friend, it means there is a ton of music out there waiting on you to use it in a personal project. SoundCloud also offers quite a bit of search classifications, so you can find songs with CC licenses that allow for commercial use or without the share alike option. It seems like a good deal to me, and I’ve been using their music for quite a few projects lately.

Free Music Archive

The Vimeo Music Store pulls some of their music from the Free Music Archive, but I decided to go ahead and throw it in as a separate entity for a couple of reasons. One, it seems like the Vimeo Music Store doesn’t include all of the songs on here, for it constantly updates. Two, it also seems like there is some differing information between the sites.

For instance, I used a song that I got from the Vimeo Music store for free, and on their site, it said I could only use it for noncommercial purposes. However, when I saw it on the Free Music Archive, it said I could use it for commercial purposes with attribution. Either way, both are excellent sources of music, and I would recommend this site for sure. Granted, I cannot guarantee everything on this site will be available for you to use.

Incompetech

We couldn’t have this article without mentioning Kevin MacLeod, the mastermind behind Incompetech. MacLeod’s website offers quite a bit of music for your royalty free needs, and it is absolutely fantastic. He does offer a PayPal donation system (as does AudioNautix, actually), so if you feel the need to support him, you can do so. However, his music is great for whatever you need, and there is nothing else I can really say except that you should go give it a listen.

AudioNautix

After submitting my answer to MUO answers (which included the Vimeo Music Store), I went back to see if anybody else had brought anything to the table. Fortunately, someone did, and that was MUO reader ha14, who suggested AudioNautix, another site for royalty free music. The site offers everything including tracks for cinematic works and documentaries, but what i really liked about it was simply how easy it was to understand the usage rights of this music. You can pretty much use it for anything, so… go do that. Right now.

Conclusion

These are simply my top four picks for royalty free music (with ha14′s tacked on), and each of them have quality stuff. You normally won’t see a whole lot of good music that you can use in projects, and each of these resources has a different flavor for everyone.

What other royalty free music resources do you use? What do you like or not like about the ones mentioned here?

Image Credit: imelenchon

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Music is becoming more and more social, right? Well, the folks at Facebook obviously think so. Facebook has just announced a new service which allows users to listen to music with your friends and do so in perfect synchronization. For now, the service only works with Spotify and Rdio, but more services should be added soon.

So how does it work? The new service is integrated with Facebook chat. In the chat sidebar, look for a note icon which indicates that a friend is listening to music. If you want to join in, hover over that person, and click on the “Listen with” button. You should now be able to listen to whatever your friend is listening to, thus having your very own private DJ. This works in larger groups as well, in which one person controls the music and the rest listen.

Since the whole thing is part of Facebook’s chat, you can talk with your friends about what your listening to, “just like when you’re jamming out at a performance or dance club”. While the service seemed at first like a way for Spotify-deprived people (like me) to enjoy some Spotify action, it seems that all parties have to be using the service in question. This means that if I don’t have Spotify installed, I can’t listen in on a friend who’s using Spotify. Too bad, but legally understandable.

The new service should be rolling out to all users within the next few weeks, so don’t panic if you can’t see it yet. It remains to be seen whether users in countries which don’t get to enjoy Spofity and Rdio even get the new service, since it’s going to be quite useless for them anyway.

What do you think of the new service?

Source: ZDNet

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Sometimes it feels like the entrenched music industry (embodied by the big labels) is doing everything it can to keep us feeling like pirates for wanting to download music. But no matter how much they try to keep the old model (“artist to label, label to consumer”) alive, it is actually dying. Things are changing, and artists have amazing tools for reaching listeners directly these days.

We, as listeners and fans, only stand to gain. One of the best tools on the scene today, for artists and listeners both, is Bandcamp. We have mentioned Bandcamp before, when Tina listed the site as one of 5 Resources Used To Find Free MP3 Albums For Sound Sunday. Today, I’d like to take you in for a closer look at the site from the listener perspective.

The Concept

Bandcamp lets artists put their albums online and let users listen to the music right on the site. The artists selects what tracks users can listen to (usually, all of them). These are not previews or 30-second snippets, but the full track. And you can listen to it as many times as you want, without having to pay anything. The typical album interface looks like this:

Look at everything you can do here. The large button at the top lets you play the whole album. The playlist at the bottom shows you what song is currently playing, and you can also read the lyrics, skip between songs, and buy individual songs. The artist can offer specific songs for free – the first two songs in this particular album (Diablo Mambo) are offered for free, in exchange for a subscription to the artist’s mailing list. This is what happens when you click the Download button:

So you share your email with the band, but if you like their music enough to want to download it, you probably won’t mind.

Finding Music To Listen To

Okay, so we’ve seen a little bit of the individual artist interface, and we’ll get back to it later. But before delving into it in further detail, we need to answer an important question: How do you find stuff to listen to?

Bandcamp lets you directly search by artist, track, and album names, and even by lyrics. But if you’re not looking for anything specific, you can browse the library by either genre or location:

For example, here’s a list of artists from New Zealand:

Another good way to find artists is via Bandcamp’s featured music tag on their blog. This is a relatively new venture for Bandcamp. Once per week, a detailed review of an album is published. The reviews are well written and compelling, and span many different genres from hip-hop to folk to electronica.

The Current Activity List

There’s one more way to find new music, and it’s actually my favorite. Bandcamp’s front page has a running stream of music selling right now. The stream is constantly updated in real time, and watching it feels a bit like standing next to the cash register in a “real” record store:

There’s a big difference between just listening to music on the site and deciding to pay for it. When a user decides to spend real money on an album, that means the album is at least worth a listen. Spending money is a fantastic filter.

Name Your Price, Pick Your Format

It’s hard to put a price on something as intangible as an album. So, why not let the customer decide how much they want to pay?

If you look at the list above, you will see that the top four albums were sold for “more than the minimum”. In fact, they were all available for download for free, (a $5 purchase that is $5 over the minimum means the album was available for $0) and yet users opted to pay for them.

Other albums do have a minimum price:

Here, it is at least $10. But again, you can usually listen to the entire album online over and over again before deciding to spend that money.

Final Thoughts

Bandcamp is an incredible way to get to know new music. It’s how I found Marian Call, great Ukelele covers of Radiohead by Amanda Palmer, and lots of other fantastic music that stuck with me. This is clearly the future of music, and if you haven’t tried it yet, you really should take it for a spin.  Let us know what you think of it.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/foobar2000-300x300.png?323f2c" alt="foobar2000 review" />Foobar2000 is the desktop music player of choice for audiophiles, tinkerers and anyone looking for a lightweight, efficient program. We have it listed on our page of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-windows-software">the best Windows software for a reason, although it may not be obvious when you first install it. Foobar2000’s default interface is spartan and hides powerful features and nearly infinite customizability.

Cloud streaming services like href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/music-streaming-spotify-free/">Spotify and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/rdio-offers-free-limited-streaming-music-news/">Rdio are becoming more and more popular, but there’s still a place for desktop applications and local music collections. If you still play music stored on your computer, you owe it to yourself to check out Foobar2000.

Quick Layout Setup

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After you install href="http://www.foobar2000.org/">Foobar2000 and start it up, you’ll see the Quick Appearance Setup window. Foobar2000 uses your system colors, a simple tabbed playlist pane and a traditional playlist layout by default. Here’s what it looks like:

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Now here’s what it looks like after selecting Visualization + Cover Art + Tabs, Blue, and Group by Albums in the Quick Appearance Setup window:

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We’re already getting an idea of how much we can customize Foobar2000. See how Foobar2000 now groups each album’s tracks in the playlist pane instead of repeating the same album name on every line? That’s the Group by Albums setting in action.

Feel free to play with the options here; you can reopen the Quick Appearance Setup window at any time by clicking the View menu, pointing to Layout and selecting Quick Setup.

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Media Library

Like other media players, Foobar2000 can watch folders for new music and automatically update its media library. Foobar2000 automatically watches your user account’s music folder by default. If you store your music elsewhere, click the Library menu, select configure and use the Add button to add more music folders.

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Foobar2000 comes with two media library viewers — click the Library menu and select Album List to browse the albums in your library or select Search to search for specific music files.

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Any of these viewers can be added to your Foobar2000 layout, so you don’t always have to open them from the Library menu.

Advanced Layout Customization

Foobar2000’s layouts aren’t limited to the layouts provided in the Quick Appearance Setup window. You can use its layout-editing mode to assemble your own layout; just click the View menu, point to Layout and select Enable Layout Editing Mode to get started.

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Right-click an interface element in layout-editing mode and you’ll see a menu. Select Replace to replace the interface element with another one or select Cut to delete the interface element entirely.

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Perform a cut on every interface element, including the vertical and horizontal splitters, if you want to start from scratch.

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Just click an empty area and you’ll be prompted to add a new interface element. Add a splitter if you want to divide areas into sections and add multiple interface elements.

