The Next Track - A podcast about how people listen to music today

Doug and Kirk take a look at common misconceptions people have about iTunes. iTunes is just a database. Show notes: * Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes * Kirkville * Missing Tracks and Stray Files * How to Set Up iTunes as a Minimalist Music Player Our next tracks: * Kirk: Vinyl . Album . Cover . Art - The Complete Hipgnosis Catalogue (Not released in the US until May 16.) * Doug: The Baja Marimba Band: Those Were The Days If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Dave Harrington of DARKSIDE and the Dave Harrington Group talks about music between genres. ... finding the space between genres... This week's guest: * Dave Harrington Show notes: * DARKSIDE * DARKSIDE: Psychic * DARKSIDE: Pyschic Live (DVD) * Other People * DARKSIDE Live Archive * The Next Track, Episode #7: Music and Genre * Dave Harrington on Soundcloud (live recordings and more) * Nicolas Jaar * Guitar Power ep. 2 * Bill Frisell: East-West * Daniel Lanois: Acadie * Dave Harrington: Become Alive * Jambands.com: Dave Harrington from Darkside to Dark Star * Miles Davis: Bitches Brew * Dirty Harry soundtrack * Dave Harrington Group: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari * Bill Nelson: Das Kabinett (The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari) * Dave Harrington: Burn Your Money Our First 100 Days by Our First 100 Days Our next tracks: * Kirk: Dawn of Midi: Dysnomia * Doug: J. Geils Band: Live Full House If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

We discuss the ten ways you can connect your computer to an amplifier or receiver. Show notes: * 10 Ways to Connect Your Computer to a Stereo * 1/8" headphone jack to dual RCA cable * Mini Toslink to Toslink optical audio cable * Digital coaxial audio/video cable * USB-A to USB-B connector * Behringer U-Control UCA202 * Episode #32 – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about DACs * Wharfedale Diamond A1 and A2 active speakers * Netgear Orbi mesh wi-fi router * Yamaha R-N301 * TP-Link powerline adapter * Rogue Amoeba: Airfoil One correction: the Apple TV 3 has a Toslink connector, but not a headphone jack. It has a square Toslink jack, that you can connect to another device with a standard Toslink to Toslink cable. Our next tracks: * Kirk: Bob Dylan: Triplicate * Doug: Kevin Ayers: Whatevershebringswesing If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

We talk with percussionist Colin Currie, who discusses performing and recording Steve Reich's seminal minimalist work Drumming. This week's guest: * Colin Currie Show notes: * Steve Reich: Drumming (the original 1974 recording) * Steve Reich's Clapping Music app * The score of Steve Reich's Drumming * Colin Currie Group Record Steve Reich's Drumming * Colin Currie Group at the Southbank Centre, London, May 5, 2017 * Steve Reich: Tehillim & The Desert Music Steve Reich's notes about Drumming: For one year, between the fall of 1970 and the fall of 1971, I worked on what turned out to be the longest piece I have ever composed. Drumming lasts from 55 to 75 minutes (depending on the number of repeats played) and is divided into four parts that are performed without pause. The first part is for four parts that are performed without pause. The first part is for four pairs of tuned bongo drums, stand-mounted and played with sticks; the second, for three marimbas played by nine players together with two women’s voices; the third, or three glockenspiels played by four players together with whistling and piccolo; and the fourth section is for all these instruments and voices combined. While first player the drums during the process of composition, I found myself sometimes singing with them, using my voice to imitate the sounds they made. I began to understand that this might also be possible with the marimbas and glockenspiels as well. Thus the basic assumption about the voices in Drumming was that they would not sing words, but would precisely imitate the sound of the instruments. The women’s voices sing patterns resulting from the combination of two or more marimbas playing the identical repeating pattern one of more quarter notes out of phase with each other. By exactly imitating the sound of the instruments, and by gradually fading the patterns in and out, the singers cause them to slowly rise to the surface of the music and then fade back into it, allowing the listener to hear these patterns, along with many others, actually sounding in the instruments. For the marimbas, the female voice was needed, using consonants like "b" and "d" with a more or less "u" (as in "you") vowel sound. In the case of the glockenspiels, the extremely high range of the instrument precluded any use of the voice and necessitated whistling. Even this form of vocal production proved impossible when the instrument was played in its higher ranges, and this created the need for a more sophisticated form of whistle: the piccolo. In the last section of the piece these techniques are combined simultaneously with each imitating its particular instrument. The sections are joined together by the new instruments doubling the exact pattern of the instruments already playing. At the end of the drum section three drummers play the same pattern two quarter notes out of phase with each other. Three marimba players enter softly with the same pattern also played two quarter notes out of phase. The drummers gradually fade out so that the same rhythm and pitches are maintained with a gradual change of timbre. At the end of the marimba section,

We welcome Andy Doe for another Ask Andy episode, where we discuss hi-fi equipment and speaker placement. "If you have a valuable disc, always use a brand-new needle." This week's guest: * Andy Doe * Proper Discord Show notes: * Episode #41 - Whatever Became of EQ? * The Master Set speaker placement system (PDF file) * Kirk's Doctor Evil chair (and cat): Our next tracks: * Kirk: Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music * Doug: Rolling Stones: 12 x 5 If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

