Category Archives: iMovie / iTunes Audio Tutorials

How to Add Music to Your iMovie Project

iMovie is one of the applications included in the iLife suite for the Macintosh. It is an easy-to-use video editing software that even beginners can use without a problem. iMovie versions 2.0.3 and earlier can be installed in Mac OS 9, while iMovie 3 and later can only run in Mac OS X. There is also iMovie HD, which was released in 2005, to be used for editing high-definition videos.

Adding Music to Your Movie
While editing your home video in iMovie, you might also want to add music to it. Music, when done perfectly, adds more feeling and emotion to the movie. It also helps your edits to have smooth transition. There are several ways of adding music to your project in iMovie. The first one is through the use of the menu on the toolbar. Simply click on File > Import then browse through the different folders on the window that comes up to locate the desired audio file. Highlight the file and click Open to import the file.

File Import
The file types that can be imported to iMovie are those that also run in Quicktime, such as MP3 and AIFF files. Those unsupported file types may be grayed out in the folder to indicate that it cannot be imported to iMovie.

A new track is added below the video track once the audio file is imported. The current location of the playhead is where the imported audio will begin playing. So make sure that your playhead is positioned correctly in the timeline before importing the audio file. The mode will automatically switch to “timeline viewer” mode once the track is already added since audio can only be edited in the timeline.

Two Audio Tracks
iMovie allows you to work with two audio tracks at the same time. That is why you will notice a space between the video track and the audio track that was just created. When another audio file is imported, it will most likely overlap the previous track. This does not edit nor cut the overlapped track, though. You can click on the track and drag it to the gray space in the middle for you to be able to edit both tracks. When both tracks are turned on, i.e. the box to the right of the timeline corresponding to the track is checked, the two tracks will play simultaneously but at different levels depending on the settings done to each of the track. You can turn off a track by unchecking the box.

iTunes and iMovie
Another quick way of adding music to your iMovie project is by clicking on the Audio button on the iMovie media menu. Once Audio is selected, a list of all the files in your iTunes library will be displayed on the right side of your iMovie window (on top of the media menu). Position the playhead where you want the music to begin. Choose your desired music then click on the Place at Playhead button to add the music to your project. If you are unsure of which to select, you can preview the song by clicking on the play symbol button just below the list.

Drag ‘n’ Drop
Yet another quick way of adding music is just by simply dragging the audio file from the CD, folder, or your desktop and dropping it onto the timeline. This will automatically import the file and create a new track.

Working with iTunes – Part 1 of 3 (how to import)

Every music aficionado probably knows what iTunes is. Apple Computer launched iTunes during the MacWorld Expo San Francisco in 2001. iTunes is a media player and an application used to organize your music and video files. Although it is owned by Apple Computer, it can also be installed and used in NT-based Windows platforms, i.e. Windows XP, 2000 and Server 2003. Mac OS 9 was the first Mac version it was used with but the support for this platform was discontinued after iTunes 3.

iTunes also comes standard with all Apple iPods. iTunes is the application used to organize and upload music in iPods. The application can also connect to the iTunes Music Store where users can purchase digital music and video files to be played in iPods and iTunes.

Any user can easily learn how to use iTunes. Its features and functionality are not that complex that even a beginner can easily transfer and play media files with iTunes. Here are some basic tutorials on some of the functionalities of iTunes.

How to Import Your Favorite Music from a CD

It would be great to have all your favorite songs from different CDs be consolidated in just one music library, isn’t it? This task is possible and easily done with iTunes.

Insert the CD where you want to import songs from inside the disc drive. Once you insert the CD, iTunes will automatically come up. If not, just open it from your list of programs. When iTunes automatically comes up, it will immediately show you the list of songs in the CD. Alternatively, you can choose the CD title in the Source list to see the music files in the disc.

iTunes is capable of immediately knowing the contents of your CD because it has a database of different information about each song from the Compact Disc Database (CDDB). CDDB is an online service which has all song information or tags. If your computer is connected to the internet, iTunes will automatically connect to CDDB and search the database for the CD information.