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Here we’ve added playlist tabs at the top, a vertical splitter down the middle and a horizontal splitter on the left, which gives us two empty spaces on the left and one on the right. We’ve filled them in with an album list at the top left corner, an album art viewer at the bottom left corner and a playlist view on the right.

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Click the Enable Layout Editing Mode option in the Layout menu again after you’re done to disable the layout editing mode.

ReplayGain

Different music albums and songs have different perceived volumes. If your music player is playing music from different albums, you might have to adjust the volume up and down as louder and quieter songs come on. ReplayGain does this for you — Foobar2000 can automatically scan your songs, determine their volume and change the volume in the background so everything plays at one appropriate volume.

You can choose between two ReplayGain modes from the Playback pane in Foobar2000’s preferences window. Album mode considers entire albums when setting the volume, preserving volume differences between songs on the same album. Track mode just considers a single track, so every song that plays will be about the same volume. Foobar2000 uses album mode by default, ensuring that volume differences between songs on a single album are preserved.

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ReplayGain is enabled by default, but it depends on ReplayGain tags embedded in your music files. Many of your songs may not have these tags, but Foobar2000 can scan your files and add them. Assuming your music files are tagged correctly, the easiest way to add the tags is to select all your music in a playlist, right-click the selected files, point to ReplayGain and select “Scan Selection as Albums (by Tags).”

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Foobar2000’s excellent support for ReplayGain is one of the reasons audiophiles love it (another one is gapless playback; Foobar2000 automatically plays back music files with no pause in between them if the files support it).

Components

Components, available from href="http://www.foobar2000.org/components">Foobar2000′s components download page, are Foobar2000’s plug-ins. Components can extend Foobar2000 with support for new audio formats, add additional media library viewers or replace Foobar2000’s entire user interface.

Install components from the Components pane in Foobar2000’s preferences window after downloading them. Just click the Install button and browse for your downloaded components.

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Components are also available on other websites. For example, you can download a component that adds support for Windows 7′s new taskbar features href="http://wintense.com/plugins/foo_w7shell">here.

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Do you have any favorite components or other tips and tricks for Foobar2000? Let us know in the comments.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/countryguitar2.jpg?323f2c" alt="" />The iPhone has a lot of rhythm games. Right from the outset, the Tap Tap series was seeing huge success on the device. It was the most popular application for months, and everyone was having a blast tapping his or her screen along to the beat. Even Rock Band and Guitar Hero have tried their luck on the iPhone, and found a decent level of success. The problem with these games is that they are all essentially the same. Notes fall from the top of the screen and you try to tap them at the right time. They may have different skins but in the end, it is all the same.

Smule, the company behind I Am T Pain, hopes to give rhythm games a new feel on the iPhone with a game called href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magic-guitar/id403024450?mt=8">Magic Guitar. This game still involves tapping the screen to play notes, but it presents it differently, and it forces you to hold the phone similar to the way you would hold the neck of a guitar. It is a fresh way to play with a genre that is played out. The music game boom was huge, and the fall was even more massive. The question is; can a fresh take bring the genre back to prominence?

Mechanics

The first thing that is important with this game is the way you hold your iPhone. You need to hold it in your hand as if you were holding the neck of a guitar and look down at the device. This gives you a very different feel than most music games on the app store. This also makes playing the game feel more authentic.

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The notes will scroll from the side of the screen, and you need to press the play area to play the note. You have to press close to the right area in order for the note to sound right. It will still register if you play the wrong spot, but it will just sound a little off. This adds to the authentic guitar feel. Notes will appear longer and shorter depending on how long you need to hold them. Obviously, a longer note will require you to keep your fingers pressed down longer, while a shorter note will require more of a quick tap.

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In addition to the length of notes, you will also encounter notes that require you to slide your finger up and down the screen, creating bend. You can also shake your iPhone to create vibrato.

Each song allows you to choose a type of guitar. You can play electric, acoustic, lead or choose the default for that particular song. You can also increase and decrease the speed of the notes, making the song easier or more difficult, depending on your skill level.

Songs

The game comes with five songs for free, and more can be purchased for various amounts of game currency called Shreds. You can also earn more shreds by completing offers within the application.

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The free songs are public domain stuff such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The Star Spangled Banner. The songs available for purchase are much more extensive and include artists such as The Rolling Stones, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Tom Petty and many others. The selection is truly impressive.

Challenges

The game includes many challenges to keep things fun and fresh. As you level up, you will unlock new challenges that make you do things like get a certain amount of points overall, or earn a certain rating on a particular song.

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There are also achievements to earn. These give you even more goals to shoot for while shredding away on your iPhone.

Social Integration

Guitar Magic features some great leaderboard and social features. First, you can head to the World tab from the main menu and listen to performances from other players from around the world. After hanging out in the globe for a little, I must say, some people are terrible at this game!

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You can also connect the game with Facebook and compare stats and scores with your real life friends. You can share your individual performances on Facebook and Twitter right after you finish a song. If you feel you killed a song, and you want to let your friends know, the app makes it easy for you.

Conclusion

This is a very cool rhythm game. It takes the tried and true method of making a music game and adds some serious new twists. If you enjoy playing music games on your iPhone, but, like me, you are sick of the same old stuff, I would href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/magic-guitar/id403024450?mt=8">check this out, because it is a lot of fun.

What did you think of Guitar Magic? Let us know in the comments!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotify-icon.png?323f2c" alt="" />Do you love Spotify’s free version, but tired of needing href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/wine/">Wine just to listen to the music? Good news – Spotify now offers a free version specifically for Linux users. Or at least, users of Debian, Ubuntu and their variants. Sorry Fedora fans.

Spotify gives you access to millions of songs, for free. Unlike Pandora or Last FM though, you can listen to entire albums on demand. Be warned, there are some obnoxiously genre-defying ads involved. It’s totally worth it overall, though – you’ll discover new music and generally be a happier person.

The Linux version of Spotify used to only work with paid accounts. That’s why I showed you back in July, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/spotifys-free-version-working-linux/">how to get Spotify’s free version working in Linux using href="www.makeuseof.com/tag/playonlinux-brings-windows-games-programs-linux/">PlayOn, a tool that makes using Wine simple. That worked, but it wasn’t perfect. Neither is the new, official version of Spotify. There are some interface bugs, and local playback can be tricky. If you just want to stream on Linux though, Spotify’s developers just did you a big favor – the official version runs much better than Wine could ever deliver, and it integrates well into Ubuntu’s Unity as well.

Native Is Better

Spotify’s native Linux version starts up quickly, meaning it won’t take you long to realize how much better this is than Wine.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotify-linux.png?323f2c" alt="" width="572" height="326" />

You’ll need to register for an account at href="http://www.spotify.com">Spotify.com before you can do anything, and sadly registering requires a Facebook account (unless you were lucky enough to register before that became mandatory).

Once it does start up, it still feels a little out of place in Linux – a silver theme will do that. Still, find what you’re looking for and you’ll be listening very quickly:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotifylinux-playing.png?323f2c" alt="" width="579" height="249" />

Spotify starts playing music faster than some local-based players. You’ll quickly find something you like, because there are millions of songs here. Close the program and it will run in the background. You’ll find an indicator applet in the tray, though, meaning it’s easy to bring the program back to the front.

Ubuntu integration is fantastic with this version. The menu bar integrates with Unity, and you can use the volume button in Ubuntu to control the player:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotify-integration.png?323f2c" alt="" width="432" height="285" />

Get Spotify!

Are you ready to install the new Linux Spotify? href="http://www.spotify.com/us/download/previews/">Find installation instructions for Debian and Ubuntu here. But if you prefer to not add the repositories directly, you can href="http://repository.spotify.com/pool/non-free/s/spotify/">download Spotify for Linux directly here. I can’t find a release for other distributions. Presumably they’re coming,  but I suppose for now the Wine method still works. Please correct me if there’s another version, and link to it below.

Conclusion

It’s great to see Spotify recognize us Linux users, but they’re hardly alone in doing so. Native Linux versions of software are becoming common. Dropbox loves us, and so does The Ubuntu Software Center’s selection of games is growing all the time, and the cloud means there’s not much left we can’t do with our Linux machines. It’s great news for Linux enthusiasts, and I can’t wait to see this trend grow in 2012.

Adobe: bring us the Creative Suite!

Let’s celebrate in the comments below. I’ll be around.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotify-icon.png?323f2c" alt="" />Do you love Spotify’s free version, but tired of needing href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/wine/">Wine just to listen to the music? Good news – Spotify now offers a free version specifically for Linux users. Or at least, users of Debian, Ubuntu and their variants. Sorry Fedora fans.

Spotify gives you access to millions of songs, for free. Unlike Pandora or Last FM though, you can listen to entire albums on demand. Be warned, there are some obnoxiously genre-defying ads involved. It’s totally worth it overall, though – you’ll discover new music and generally be a happier person.

