The sound clips you will find on this Web site are approximately 30 second
extractions from the complete song as it may be heard on the original tape or
CD. In order to reduce your download time, they have been converted to "mono"
and the quality is reduced from what you will receive on the tape or CD. In
most cases, you will find the clips available in two different formats: Wave
(.wav) and MPEG Layer 3 (.mp3) files.
Both formats are the same snippet of music, only the format, size, and quality
differ. Usually the .mp3 will be smaller and of better quality
than the corresponding .wav file. The intent of these sound clips
is to provide you with an idea of the style of the music in order to assist
in your decision to purchase the full length and full quality CD or tape.
You will find links to the specific sound files on other pages of this Web
site. When you wish to listen to one of the sound clips, simply select its link
and answer any questions your browser may ask. Enjoy!
Are you having trouble hearing them?
On occasion, vistors have reported problems listening to the sound clips. If
you are experiencing problems, there are several possibilities to investigate
and the issues fall into two basic categories: quality and equipment.
Quality Issues
You hear sound, but it is choppy or stops and starts:
There are several possibilities, but the most likely is that you are using
Microsoft Internet Explorer as your browser. It seems to be particularly prone
to problem number 2 described below. The two likely reasons for this symptom
we have discovered are: (1) Your machine may be busy doing something else
at the same time you are trying to play the sound clip. Try stopping other
programs you have running and seeing if that helps. Also, note that most graphical
Web browsers only require a single "click" to activate a link. If you "double
click", you may be initiating two transfers of the same information,
causing yourself even more line clogging. (2) Your browser may be one of those
which tries to begin playing sound clips as soon as the file begins to arrive,
without waiting for the complete file to be downloaded. (This seems to be
a symptom experienced more often by MSIE users, but not by users
of Netscape and some other browsers.) If you are on a slow connection or if
there is an Internet bottleneck clogging the delivery of the file between
the server and your machine, the sound player will stop, then restart when
the next bit of the file arrives. This symptom may be aggravated by the use
of so-called "acceleration" software which goes out in the "background" and
fetches the files linked on the page you are reading, even if you have not
tried to select those links yet. Those files which were initiated but have
not yet completed may be vying for download time with the clip to which you
are trying to listen. In either of these cases, a possible solution is to
wait until all of the file has arrived at your machine, then replay the clip
(in your sound application, not by selecting the link again
in your browser) or to save the sound clip to your local disk and then play
it from that location after the download has completed. Of course, if this
problem is particularly irritating, you could try installing a different browser
and see if that helps your situation any.
Sound is of poor quality:
As was noted at the begining of this page, these sound clips are
of reduced quality to cut download time. The .wav file is likely
to sound "tinny", more like a voice on a telephone. The .mp3
should be of better quality, but still will not be of CD quality. Either should
be sufficient to give you an idea of the style of the music to be found on
the tape or CD and, thus, to assist with your decision to purchase. If the
sound is excessively poor, you may want to check the status of your equipment
to ensure that everything is working properly. Alternatively, you may want
to consider obtaining a new program to play the sound clips, since some programs
play certain sound formats better than others. See your computer consultant
or supplier for possibilities available to you.
Sound is distorted:
Distorted sound may indicate that your machine is busy with other processing
(perhaps even printing, fetching other Web files, or receiving a FAX). If
sound normally plays properly on your machine, try to terminate other activites
or wait until the machine is less busy to play the clip. If you have never
heard sound properly on your machine, it may be that your processor is too
slow or your memory is too small to accomodate the task of interpreting and
playing sound properly. Consult a local expert for a machine evaluation and
alternatives. (See additional information in the equipment issues section
which follows.)
Transfer takes too long:
While we have reduced the quality to try to save download time, these files
are still quite large. If you are able to receive "full speed" on a 28.8 modem,
you should still expect the transfer to take one and a half to four minutes.
If there is any Internet "clogging" between you and our server, this time
will lengthen. Of course, if your modem is slower, you will need to allow
extra time. Please be patient.
Equipment (Machine and Software) Issues:
No working sound card/speakers:
To hear music, your machine must have a working sound card and speaker hardware.
If you do not have these, consult your local dealer to determine if your machine
may be upgraded to include sound. If you do have them, but hear no sound,
check to be certain that your speakers are plugged into the proper jack on
your machine (if they are external), that they are plugged in (if external
power is required), and that the volume has been turned up (if they have an
external volume control.)
No sound software:
You need software (sometimes called a "driver") which is compatible with
your sound card hardware. Once again, your local dealer should be able to
assist you.
Software volume low or muted:
On many machines, the software includes a volume control and a "mute" feature
to turn off sound. Check to be certain that these are set properly.
No software to play these formats:
Each sound format requires particular software to be able to interpret what
is in the sound file and turn it into something which you can hear as sound
from your speakers. Sometimes this is stand-alone software and sometimes it
is a "plug-in" for your browser. Some application software can handle more
than one format. Once "plug-in"s are installed, they sometimes must be configured
into your browser so that it knows to use that "plug-in" to play the sound.
If your browser presents you with a window asking what program you want to
use to "open" the sound file, then you need to configure your browser (and
perhaps install some additional software). Consult your browser and machine
manuals for additional help.