With iTunes, you can just choose the songs that you want to import and not necessarily import the whole CD. There are checkboxes beside each song title in the list. Just select those that you want to import into your computer. Once you have checked all the songs you want to import, just click on the Import button on the upper right hand corner of the window. You can see the import progress on the viewer at the upper middle portion of the iTunes window. A wave symbol will be shown beside the title of the song being imported, while a check mark is shown when the song has already been imported.

Once done, you can now eject the CD from the tray by clicking on the Eject button on the lower right hand side of the window. From the Source list, choose Library to show all the media files stored in your iTunes music library. You should now be able to see those songs that you have imported from the CD in the iTunes library.

Music files from CDs are known to be large files. However, when those songs get imported into your computer through iTunes, they are automatically converted into a much lower yet reasonable file size. iTunes has the capability of compressing the music files as they are imported. The compressed, imported files are not necessarily of low quality. You may not even be able to distinguish a compressed song from that played from a CD.

You can also choose the compression technique that iTunes uses to copy and convert the songs. Just go to Importing preferences and choose the audio format from the list in the Import Using pop-up menu. You can choose among different formats such as MP3, AAC, AIFF, and WAV. MP3 can produce high quality sound with just a small file size. AAC can be even better in giving higher quality with smaller size; this is also the file format of songs that can be purchased from iTunes Music Store. AIFF and WAV, though able to produce excellent quality music, have large file sizes.

With iTunes, you can import all those songs from all your CDs. It would give you easy access to all your songs in just one music library. After all, you can store as much music you want in iTunes; you can have thousands of songs stored here and still have room for your other programs and files.Every music aficionado probably knows what iTunes is. Apple Computer launched iTunes during the MacWorld Expo San Francisco in 2001. iTunes is a media player and an application used to organize your music and video files. Although it is owned by Apple Computer, it can also be installed and used in NT-based Windows platforms, i.e. Windows XP, 2000 and Server 2003. Mac OS 9 was the first Mac version it was used with but the support for this platform was discontinued after iTunes 3.

iTunes also comes standard with all Apple iPods. iTunes is the application used to organize and upload music in iPods. The application can also connect to the iTunes Music Store where users can purchase digital music and video files to be played in iPods and iTunes.

Any user can easily learn how to use iTunes. Its features and functionality are not that complex that even a beginner can easily transfer and play media files with iTunes. Here are some basic tutorials on some of the functionalities of iTunes.

How to Import Your Favorite Music from a CD

It would be great to have all your favorite songs from different CDs be consolidated in just one music library, isn’t it? This task is possible and easily done with iTunes.

Insert the CD where you want to import songs from inside the disc drive. Once you insert the CD, iTunes will automatically come up. If not, just open it from your list of programs. When iTunes automatically comes up, it will immediately show you the list of songs in the CD. Alternatively, you can choose the CD title in the Source list to see the music files in the disc.

iTunes is capable of immediately knowing the contents of your CD because it has a database of different information about each song from the Compact Disc Database (CDDB). CDDB is an online service which has all song information or tags. If your computer is connected to the internet, iTunes will automatically connect to CDDB and search the database for the CD information.

With iTunes, you can just choose the songs that you want to import and not necessarily import the whole CD. There are checkboxes beside each song title in the list. Just select those that you want to import into your computer. Once you have checked all the songs you want to import, just click on the Import button on the upper right hand corner of the window. You can see the import progress on the viewer at the upper middle portion of the iTunes window. A wave symbol will be shown beside the title of the song being imported, while a check mark is shown when the song has already been imported.

Once done, you can now eject the CD from the tray by clicking on the Eject button on the lower right hand side of the window. From the Source list, choose Library to show all the media files stored in your iTunes music library. You should now be able to see those songs that you have imported from the CD in the iTunes library.

Music files from CDs are known to be large files. However, when those songs get imported into your computer through iTunes, they are automatically converted into a much lower yet reasonable file size. iTunes has the capability of compressing the music files as they are imported. The compressed, imported files are not necessarily of low quality. You may not even be able to distinguish a compressed song from that played from a CD.