The Linux version of Spotify used to only work with paid accounts. That’s why I showed you back in July, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/spotifys-free-version-working-linux/">how to get Spotify’s free version working in Linux using href="www.makeuseof.com/tag/playonlinux-brings-windows-games-programs-linux/">PlayOn, a tool that makes using Wine simple. That worked, but it wasn’t perfect. Neither is the new, official version of Spotify. There are some interface bugs, and local playback can be tricky. If you just want to stream on Linux though, Spotify’s developers just did you a big favor – the official version runs much better than Wine could ever deliver, and it integrates well into Ubuntu’s Unity as well.

Native Is Better

Spotify’s native Linux version starts up quickly, meaning it won’t take you long to realize how much better this is than Wine.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotify-linux.png?323f2c" alt="" width="572" height="326" />

You’ll need to register for an account at href="http://www.spotify.com">Spotify.com before you can do anything, and sadly registering requires a Facebook account (unless you were lucky enough to register before that became mandatory).

Once it does start up, it still feels a little out of place in Linux – a silver theme will do that. Still, find what you’re looking for and you’ll be listening very quickly:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotifylinux-playing.png?323f2c" alt="" width="579" height="249" />

Spotify starts playing music faster than some local-based players. You’ll quickly find something you like, because there are millions of songs here. Close the program and it will run in the background. You’ll find an indicator applet in the tray, though, meaning it’s easy to bring the program back to the front.

Ubuntu integration is fantastic with this version. The menu bar integrates with Unity, and you can use the volume button in Ubuntu to control the player:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/spotify-integration.png?323f2c" alt="" width="432" height="285" />

Get Spotify!

Are you ready to install the new Linux Spotify? href="http://www.spotify.com/us/download/previews/">Find installation instructions for Debian and Ubuntu here. But if you prefer to not add the repositories directly, you can href="http://repository.spotify.com/pool/non-free/s/spotify/">download Spotify for Linux directly here. I can’t find a release for other distributions. Presumably they’re coming,  but I suppose for now the Wine method still works. Please correct me if there’s another version, and link to it below.

Conclusion

It’s great to see Spotify recognize us Linux users, but they’re hardly alone in doing so. Native Linux versions of software are becoming common. Dropbox loves us, and so does The Ubuntu Software Center’s selection of games is growing all the time, and the cloud means there’s not much left we can’t do with our Linux machines. It’s great news for Linux enthusiasts, and I can’t wait to see this trend grow in 2012.

Adobe: bring us the Creative Suite!

Let’s celebrate in the comments below. I’ll be around.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" title="sound sunday" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/images/recurring/sound-sunday.png?323f2c" alt="free music" width="210" height="210" />Sound Sunday is a weekly feature promoting free album downloads. Every edition invites you to explore various genres and artists from around the world. This edition highlights the Free Music Archive, a website that offers free downloads under Creative Commons and other licenses.

Also have a look at the previous href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-free-albums-free-music-archive-sound-sunday-june-26th/" title="Sound Sunday Edition June 26 2011">FMA Special.

Please share your thoughts and post your feedback in the comments. Album submissions, suggestions, and genre requests via email [tina at makeuseof dot com] are most welcome!

title="M.W.D. MySpace" href="http://www.myspace.com/mwd">M.W.D. – Singing Forest

Genre: downtempo, jazz, hip hop

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From FMA: “Like his other label mates on Budabeats Netlabel M.W.D. loves Hip Hop, samples, Jazz and crackling vinyl. His approach on instrumental Downbeats is more cinematic and relaxed. The DJ from Hungary (…) knows how to melt funky guitar licks, short brass sounds and organ chords together, as clearly demonstrated on this record!”

Singing Forest is a free download from the title="M.W.D. - Singing Forest" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/MWD/Singing_Forest/">Free Music Archive.

title="State Shirt Homepage" href="http://www.stateshirt.com/">State Shirt – This Is Old

Genre: experimental, indie, rock, pop

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From State Shirt’s Homepage: “My real name is not State Shirt (it’s Ethan Tufts), but I do wear a lot of state shirts. (…) I’ve been told my music is kinda like if The Postal Service, Radiohead, Beck, Elbow, and Folk Implosion all got in a bar fight then make up over frosty Newcastle Ales. All of my music is open source and available for free. (…) If you like what you hear, please spread the word and consider buying a CD, MP3, or a t-shirt. It allows me to continue to make music. And I appreciate that so much.”

This Is Old is a free download from the title="State Shirt - This Is Old" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/State_Shirt/This_Is_Old/">Free Music Archive.

title="Kyoto MySpace" href="http://www.myspace.com/thekyotoband">Kyoto – Lo Que Vuelve Para Vengarse

Genre: experimental, pop, shoegaze, hardcore

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From their FMA profile: “Kyoto was born in Zaragoza in late 2006 formed by Ivan Fanlo (drums), Isaac Moreira (bass and keyboards) and Alicia Puebla (vocals, keyboard), supplemented with small arrangements and influenced by bands like Slowdive, Isis, Red House Painters or Décima Victima, mixing different styles from shoegaze to more experimental hardcore, with lyrics in spanish. After two EP’s, “Cuatro finales terroríficos” (2007) and “Tan sólo la muerte es definitiva” (2008), each with four songs on mini CD and a carefully designed, they released their first LP, “Lo que vuelve para vengarse” (2010) recorded, mixed and mastered by Hans Krüger (Delorean, Half Foot Outside, El Columpio Asesino), with a luxurious design and completely handmade. In fall 2011 they released a split vinyl 7″ EP with The Fractal Sound, where we can find two of their songs in acoustic format in a limited edition in multiple colors.”

Lo Que Vuelve Para Vengarse is a free download from the title="Kyoto - Lo Que Vuelve Para Vengarse" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kyoto/Lo_Que_Vuelve_Para_Vengarse/">Free Music Archive.

title="The Underscore Orkestra Homepage" href="http://theunderscoreorkestra.com/">The Underscore Orkestra – No Money No Honey All We Got Is Us

Genre: jazz, big band, swing

width="300" height="460"> name="movie" value="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf"/> name="flashvars" value="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/3332.xml"/> name="allowscriptaccess" value="sameDomain"/> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf" width="300" height="460" flashvars="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/3332.xml" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" />

From their FMA profile: “The Underscore Orkestra is a Portland OR based band, playing a blend of Balkan, Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz and Swing, with a repertoire consisting of both original and traditional material. The Underscore Orkestra has been performing for the past 5 + years, touring all around the western U.S., Mexico and Guatemala and has been seen from intimate coffee shop setting all the way to huge outdoor festivals. We are also working with and interested in continuing to meet performance artists, jugglers, poets, storytellers, clowns, actors and tech folk alike…”

No Money No Honey All We Got Is Us is a free download from the title="The Underscore Orkestra - No Money No Honey All We Got Is Us" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/The_Underscore_Orkestra/No_Money_No_Honey_All_We_Got_Is_Us/">Free Music Archive.

title="Jonah Dempcy Cheshire Label" href="http://www.cheshirelabel.com/">Jonah Dempcy – Syncretic Beliefs

Genre: instrumental, jazz, piano

width="300" height="310"> name="movie" value="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf"/> name="flashvars" value="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/7874.xml"/> name="allowscriptaccess" value="sameDomain"/> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf" width="300" height="310" flashvars="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/7874.xml" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" />

From his href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/13854286" title="Jonah Dempcy Blogger">Blogger profile: “I’m a musician living in Seattle. I make electronic jazz music under the moniker Revolution Void. My music is a mix of electronic breaks and jazz improvisation, featuring solos from some of the top players in modern jazz such as Seamus Blake, Lucas Pickford and Matthew Garrison.”

Syncretic Beliefs is a free download from the title="Jonah Dempcy - Syncretic Beliefs" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jonah_Dempcy/Syncretic_Beliefs/">Free Music Archive.

title="Fabrizio Paterlini Homepage" href="http://www.fabriziopaterlini.com/">Fabrizio Paterlini – Viandanze

Genre: classical, piano

width="300" height="220"> name="movie" value="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf"/> name="flashvars" value="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/4391.xml"/> name="allowscriptaccess" value="sameDomain"/> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf" width="300" height="220" flashvars="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/4391.xml" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" />

From his FMA profile: “Fabrizio Paterlini’s music has been defined as ambient, minimalist, graceful, sweet and relaxing: “a glass of red wine on a summer evening”, as he himself defines it. Recently, he released an EP – “Viandanze” a small preview of the entire full album that will be registered in 2009. In 2007, on the “Music Center” label, he released his debut CD, “Viaggi in Aeromobile” (Aircraft Trips): a delicate and elegant album that catapults the listener into the intimate world of the artist where he willingly allows himself to be transported by a sound of rare beauty. /> Born in Mantua, Fabrizio started playing the piano at the age of 6. After many years studying classical music, he started perfoming with a number of bands, playing everything from progressive to hard rock, from jazz to pop. It was not until the end of the 90s that he decided to explore new musical paths, concentrating on the piano, the instrument that best expresses his inner world.”