We discuss bootleg recordings, live recordings, and torrents. “Once we’re done with it, the audience can have it.” Jerry Garcia Show notes: * Charles Dickens copyright * International Copyright Act of 1891 * Bob Dylan: Great White Wonder * Bob Dylan: The Basement Tapes Complete: The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 * Charlie Parker: Complete Dean Benedetti Recordings * Flick Lives has an archive of Jean Shepherd recordings for download * Bob Dylan: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live, 1966: The "Royal Albert Hall Concert" * Taping the Dead * archive.org * Wolfgang's Vault Our next tracks: * Kirk: Durutti Column: Domo Arigato * Doug: Plastic Ono Band: Live Peace in Toronto 1969 If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Chris Connaker joins us to discuss how music streaming service can make the next step. People just want to hear the song they want to hear. This week's guest: Chris Connaker of the The Computer Audiophile website Show notes: This week's guest: * Tidal * Deezer Elite * Qobuz * Spotify hits 50 million paid subscribers * SiriusXM radio * Pandora Our next tracks: * Kirk: Leon Redbone: Long Way from Home * Doug: Cactus: Cactus If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

We take a close look at playlists. What they are, where they came from, and what you can do with them. Show notes: This week's guest: * High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby * High Fidelity (movie) * Elizabethtown * Yamaha CD-C600BL 5-Disc CD Changer * The True Story of Audion * Search Results to Playlist script * Join Together app Our next tracks: * Kirk: The Clash: Super Black Market Clash * Doug: Mogul Thrash: Mogul Thrash If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Andy Doe joins us to talk about EQ. What is it, how does it work, do you need it, and where did it go? This week's guest: * Andy Doe * Proper Discord Show notes: This week's guest: * Equalization on Wikipedia * The Mysterious Loudness Control: What Does It Do? * How to tweak your sound in iTunes and on iOS devices * The Next Track, Episode #21 – Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Subwoofers Our next tracks: * Kirk: Grateful Dead: Morning Dew, 5/8/77, Barton Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY * Doug: Pink Floyd: The Wall If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Author David Sax talks about his book The Revenge of Analog: why people like vinyl, and why other analog technologies are popular today. This week's guest: * David Sax, The Revenge of Analog: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/revengeofanalog/ Show notes: This week's guest: * My review of The Revenge of Analog * The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz * Do Vinyl Records Sound Better than CDs? * Discogs Our next tracks: * Kirk: Harold Budd: Perhaps * Doug: Kirsty MacColl: Tropical Brainstorm If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Doug and Kirk discuss storing a media library on a network-attached storage device. We focus on using a NAS with iTunes, but there's some useful information for those using a NAS with other media software. Show notes: * WD MyCloud EX2 * Plex * Doug's Launch at Login applet * How to map a network drive on Windows Our next tracks: * Kirk: John Cale: Fragments of a Rainy Season * Doug: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Jukebox Explosion If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Chris Connaker went to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. He reports for us on new audio equipment and the MQA music format. This week's guest: Chris Connaker of the The Computer Audiophile website Show notes: * Chris Connaker's Long Strange Trip * Chris's overview of his visit to the CES * Pandora is available in the US, Australia, and New Zealand * The Next Track, Episode #6: What Is High-Resolution Audio? * Chris's 2014 article High Resolution Audio Isn't Coming Soon From Apple * Mastered for iTunes (PDF) * MQA website, Wikipedia * Steve Jobs' Thoughts on Music, from 2007 * Klipsch, The Three * The Revenge of Analog, by David Sax * AudioQuest Dragonfly Red DAC Our next tracks: * Kirk: Genesis - Seconds Out * Doug: The Bomboras: It Came From Pier 13! If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Mac writer Rob Griffiths tells us how to efficiently rip DVDs and Blu-Rays. This week's guest: * Rob Griffiths Show notes: * The Committed podcast * The Complete West Wing on iTunes (in HD) * Revisiting ripping Blu-Ray discs * Detailed instructions for installing the transcode-video tools * Pioneer Slim External Blu Ray Writer BDR-XD05B * MacGo Blu-Ray Player * MakeMKV * HandBrake 1.0 * VLC Media Player * transcode-video * Installing transcode-video * Difference Between Mp4 and M4v * Change Videos from Home Movies to Movies, TV Shows or Music Videos in iTunes * iFlicks 2 * Hamlet, by the Royal Shakespeare Company * A deep dive into HandBrake and Video Transcoding * WD My Passport 4 TB portable hard drive Our next tracks: * Kirk: King Crimson * Doug: Public Image Ltd. - Album If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Andy Doe returns to discuss how music consumption has changed in this era of fragmented media. "We are the acquisitors." This week's guest: * Andy Doe * Proper Discord Show notes: * Chris Anderson: The Long Tail, Free Our next tracks: * Kirk: Pink Floyd: Animals * Doug: Corey Harris: Greens From the Garden If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.

Musician and developer Peter Chilvers discusses making apps with Brian Eno, including the new generative music composition Reflection. "Imagine lots and lots of theremins looping back at you..." Show notes: * Peter Chilvers' website * Ten years working with Brian Eno * Generative Music website with Peter's apps Scape, Bloom, Trope, and Air * Kirk's review of the Reflection CD and app * Kirk's 2013 review of Four apps for making ambient music on your iOS device Note: Peter Chilvers' explanation of the Reflection app's pricing, which comes in around the 23-minute mark, is a brief recording he made after the show because he was unsatisfied with the way he replied to the question during the recording. Our next tracks: * Kirk: Brad Mehldau: Blues and Ballads * Doug: Homer & Jethro: Country Their Way - 36 All-Time Greatest Hits If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or your favorite podcast app, and please rate the podcast.