You can also choose the compression technique that iTunes uses to copy and convert the songs. Just go to Importing preferences and choose the audio format from the list in the Import Using pop-up menu. You can choose among different formats such as MP3, AAC, AIFF, and WAV. MP3 can produce high quality sound with just a small file size. AAC can be even better in giving higher quality with smaller size; this is also the file format of songs that can be purchased from iTunes Music Store. AIFF and WAV, though able to produce excellent quality music, have large file sizes.

With iTunes, you can import all those songs from all your CDs. It would give you easy access to all your songs in just one music library. After all, you can store as much music you want in iTunes; you can have thousands of songs stored here and still have room for your other programs and files.

Working with iTunes – Part 2 of 3 (browsing and playing music)

continuing series of how to articles for iTunes software. This installment tells how to browse and play music.

How to Play Your Music

Once you have imported your favorite songs from the CD or have purchased them from the iTunes Music Store, you now have them in your library for you to play and listen to. With iTunes, you can just sit back, relax, and listen to your great music collection.

Once you have iTunes open, choose Library from the Source list to show all the songs in your library. Just select the song you want to listen to and click on the Play button on the upper left hand corner. If you want to adjust the volume, you can do so with the volume slider control just below the playback buttons.

With the iTunes display on the upper middle portion of the screen, you can see the title of the song currently playing, elapsed time, and a timeline. If you want to skip to a specific portion of the song, you can just click on any point on the timeline. If you want to skip to the next song, instead, you can do so by clicking on the Fast Forward button beside the Play button.

If you do not want to just listen to the song, you also have an option to “see” it. iTunes has a Music Visualizer which synchronizes with the song’s rhythm. You will surely enjoy this full-color light show while listening to your favorite music. If you want this Music Visualizer on, just go to Visualizer menu and click on Turn Visualizer On. To view your music library again, go back to the Visualizer menu and choose Turn Visualizer Off. Alternatively, you can quickly turn on and off the Music Visualizer with the Music Visualizer button on the bottom of the window just beside the Eject button.

You can also customize how the visualizer looks. You can choose a full screen size or opt for a much smaller window by resizing it. While the Music Visualizer window is playing, you can just press on the H key on your Mac keyboard to customize the window more.

For a real great listening experience, you can choose to connect a pair of high-end powered speakers to your Mac. With the use of an adapter cable, usually a mini-to-stereo RCA splitter cable, you can attach a home stereo system to your computer or iPod and enjoy to the great sound of your favorite music.

How to Browse and Search for Files in Your iTunes Library

Sometimes we feel the urge to some particular music. There are also times that we don’t know exactly what we want to listen to. Having hundreds or even thousands of music in your computer may be too overwhelming. With iTunes, browsing the music library and choosing the exact song you want to listen to is just an easy task.

If you want to browse the music library, choose Library in the Source list then click on the Browse button on the upper right hand side of the window. You will then have an Artist and Albums list. Just choose your desired artist from the Artist list and it will show the different albums of that artist that are in your music library. Choose the desired album to play and click on the Browse button again to return to your iTunes library where it shows the different songs included in the album selected.

Browsing by genre is also possible. To do so, go to the iTunes menu then select Preferences. Click on the icon labeled General and choose “Show genre when browsing,” and click OK. Once you click on the Browse button again, you will now see the list of different genre such as Pop, Rock, Country, Hip Hop, Jazz, etc, in the browsing pane to the left of the Artist list.

If you cannot see the whole album title or name of the artist from the browsing pane, you can adjust the right side of the pane. Just hover the mouse on the line separating the columns and it will change to a double-sided arrow. You can now adjust the line to the left or right to narrow or expand the viewing window, respectively.

On the other hand, if you know exactly the song you want to listen to and want to search for it, you can also do that easily with iTunes. Notice on the upper portion of the window, there is a search icon and a search box. Type the name of the song or just a part of it in the search box. Notice that with each word you type, the list populates more songs that somehow match your search criteria.