Viandanze is a free download from the title="Fabrizio Paterlini - Viandanze" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Fabrizio_Paterlini/Viandanze_EP/">Free Music Archive.

title="Evgeny Grinko MySpace" href="http://www.myspace.com/evgenygrinko">Evgeny Grinko – Cinematic Melodies

Genre: minimalism, composed

width="300" height="310"> name="movie" value="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf"/> name="flashvars" value="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/4421.xml"/> name="allowscriptaccess" value="sameDomain"/> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://freemusicarchive.org/swf/playlistplayer.swf" width="300" height="310" flashvars="playlist=http://freemusicarchive.org/services/playlists/embed/album/4421.xml" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" />

From his FMA profile: “Evgeny Grinko aka Greendaizer is best known for his work as a drummer for several Moscow-based underground bands, namely V.O.M., WOGULOW TAROUTZ VERMO, and MONROE’S PILLS. «I once did an arrangement of Joy Division’s song Love Will Tear Us Apart for a Military Brass Band. I changed a bit their original. So, it sounded somewhere between ska-music and fast-tempo military march. We performed it at a street festival and it was just great! I’ve been dreaming of my own Street Orchestra since that time…» – says Greendaizer.”

Cinematic Melodies is a free download from the title="Evgeny Grinko - Cinematic Melodies" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Evgeny_Grinko/Cinematic_Melodies_EP/">Free Music Archive.

title="Chan Wai Fat Homepage" href="https://sites.google.com/site/chingfatproject/">Chan Wai Fat – Children of Soul Mountain (Original Soundtrack)

Genre: folk, soundtrack

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From his FMA profiles: “Chan Wai Fat is a musician from Hong Kong. He is a self-taught musician in his early year. (…) composed this original soundtrack for the play CHILDREN OF THE SOUL MOUNTAIN (LING SHAN) inspired by the daoist pilgrimage in Gao Xingjian’s Nobel winning novel SOUL MOUNTAIN (LING SHAN). [He] visited the minority tribes along part of the Ling Shan path, resulting a re-interpretation of two traditional folk songs and seven new compositions with a mix of native recordings. This album is a selection of songs from the play, sung by elderly blind folk singer Po Sun-yi. Sun-yi was born and raised in Guizhou. This is the same region of southwestern China where composer Fat visited the Ling Shan Path and where Shamanistic customs and traditions still flourish.”

Children of Soul Mountain (Original Soundtrack) is a free download from the title="Chan Wai Fat - Children of Soul Mountain (Original Soundtrack)" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Chan_Wai_Fat/Children_of_Soul_Mountain/">Free Music Archive.

title="Blue Sausage Infant Homepage" href="http://bluesausageinfant.com/">Blue Sausage Infant – Confessions of a Rogue Taxidermist

Genre: experimental, melodic, drone

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From the project’s FMA profile: “BLUE SAUSAGE INFANT is the work of Chester Hawkins of Washington DC. Since 1986, BSI has produced music that combines aspects of noise, drone, Krautrock, sample-plundering, dark ambient, and kosmische electronica to produce a multi-layered feast for the brain. Hawkins describes his music as “mean-spirited euphoria,” a complex breed of long-form psychedelia with a hint of paranoia to augment the bliss.”

Confessions of a Rogue Taxidermist is a free download from the title="Blue Sausage Infant - Confessions of a Rogue Taxidermist" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Blue_Sausage_Infant/Confessions_of_a_Rogue_Taxidermist/">Free Music Archive.

title="Spinnaface Homepage" href="http://www.spinnaface.com/">Spinnaface – Music For The People

Genre: disco, electronic, funk

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From his homepage: “Spinnface first stepped on the scene in 2007 with his debut song & video Spinnface. Since then he has independently released 2 full length albums and over 58 original tracks. (…) Spinnface’s diverse sound meshes a wide variety of genres to create his own unique style that has been described as “an 80s vission of what dance music might sound like in the future, super-smooth liquid digital funk” – Jason, FMA Admin (…) Spinnface is 100% independent! Just a man with an all chrome face who loves to make music, party and keep it spinnin!”

Music For The People is a free download from the title="Spinnaface - Music For The People" href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Spinnaface/Music_For_The_People/">Free Music Archive.

New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available title="Past Editions of Sound Sunday" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/soundsunday/">here.

Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/intro_soundcloud_300px.jpg" alt="" />Discovering a new artist, album or record label that corresponds with your tastes and expectations can be a rewarding experience. These golden discoveries can be few and far between and that’s where I turn to using a few extra tools to help hone in on the music I love.

We first featured href="http://www.soundcloud.com/">SoundCloud on MakeUseOf initially href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/music-in-the-soundcloud/">back in 2008, and while the core service largely remains the same; much has changed. If you’ve been wondering what SoundCloud is, whether you can make use of it and what makes it so special then read on to find out why you should probably have been using this free service all along.

Follow The Music

The service operates much in the same way as href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/twitter">Twitter whereby, once registered, you can follow other users and receive notification of new activity in your stream. The process really doesn’t get more complicated than this, and once you’ve followed a few users then your stream will begin to look fairly busy.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/dashboard_soundcloud.png" alt="" width="579" height="355" />

Along the top of the page is the main navigation, including your Dashboard (essentially a stream), You featuring all your activity, including comments made, favourites and so on, Tracks which is a quick way of exploring music on offer (now includes a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-creative-commons-projects-pay-attention/">Creative Commons option), People for finding other users and Groups. You can of course search for music, though you’re probably better going by tags for specific genres.

width="100%" height="81" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F28395070&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=f71200" /> width="100%" height="81" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F28395070&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=f71200" allowscriptaccess="always" />

Listening to music via SoundCloud can provide an oddly visual experience. For starters, each track is represented by a waveform with comments layered on top. Comments are tied to specific points in the song, and will be displayed accordingly for future listeners. Much of the time whilst using the service I find myself transfixed by the waveform and fairly amused by the barrage of comments, especially near a drop.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/tags_soundcloud.png" alt="" width="579" height="366" />

Comments are not only somewhat amusing but also a great way of discovering other artists you may like. If you notice someone is frequently passing comment on music you’re fond of then why not see who else that user is following.

The player itself really has come a long way since our last profile of SoundCloud, and there are a wealth of options for each song. As well as sharing with a lot of social networks, clicking “Like” to favourite the song and of course adding a comment, it is also possible to buy or download the song (depending on what the artist has stipulated) and even href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/embed-mp3-player-website">embed the player within a website.

I’ve taken advantage of this here to bring you a few choice cuts from the service, and to demonstrate a great way of sharing your favourite tracks with those not currently using SoundCloud.

style="text-align: center;"> width="100%" height="81" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F9243449&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=f71200" /> width="100%" height="81" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F9243449&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=f71200" allowscriptaccess="always" />

SoundCloud Mobile

By far one of the best ways of using the service is via one of the mobile apps. Both the Android version and SoundCloud for iOS received updates recently, and whilst I can’t really speak too much for href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/android">Android, the updated app I’m running on my href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/iphone">iPhone is better than ever.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/soundcloud_ios.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="320" />

The recent iOS update finally added the viewing of comments during playback and refreshed the UI. Your followers’ activity in both versions is now constricted to the Stream tab with any sounds you choose to record or share going in the Activity tab. As you’d expect, the iPhone version continues playback in the background without a hitch (some apps still don’t do this) and you can skip and pause from your homescreen.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/control_soundcloud_from_homescreen.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="480" />

The only thing that the mobile version really lacks is the ability to download tracks, though if you really like a track that much you can favourite it and download it the next time you’re near a PC. The mobile SoundCloud experience is generally a faster and more pleasant way of checking your stream, and I’d thoroughly recommend it.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/now_playing_soundcloud_iphone.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="480" />

Download: href="http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/soundcloud/id336353151?mt=8">SoundCloud for iOS @ App Store /> Download: href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.soundcloud.android&hl=en">SoundCloud for Android @ Android Market /> View: href="http://m.soundcloud.com/">SoundCloud Mobile (Web)

Other Ways To Get Your ‘Cloud On

SoundCloud really has been growing for a long time now, and as a result there are a lot of ways to use the service. Mac OS X users who are running 10.6 or later can jump right in and download href="http://soundcloud.com/apps/soundcloud-desktop">SoundCloud Desktop, directly from the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/mac-app-store/">Mac App Store. The interface somewhat resembles iTunes and the software is ideal if you’re thinking of streaming SoundCloud for a party.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/soundcloud_desktop_app.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="313" />

There are further add-ons and plugins for the href="http://soundcloud.com/apps/soundcloud4ps3">PS3, href="http://soundcloud.com/apps/boxee">Boxee and href="http://soundcloud.com/apps/roku">Roku. In addition to this there are a wealth of apps that take advantage of the SoundCloud service. If you’re fond of mobile music making apps like the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-app-review-imaschine-powerful-portable-groove-sketchpad-ios/">recently featured iMaschine or href="http://soundcloud.com/apps/ims-20">KORG’s iMS-20 then you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find out you can share your creations straight to SoundCloud simply by logging in using your chosen app.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/export_to_soundcloud_imaschine.jpg" alt="" width="320" height="480" />

SoundCloud’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/api-good-technology-explained/">API has spawned literally hundreds of additional ways to use the service, be it creating an online presence using your taste in music, setting up a trigger to href="http://www.ifttt.com/">Tweet your uploads using If This Then That or simply sharing a rough loop or two with your followers.

View: href="http://soundcloud.com/apps">The SoundCloud App Database

style="text-align: center;"> width="100%" height="81" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> name="src" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F28878460&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=f71200" /> width="100%" height="81" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F28878460&show_comments=true&auto_play=false&color=f71200" allowscriptaccess="always" />

Finally…

Who exactly is SoundCloud good for? Well aside from being an awesome tool for you and me to quickly discover new music, SoundCloud is also great for artists and record labels, particularly smaller ones.

My SoundCloud favourites are populated mostly by tracks from obscure artists, some just starting out, who I would never have discovered were it not for the service. Similarly, many of these artists and producers would never have received the same level of exposure had it not been for SoundCloud.

So there’s your final reason to sign up, download and wallow in the SoundCloud service. If you’d like to share any tracks, your profile or artists in the comments then go ahead.

Do you like SoundCloud? Have you used it for a while? Noticed the mobile updates? Post your thoughts in the comment box below.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/intro_megaman_8bit.jpg" alt="video game music" />Chiptune is a fairly broad term used to describe music that has been programmed to play on old, often 8bit sound chips from days of yore. The term can also refer to modern examples of video game music, with artists like Anamanaguchi rocketing to fame complete with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/visual-boy-advance-game-boy-advance-emulator-multiple-platforms-windows-mac-linux/">Game Boys in hand.

Much like MIDI files, chiptune tracks are often just sets of instructions that tell the chip what to do and when to do it. Purists will always tell you to listen to the track on original hardware, though it’s unlikely everyone has a href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-great-crossplatform-emulators-5-classic-computer-platforms/">Commodore 64 or Amiga 1200 just lying around (guilty parties, raise your hands).

Here are some of the very best tools, resources and other websites to immerse yourself in the bleep-boop world of chiptune.

Chips ‘n’ Dip

In order to enjoy the unbelievable amount of chiptune music that has made it onto the world wide web over the years you’ll either be needing the original hardware and programs required for playback (for the seriously dedicated) or some href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/emulation/">emulation software to do the job for you.

style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr"> width="500" height="375" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SAnFLgThTgo?fs=1&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Many mainstream media players such as href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/itunes">iTunes and Windows Media Player are not suitable for chiptune files as there are many exotic filetypes associated with this kind of music. href="http://support.xmplay.com/index.php">XMPlay is probably one of the finest examples for Windows users, and even users running Linux should have some href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-about-some-wine-with-your-linux/">success using Wine.

It supports a large number of formats including various chiptune filetypes, and more plugins (for greater compatibility) and skins are available at href="http://www.un4seen.com/">Un4seen Developments. Users who fancy an alternative can also turn to href="http://www.chipamp.org/">Chipamp which is a chiptune plugin pack for Winamp, again suitable for Windows users.

style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr"> width="500" height="375" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yJ4CaHqR4XI?fs=1&feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>

Mac OS X and Linux (also Windows) users will have some success with href="http://www.bannister.org/software/ao.htm">Audio Overload, a tool designed specifically to emulate vintage sound chips from old computers. Whilst it doesn’t play everything it certainly covers a lot of the bases. If you’re interested in playing music from href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/play-arcade-games-pc">old arcade ROMs then the same author has produced a tool for the job href="http://www.bannister.org/software/m1.htm">called M1. For that all-important .XM file support on Mac or UNIX based systems then href="http://mikmod.raphnet.net/">MikMod does the job too.

The Music

Some of the songs featured on the websites below are in MP3 or streamable Flash form, so even if you don’t fancy grabbing specialist software you’ll at least be able to enjoy a few bleeps and boops!

href="http://www.chiptune.com/">Chiptune.com

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/chiptune_com.png" alt="video game music" width="580" height="440" />

Not only is Chiptune.com one of the greatest resources for all manner of retro sounds, but the website has been designed to imitate Workbench, the original AmigaOS. The result is a faithful and nostalgic interface that boots and behaves like a real Amiga.

The music is stored within the Chipbench 1.3 folder, and by far the most efficient way of browsing or downloading whole collections is via the FTP link (unless you’re a fan of closing a lot of windows all of the time).

Even if you don’t download anything this website is worth a poke around for old time’s sake.

href="https://8bc.org/">8bitcollective

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/8bitcollective.png" alt="free video game music" width="580" height="430" />

Who said chiptune was dead? Not me, for I have seen 8bitcollective – a site dedicated to creating, discussing and sharing electronic noises. The music provided on this site appears to be MP3 only, so you can stream each song before deciding whether you want the free download or not.

It may disappoint some that original filetypes are not available, though don’t despair – there’s a lot of music available and all of it is completely free. I’d hazard a guess that much of the music found on 8bitcollective is fairly recent, though that’s not to say retro equipment or samples haven’t been used.

href="http://www.8bitpeoples.com/">8bitpeoples

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/8bitpeoples.jpg" alt="free video game music" width="580" height="337" />

This collective formed in 1999 through their shared passion for video game music and an urge to bring chiptune to the masses, for free. The href="http://www.8bitpeoples.com/discography">discography page is where the treasure can be found and features music from various artists still producing this type of music today.

The website is regularly updated with news and new material, so check it out for 8bit happenings where you are in the world. The group are responsible for gigs and events around the globe and are currently preparing for the Australian Blip Festival in February 2012.

href="http://modarchive.org/index.php?query=54&request=search&search_type=genre">The MOD Archive – Chiptune

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/modarchive_chiptune.png" alt="free video game music" width="568" height="446" />

Nearly 2,000 separate entries make up this rather untidy list of chiptune downloads that mostly come in .XM format. There are also thousands of other files that make up The MOD Archive’s swelling archive of downloadable music, so check it out and see what you can find.

One thing that’s particularly nice about this site is that each download page offers up suggested software for listening to your chosen tune.

href="http://chiptunes.back2roots.org/">chiptunes.back2roots.org

style="text-align: center;">  class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/back2roots_chiptune.png" alt="video game music" width="577" height="294" />

Another fairly old website that features thousands of files to peruse and download. Alternatively you can simply download the lot in a click (the entire MOD archive comes in at 76.5MB, with an additional 5.5MB of Adlib files and 6.3MB of the YM variety).

Other Resources

The following sites aren’t repositories of files or chiptune-dedicated sites but might aid you in your search for warm fuzzy noises.

href="http://www.kohina.com/">Kohina (Radio)

Kohina is a simple radio station that serves up retro video game music 24/7. Prepare to play spot-the-tune as you encounter genuine sounds from some very old games!

href="http://www.di.fm/chiptunes/index.php">Digitally Imported – Chiptunes (Radio)

Digitally Imported, or DI.fm as it is more commonly known, is easily one of the best online radio services on the web. Now you can chiptune whenever you want, simply by tuning in to their “Chiptunes” radio station. If you really love the service you can go premium for higher bitrates.

href="http://soundcloud.com/tags/chiptune">SoundCloud – tags/chiptune

SoundCloud is a fantastic resource for streaming video game music from a wealth of devices. Why not stumble around the chiptune tag to see if there’s anyone worth following?

Conclusion

There are literally thousands of files here for your perusal – some tagged, some just arbitrary strings of numbers and letters, so I’m not exaggerating when I say if you like chiptune you’ve struck gold with these websites. If you do discover any awesome tunes then don’t hesitate in sharing them with us, below.

Do you like chiptune? Any favourite websites? Any favourite artists or songs? Have an 8bit party in the comments!

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/rightalign1.png" alt="bizarre videos" />With the advent of href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/video">online video, it’s never been easier to record a song, make a music video of it, and then put it out on the Internet. However, some of the stuff that makes it out there is just different.

Fortunately, I’ve found four videos for you to check out that are unique, well-crafted (well, most of them are), and very interesting to watch. So make sure your title="How To Meter & Manage Computer Bandwidth Usage" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/meter-manage-computer-bandwidth-usage/">bandwidth is clear, because here are four of the most bizarre music videos found on href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/youtube">YouTube.