When you make a search, iTunes checks the Song Name, Artist, Composers and Albums fields. If you want an exact search, you can choose a category from where iTunes will do the search. You can do this by clicking on the search icon and select the desired category then type the search criteria in the field or search box. After making a search, you can go back to the iTunes library by clicking on the gray-and-white icon in the search field.

In the case that you upgraded iTunes from Mac OS 9 to the new iTunes 4 with Mac OS X, your music from the previous version may not be stored in the same place where the new version stores the files. It would be tedious to search for your desired song if your music are not found in a single location. To consolidate all your music files into just one folder, go to Advanced menu and select Consolidate Library.

iTunes also allows you to see how much hard disk space your music library has already consumed. When you have the Library selected from the Source list, you will see the total number of files you already have, their total running time, and the total combined file size of all the songs at the bottom portion of the iTunes window.

Working with iTunes – Part 3 of 3 (playlists and other apps)

The third installment of a three part series of articles on how to use iTunes software. This section deals with playlists and toher programs.

How to Organize Your Music Using Playlists

Organizing your music can also be done with iTunes. You can do this by creating different playlists that would correspond to every set of songs that you want to create. Using a playlist, you can select the songs you just want to play at a given time and choose their order as well depending on your preference.

To create a playlist, go to the File menu and click on New Playlist. A new entry on your Source list will be created. This entry will be an untitled playlist. Choose the untitled playlist and rename it to whatever that would best describe the songs in it. You can give names such as workout songs, relaxing classics, my hit list, etc. The possibilities are infinite.

Once you have created and named your playlist, choose the songs you want to add to the playlist from the library and drag them to the playlist. You can add as many songs as you want. As a shortcut, you can select all the songs you want to add at once by holding down the Command key (Ctrl key in Windows PC) while choosing the different songs and dragging the entire selection to the playlist.

To view the songs that you have just added in your playlist, choose the name of the playlist from the Source list. You can also change the order of the songs by selecting the song number and drag the song to the position desired.

A single song can also be added to multiple playlists if desired. To do so, just choose the song from your music library and drag it to the different playlists you want to add it to. If, on the other hand, you choose not to hear the song anymore, just deselect the song from your music library. Deselecting it from the library will also disable it from playing when the playlists it is included are played.

If you want to make your playlists play for only a specified period of time such as 30 minutes for your daily workout or as long as the movie you made, you can do so by getting the duration information for the playlist. This information is displayed on the bottom portion of the window as well as the number of songs in the playlist and the total size of the playlist.

Deleting a playlist is just like deleting any file. You just need to select the playlist from the Source list then press the delete key. This will only remove the playlist, and the songs which are included in the deleted playlist still remain in the music library.

How to Use Your Songs with Other Applications

iTunes is a part of the iLife suite by Apple Computer which also includes iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. These applications are developed to work together. The songs you have in your iTunes music library can all be used with any of the other iLife applications as well as applications in a Windows-based computer.

You can, for example, use your favorite song compilation as soundtrack of the family movie you are doing in iMovie. You can enjoy viewing the different photos you have just taken by adding background music from your iTunes library in your photo slideshow in iPhoto.

To add background music to your iPhoto slideshow, choose your photo library from Source list in iPhoto. Click on the Slideshow button to open the Slideshow Settings window. Adjust the number of seconds the image will show onscreen depending on your preference. You will see a Music option in the window, click on the box beside to select it and choose iTunes Library from the menu. Choose the song that you want to play as the background music. Once done, click on the Play Slideshow button to playback the slideshow project.

If you want to add a song from your iTunes library to a presentation you created in Microsoft PowerPoint or Keynote, you can do so in just a few easy steps. Choose the song you want to use from your music library in iTunes. Once the song is selected, go to File menu and click on Show Song File. A representation of the music file will come up in a new Finder window. Click the song file and drag it to the Keynote or PowerPoint slide where you want to add it to.

Your favorite songs in your iTunes music library are not limited only for your listening pleasure. You can have a wide range of possible uses of those songs in different applications in your Mac or Windows-based computer.