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hcVleGxx40">Basil Marceaux – “Come Christmas”

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5hcVleGxx40" frameborder="0" width="580" height="325">

I just really want to go ahead and get this out of the way. The chorus of this title="5 Last Minute Christmas Gift Ideas In Case You Get Stuck" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-minute-christmas-gift-ideas/">Christmas tune, which states “Christmas turns me on,” over and over, is not sexual in in any form or fashion. To be honest, I don’t think the original creators would have intended any innuendo, but it is still awkward all the same.

Perhaps you may remember href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hvaeHllwtw">Basil Marceaux (dot com), the infamous candidate for governor of Tennessee (my home state) that had a rather interesting spot on a local news station about an half-an-hour from where I live. Well, it turns out that Mr. Marceaux decided he would make a home-grown Christmas video last year, and I’m sharing it with you just in time for the holidays.

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMrN3Rh55uM">The Guild – “Game On”

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xMrN3Rh55uM" frameborder="0" width="580" height="325">

Felicia Day is definitely one of my favorite actresses (she’s just real), and she has a web series called “The Guild” that you might have heard of. The show is centered around her group of gamers for an online title="3 Ways To Prepare For The New Star Wars MMO [Gaming]" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-prepare-star-wars-mmo-gaming/">MMORPG – pretty cool idea.

The Guild will occasionally make music videos, and this one may very well be my favorite. Done completely in a Bollywood style, this video brings out the joy of gaming with an Indian flair. It’s not bizarre because it’s bad, but it’s bizarre because of its concept.

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLAEg5aTXAE">Rhett and Link – “The Perfect Bathroom Trip”

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sLAEg5aTXAE" frameborder="0" width="580" height="325">

Rhett and Link are probably the finest Internetainers out there, and they actually have quite a few music videos already out there. There are their epic rap battles, and then their song about pillows. However, this one takes the cake for being the most bizarre.

Bent entirely on describing the perfect bathroom trip, Rhett and Link serenade fellow YouTube star Julian Smith as he takes care of his business and during the events that follow after. Seriously, it’s terribly awkward. Oh, and iJustine makes an appearance in the water closet.

href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1P38oxSuA8">J. Kap – “I Owe?”

src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/C1P38oxSuA8" frameborder="0" width="580" height="325">

J. Kap, who’s “just an artist living in the basement of his parent’s home” seems like an interesting guy, and I can relate to his worries of finances – it’s hard to choose between doing what you love and diving into something that is considered stable. Both are great choices, but they each have their pros and cons.

However, I don’t think I’d actually make a music video about my money situation. One, it costs a lot to make a music video, and that could be used elsewhere. Two, I guess I just like dealing with my title="Get Paid For Your Opinions By Completing Online Surveys For Paid Viewpoint" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/paid-opinions-completing-online-surveys-paid-viewpoint/">financial issues myself. However, J. Kap did, and you can watch it right now.

Conclusion

I love music videos, but there are a lot of crazy ones out there, and these are exclusive to the Internet. They are all fairly well done (save for Basil), but they are just bizarre!

What other bizarre music videos on the Internet do you know about? What do you think of the ones shown here?

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_logo.jpg" alt="grooveshark music" />Grooveshark has been a personal favourite music streamer for a few years now, particularly since Spotify took half their music offline to non-subscribers and nerfed the free membership. That’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-ways-improve-grooveshark-music-experience/">not to say that Grooveshark is perfect- far from it. The interface has been in need of an update for a while, and finally the service has a new lease of life. Gone is the single, crammed page with umpteen scroll bars and at-times laggy response – Grooveshark just evolved! So is it any good?

Looking Good

The biggest change to Grooveshark is the multiple-page layout you’re now forced into using, which is definitely for your own good. Instead of having your music always to the left of what you’re listening to, it now appears on the My Music page. Friends and other users you follow now appear on the Community page, and Searchis fairly self-explanatory.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_navigation.png" alt="grooveshark music" width="424" height="204" />

The new Explore page is somewhat exciting, as it offers something Grooveshark has never really had before – a way of discovering new bands, artists and songs you may like (but more on that later). Each of these sections is easily accessible regardless of what you’re doing thanks to the new persistent navigation bar at the top of the page. It’s tremendously fast at switching sections even on the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-lightweight-linux-distributions-give-pc-lease-life/">ageing Linux laptopI’m using for this review. The main issue with the old Grooveshark interface was the clutter and by splitting these sections up the developers have made the website a nicer place to be and sped the whole experience up a notch.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_playlist_area.png" alt="listen grooveshark" width="580" height="202" />

The playlist area appears rather untouched, and remains tricky to scroll using the mouse pointer alone (though obviously, it’s a cinch with a scrollwheel). I particularly like the fact that the playlist now collapses and snaps to a smaller version instead of forcing a square album-art view (though to be honest with you I might just never have noticed that feature before).

Discovery & Sharing

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-free-ways-discover-music-online/">Music discovery has been properly introduced in this version of Grooveshark, and it’s a great relief to finally see it implemented. Much of my previous Grooveshark use would revolve around me already knowing exactly what I wanted to listen to before visiting the service, and the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-online-radio-stations-to-get-your-music-fix/">radio servicenever really did it for me. In essence developers have added a whole new reason to visit the website and use their service – and this is most definitely a good thing.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_explore.jpg" alt="listen grooveshark" width="580" height="274" />

The Explore page is split into three sections – Featured, Popular and Stations. The latter two aren’t too interesting, with Popular listing the most popular tracks and artists on Grooveshark right now and Stations being a portal to the radio feature which plays randomly from a genre. The Featuredpage lists both artists and new releases that the Grooveshark staff have deemed worthy of being in the spotlight. Hovering one of these new releases displays that enticing “play” logo and clicking adds the release to your playlist without moving you around the website. This is progress, as it takes only a few minutes of clicking before you’ve got hours of new music to listen to.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_explore_full.jpg" alt="listen grooveshark" width="580" height="346" />

Once you’ve found something you like you’ve now got the option of pinning it to your pinboard, as well as the usual href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/groovylists-itunes-playlists-to-grooveshark/">add to playlist/library options you know and love. The pinboard appears on the My Musicpage and provides quick access to subscriptions, radio channels and of course anything else you fancy pinning there. Aside from this small addition, your music library won’t look much different from what you remember, and it works – so that’s a good thing.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_my_music_page.png" alt="download from grooveshark" width="580" height="278" />

Last but certainly not least there is now a faster way of sharing the music you love with friends and social networks. By clicking on a song and dragging it to the right a new menu appears with options for adding that song to your music, favourites, a playlist or a selection of social channels including Twitter and Facebook. It’s not going to change the world but it works fairly well (so does right-click).

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_hover_to_share.jpg" alt="download from grooveshark" width="409" height="441" />

The Problem With Grooveshark…

I never expected a simple interface update to solve what I consider to be the main issue with the Grooveshark service: the mess. I won’t dwell on it too much but I’m referring to dud music listings, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-ultimate-guide-to-fixing-your-music-collection/">bad metadataand incomplete albums or EPs. Artists appear multiple times, with multiple spellings. Some albums have repeat tracks or are missing most of the listings and the search often suggests “helpful” phrases which lead you to aforementioned erroneous results.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_bad_metadata.png" alt="grooveshark music" width="474" height="288" />

This should be the next phase for Grooveshark – the cleanup. The service is free, granted, but Grooveshark do actually charge a fee for access to Grooveshark Anywhere (the only way to ‘shark on the go) and Grooveshark Plus (ad-free) – neither of which I would consider with the library in its current state.

Conclusion

Grooveshark’s new interface and features are very much welcomed but you’re going to have to contend with the usual mislabeled messy collection whilst using the service. It’s not a dire affair, and once you’ve started to build up a music collection it becomes less of an issue. It is very nice to finally have a proper discovery section thanks to the Explore page, and overall the interface is smoother and far less claustrophobic so well done Grooveshark. What do you think of the new Grooveshark interface and features? Does the library bother you? Anything you’d like to see added to the service in future? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_logo.jpg" alt="grooveshark music" />Grooveshark has been a personal favourite music streamer for a few years now, particularly since Spotify took half their music offline to non-subscribers and nerfed the free membership. That’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-ways-improve-grooveshark-music-experience/">not to say that Grooveshark is perfect- far from it. The interface has been in need of an update for a while, and finally the service has a new lease of life. Gone is the single, crammed page with umpteen scroll bars and at-times laggy response – Grooveshark just evolved! So is it any good?

Looking Good

The biggest change to Grooveshark is the multiple-page layout you’re now forced into using, which is definitely for your own good. Instead of having your music always to the left of what you’re listening to, it now appears on the My Music page. Friends and other users you follow now appear on the Community page, and Searchis fairly self-explanatory.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_navigation.png" alt="grooveshark music" width="424" height="204" />

The new Explore page is somewhat exciting, as it offers something Grooveshark has never really had before – a way of discovering new bands, artists and songs you may like (but more on that later). Each of these sections is easily accessible regardless of what you’re doing thanks to the new persistent navigation bar at the top of the page. It’s tremendously fast at switching sections even on the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-lightweight-linux-distributions-give-pc-lease-life/">ageing Linux laptopI’m using for this review. The main issue with the old Grooveshark interface was the clutter and by splitting these sections up the developers have made the website a nicer place to be and sped the whole experience up a notch.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_playlist_area.png" alt="listen grooveshark" width="580" height="202" />

The playlist area appears rather untouched, and remains tricky to scroll using the mouse pointer alone (though obviously, it’s a cinch with a scrollwheel). I particularly like the fact that the playlist now collapses and snaps to a smaller version instead of forcing a square album-art view (though to be honest with you I might just never have noticed that feature before).

Discovery & Sharing

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-10-free-ways-discover-music-online/">Music discovery has been properly introduced in this version of Grooveshark, and it’s a great relief to finally see it implemented. Much of my previous Grooveshark use would revolve around me already knowing exactly what I wanted to listen to before visiting the service, and the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-online-radio-stations-to-get-your-music-fix/">radio servicenever really did it for me. In essence developers have added a whole new reason to visit the website and use their service – and this is most definitely a good thing.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_explore.jpg" alt="listen grooveshark" width="580" height="274" />

The Explore page is split into three sections – Featured, Popular and Stations. The latter two aren’t too interesting, with Popular listing the most popular tracks and artists on Grooveshark right now and Stations being a portal to the radio feature which plays randomly from a genre. The Featuredpage lists both artists and new releases that the Grooveshark staff have deemed worthy of being in the spotlight. Hovering one of these new releases displays that enticing “play” logo and clicking adds the release to your playlist without moving you around the website. This is progress, as it takes only a few minutes of clicking before you’ve got hours of new music to listen to.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_explore_full.jpg" alt="listen grooveshark" width="580" height="346" />

Once you’ve found something you like you’ve now got the option of pinning it to your pinboard, as well as the usual href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/groovylists-itunes-playlists-to-grooveshark/">add to playlist/library options you know and love. The pinboard appears on the My Musicpage and provides quick access to subscriptions, radio channels and of course anything else you fancy pinning there. Aside from this small addition, your music library won’t look much different from what you remember, and it works – so that’s a good thing.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_my_music_page.png" alt="download from grooveshark" width="580" height="278" />

Last but certainly not least there is now a faster way of sharing the music you love with friends and social networks. By clicking on a song and dragging it to the right a new menu appears with options for adding that song to your music, favourites, a playlist or a selection of social channels including Twitter and Facebook. It’s not going to change the world but it works fairly well (so does right-click).

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_hover_to_share.jpg" alt="download from grooveshark" width="409" height="441" />

The Problem With Grooveshark…

I never expected a simple interface update to solve what I consider to be the main issue with the Grooveshark service: the mess. I won’t dwell on it too much but I’m referring to dud music listings, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-ultimate-guide-to-fixing-your-music-collection/">bad metadataand incomplete albums or EPs. Artists appear multiple times, with multiple spellings. Some albums have repeat tracks or are missing most of the listings and the search often suggests “helpful” phrases which lead you to aforementioned erroneous results.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/grooveshark_bad_metadata.png" alt="grooveshark music" width="474" height="288" />

This should be the next phase for Grooveshark – the cleanup. The service is free, granted, but Grooveshark do actually charge a fee for access to Grooveshark Anywhere (the only way to ‘shark on the go) and Grooveshark Plus (ad-free) – neither of which I would consider with the library in its current state.

Conclusion

Grooveshark’s new interface and features are very much welcomed but you’re going to have to contend with the usual mislabeled messy collection whilst using the service. It’s not a dire affair, and once you’ve started to build up a music collection it becomes less of an issue. It is very nice to finally have a proper discovery section thanks to the Explore page, and overall the interface is smoother and far less claustrophobic so well done Grooveshark. What do you think of the new Grooveshark interface and features? Does the library bother you? Anything you’d like to see added to the service in future? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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class="align-right" title="sound sunday" src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/recurring/sound-sunday.png" alt="free music" width="210" height="210" />Sound Sunday is an effort to share great free music and support independent artists. Independent musicians thrive on hearing their work is appreciated and they support their work with album and merchandise sales and touring. If you have anything to share, whether it’s a reflection on the music in this edition, a dollar for a great album, or a band or musician who has not been featured on Sound Sunday, yet, please contribute! You are most welcome to share your thoughts and post your feedback in the comments. I also welcome album suggestions and genre requests via email [tina at makeuseof dot com]. All input appreciated!

title="Matt Stevens Homepage" href="http://www.mattstevensguitar.com/">Matt Stevens – Relic

Genre: acoustic, instrumental, post rock, progressive rock

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=411765482/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

From the album press release: “Matt Stevens is an instrumental guitarist from North London. He has created a following online using Facebook, Twitter, Torrents, Forums and a network of enthusiastic Bloggers and Podcasters and viewers on Ustream for streaming online gigs. He has often asked his followers to copy and torrent his music to allow the audience to grow through word of mouth. (…) Matt Stevens release[d] his third album Relic on the 26th September, the follow up to the critically acclaimed Ghost. (…) It features guitar instrumentals with additional drums, bass, strings, glockenspiel and Mellotron. (…) The release of the album will be followed by live performances across the UK and beyond. Relic is released on Matt’s own label Spencer Park Music. Many of the songs were written during a period when Matt seriously injured his back and was confined to the floor of his home.” /> Matt’s music was previously featured on Sound Sunday with the title="Sound Sunday Edition August 7th 2011" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-awesome-free-albums-independent-artists-labels-sound-sunday-august-7th/">Spencer Park Music Label Sampler and his title="Sound Sunday Edition September 25th 2011" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/11-free-independent-music-albums-sound-sunday-september-25th/">previous album Ghost.

Relic is a name your price download from title="Matt Stevens - Relic" href="http://mattstevens.bandcamp.com/album/relic">Bandcamp.

title="And the Giraffe Homepage" href="http://www.andthegiraffe.com/">And the Giraffe – Something for Someone

Genre: indie, ambient, folk, psychedelic, post-rock

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=1673728683/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

From their title="And the Giraffe - Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/andthegiraffe?sk=info">Facebook page: “And the Giraffe is made up of best friends, Nick Roberts and Josh Morris. Together they make ambient dream-folk music and hope to continue doing so for as long as time allows.”

Something for Someone is a name your price download from title="And the Giraffe - Something for Someone" href="http://andthegiraffe.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp.

title="William Chaffin Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/#!/@kcmojobag">Vitae & The Pale Horse – 4 Track Recordings 12″

Genre: blues, folk, lo-fi, pop, rock

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3099686148/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

From the album description: “In 1993 the Tascam Porta02 Cassette 4-Track was a machine that would open up my musical world. Hours and hours and years and years of music was made on this machine. It was the machine that taught me how to write and record music. You learned by doing. You placed mics, double-tracked vocals, and overdrove the trim knobs to get effects. It forced you to be creative because effects weren’t a mouse click away. (…) I’ve left the mistakes on these tracks on purpose. I used minimal overdubs. All three songs were written and recorded in 3 hours. I spent an hour on each song. I worked fast and minimal like I did almost 20 years ago. This album is dedicated to my friend Ian Thomas. The man who taught me the beauty of recording on a 4-Track machine. RIP Hammond B.” /> Also check out the two other 4-Track Recordings albums released: title="Vitae & The Pale Horse - 4 Track Recordings Vol?.?2 12" href="http://vitaeandthepalehorse.bandcamp.com/album/4-track-recordings-vol-2-12">4-Track Recordings Vol.2 12″ and title="Vitae & The Pale Horse - 4 Track Recordings Vol?.?3 12" href="http://vitaeandthepalehorse.bandcamp.com/album/4-track-recordings-vol-3-12">4-Track Recordings Vol.3 12″. /> Vitae & The Pale Horse is a music project by William Chaffin, who was title="Sound Sunday Edition May 1st 2011" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-free-mp3-albums-download-sound-sunday-40/">previously featured on Sound Sunday with the album Ice Cold Dream by CV.

4 Track Recordings 12″ is a free download from title="Vitae & The Pale Horse - 4 Track Recordings 12" href="http://vitaeandthepalehorse.bandcamp.com/album/4-track-recordings-12">Bandcamp.

title="Yuni In Taxco Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/yuniintaxco?sk=info">Yuni In Taxco – Slow Charade

Genre: alternative, experimental, indie, pop, rock

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3967476198/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

Yuni In Taxco is the band of five guys from Seattle, Washington. From their title="Yuni In Texaco Last.fm" href="http://www.last.fm/music/Yuni+in+Taxco">Last.fm profile: “Yuni In Taxco’s music is a swirling blend of world rhythms, surf pop and rock. (…) Their debut full-length “Sanpaku” was released in February of 2011.” They announced on their title="Yuni In Taxco Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/#!/yuniintaxco">Twitter stream that they “have every intention of putting out 3 albums this year.” Slow Charade is number two.

Slow Charade is a free download from title="Yuni In Taxco - Slow Charade" href="http://yuni.bandcamp.com/album/slow-charade">Bandcamp.

title="Drunk Mule Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Drunk-Mule/145570852125671?sk=wall">Drunk Mule – Crash Test Y’self

Genre: alternative, indie, blues, rock

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=634121466/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

From their AmazingTunes biography: “Hailing from Glenrothes & Paisley in Scotland Steve Simpson & Rich Morris are Drunk Mule. We started writing & recording together in May 2010 & have amassed quite a hefty number of mule tunes since then. We just hope we get you dancin’ about yer place, get a wee toe or two a tappin’ or even put a smile on yer face. Cheers for givin’ us a few moments of yer time & hope you like our mulage.”

Crash Test Y’self is a free download from title="Drunk Mule - Crash Test Y'self" href="http://drunkmule.bandcamp.com/releases">Bandcamp.

title="Chilly Willy SoundCloud" href="http://soundcloud.com/chilly-willy">Chilly Willy – Feel Good Summer Jams

Genre: indie, electronic, beats, chillwave, funk, psychedelic, pop

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3335058241/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

From his SoundCloud profile: “Hey guess what I’m Chilly Willy and I make natural-sounding lo-fi electronic music. My goal is to make slappin’ beats that not only make you shake yo phat ass, but also touch your heart. And since I own a laptop, I also do mashup dance mixes, like Girl Talk.”

Feel Good Summer Jams is a name your price download from title="Chilly Willy - Feel Good Summer Jams" href="http://chillywilly.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp.

title="Crazy Atoms Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/#!/thecrazyatoms">Crazy Atoms – Human Relativity

Genre: alternative, indie, acoustic, folk, pop

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3698064645/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

Crazy Atoms is a minimalist folk duo comprised of singer/songwriter Deanna Quijada and title="Mark Alan Dooley Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/#!/markalandooley">Mark Alan Dooley, a guitarist, engineer, and publisher. They hail from San Diego, California and Human Relativity is their debut album.

Human Relativity is a name your price download from title="Crazy Atoms - Human Relativity" href="http://crazyatoms.bandcamp.com/">Bandcamp.

title="Breanne Düren Homepage" href="http://www.breannedurenmusic.com/splash_may.php">Breanne Düren – Sparks

Genre: alternative, pop

From her NoiseTrade page: “Breanne Düren remembers what it’s like to be a teenager. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that the singer, known to many as the female voice behind Owl City’s Adam Young on some of his most striking songs, was in high school herself, turning to music to give voice to her emotions. Now she has recorded songs that do the same for others, as she deftly displays on her debut EP, Sparks, due out May 3rd. Produced by Mike Daly (a former member of Ryan Adams’ band Whiskeytown who has worked with Rachael Yamagata, The Pernice Brothers, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals), Sparks showcases her self-assuredness as a vocalist and talent for crafting a unique blend of pop. It’s her passion for and acceptance of the swirling instability that comes with life in music that promises to serve Düren well as she begins what promises to be a long-lived career.”

Sparks is a free download from title="Breanne Düren - Sparks" href="http://noisetrade.com/breanneduren">NoiseTrade.

title="The Rockettops Homepage" href="http://www.rockettops.com/">The Rockettops – NoiseTrade Sampler

Genre: indie, pop, rock

From their title="The Rockettops Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/rockettops?sk=info">Facebook Biography: “We are four guys who want to play music, travel the world, meet people, have fun and maybe make someones life a little bit better along the way. We create Passionate Rock Indie-Pop by blending influences such as: Death Cab for Cutie, Coldplay, Muse and Radiohead to conjure a distinct, ear-friendly sound.”

The Rockettops’ NoiseTrade Sampler is a free download from title="The Rockettops - NoiseTrade Sampler" href="http://noisetrade.com/rockettops">NoiseTrade.

title="Lifescreen Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/lifescreenmusic?sk=info">Lifescreen – Connexions

Genre: alternative, rock, metal

style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=3095196445/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" frameborder="0" width="400" height="100">

From their title="Lifescreen Facebook" href="http://www.facebook.com/lifescreenband">Facebook profile: “Lifescreen are a power trio from Leeds, United Kingdom. Formed from the ashes of Nerve Engine, they have been honing their sound since early 2007. (…) With a natural, honest and highly energetic live show, Lifescreen have been swiftly building on a loyal fan base and winning over newcomers at every gig. With professional standard recordings, artwork and videos, they’ll continue hitting the road to spread the word.”

Connexions is a free download from title="Lifescreen - Connexions" href="http://lifescreen.bandcamp.com/album/connexions-2010">Bandcamp.

New to Sound Sunday? Past editions of Sound Sunday are available title="Past Editions of Sound Sunday" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/soundsunday/">here.

Feel free to get in touch with me [tina at makeuseof dot com] to share free material, suggestions, and feedback or simply add your comments below.

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class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/youtube-lyrics.jpg" alt="youtube tool lyrics" />Do you love watching music clips on YouTube? It has become real fun lately when more and more pop stars and groups have been creating official YouTube channels where you can find their latest music clips. But the fun doesn’t stop there. If you love listening to music, the chances are you love singing as well. While you can find millions of music clips on YouTube that you can watch, very often it’s hard to make out the exact lyrics.

That’s where the browser extensions we review today come in really handy. They allow you to listen to songs on YouTube together with href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/tag/lyrics/">lyrics.

Lyrics for Google Chrome™

href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/oglbipcbkmlknhfhabolnniekmlhfoek">Lyrics for Google Chrome™ is a fun Google Chrome extension that loads lyrics for the current song on request. Lyrics are automatically fetched from href="http://lyrics.wikia.com/">LyricsWiki™.

When you open a music clip on YouTube, notice the extension icon that appears in the Address Bar (omnibox). Click it to load the lyrics right next to the video and start singing!

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/youtube-lyrics-01.jpg" alt="youtube tool lyrics" width="550" height="388" />

If nothing was found in the database, you can do a manual search.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/youtube-lyrics-02.jpg" alt="youtube lyrics" width="339" height="127" />

The options page lets you choose whether you want to load lyrics next to the YouTube video or open it in a new tab.

The extension also supports: Last.fm™, Google Music™ and Grooveshark™

Besides, the extension adds lyrics quick search that lets you search for lyrics from the omnibar by typing “lyrics …” + a title, artist or a couple words from the lyrics.

Another great thing is that the extension is actively supported as the developer answers all the comments on the extension page and seems to quickly implement all the suggestions (full support is provided href="https://github.com/haampie/Lyrics-for-Chrome">here).

Obviously, it won’t fetch lyrics for any song under the sun, so it won’t always work. Besides, LyricsWikia isn’t licensed to display the full lyrics for some popular songs. However it ran pretty smoothly and found lyrics for most music clips I came across.

Here’s another similar extension that seems to be a little bit more simplistic: href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kggldhblikkmmnbkeococbeoaacgelkf?hl=en-US&hc=search&hcp=main">Lyrics for YouTube™

Music Video Lyrics for YouTube

href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hbegdicajmjmehcembhmpijdfdofobbh">Music Video Lyrics for YouTube is another similar extension that seems to have a bit smaller database of lyrics.

It installs an icon in the toolbar that signals when a YouTube page has some lyrics in the database (thus it saves you a few extra clicks as you only click the icon when it claims to have the associated lyrics).

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/youtube-lyrics-03.jpg" alt="youtube lyrics" width="300" height="128" />

It will also change the icon and load the lyrics even if you have opened the YouTube page in the background tab.

Clicking the icon will fetch the lyrics on the foreground of the page:

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/youtube-lyrics-04.jpg" alt="youtube tool lyrics" width="550" height="566" />

Unlike the first extension on our list, this one promotes itself more actively offering you to rate and share it each time it loads the lyrics.

Are there any other fun extensions for Google Chrome to offer that almost Karaoke experience? Please share them in the comments!

Other web-based applications to find lyrics we have previously covered at MakeUseOf:

• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/youlyrics-youtube-songs-with-lyrics/">YouLyrics: Listen To YouTube Songs With Lyrics
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/tubeoke-song-videos-with-lyrics/">TubeOke: Find Song Videos With Lyrics
• href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/lyrics-song-lyrics-with-video/">Lyrics.com: Song Lyrics With Videos

Image rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ninjaphoto.net/SixteenthNote/photo/478">NinjaPhoto

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