NEW tech. to enhance Dylan Web sites
B.T.
released (free for non-commercial use) a technology designed to make it
easy to annotate CD's on the Web. In other words, your Dylan Web page
could interface with CD-ROMs loaded with the music CD's of those who browse
your page.
This technology is perfect for Dylan Web pages. All of us who have CD
collections have a few of the central works on CD. You could explain the
real meaning of each verse of "Sad Eyed Lady of the Low Lands" as it plays
in your visitors CD-ROM (assuming they have a copy of the CD). I heard an
explanation of "Born In Time" recently as being about the letters of the
Apostle Paul. I wasn't convinced - but it was such a serious well-thought
out commentary that it was a joy to follow. Imagine how much fun it will be
to follow some of these musical and literary commentaries in synch to
Dylan's music.
To get the software for browsing and creating this Web/CD interfACE link
with Netscape to the Voyager WEB site and download it. It is an
extraordinarily well-done site.
The Voyager home page is:
If you want to go straight to the CD Link stuff:
http://www.voyagerco.com/cdlink/
I do not work for Voyager (although they do publish a CD-ROM of mine - If
Monks had Macs...)
Brian
Voyager Press release begins here:
------
Voyager CDLink Turns Audio CDs into CD-ROMs
July 12, 1995--Voyager announced today the introduction of the first
software to bring real-time, high-resolution audio on-line--Voyager CDLink.
Designed to work with a World Wide Web browser such as Netscape or Mosaic,
Voyager CDLink enriches audio CDs with interactive media available from the
Internet. All that is needed is access to the World Wide Web, a Macintosh
or
Windows machine, and a CD-ROM drive.
Using the technology is simple. Beginning July 12, 1995 one only has to go
to a Voyager CDLink site and insert an audio CD in the computer's CD-ROM
drive. Clicking on a "hot" link--text, images, graphics--will immediately
call up the referenced audio segment--flute solo, guitar riff or
impenetrable lyric (impenetrable until now, that is). With Voyager CDLink
there is no waiting for low quality audio to download, either--the music
plays immediately. Voyager CDLink makes an end-run around the bandwidth
bottleneck; that stack of discs gathering dust on the stereo represents a
bundle of high-resolution digital media that's already been delivered to
the
user.
Former Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek will explain why he loves X's classic
punk albums Los Angeles and Wild Gift. Tufts University music professor and
jazz pianist Michael Ullman will teach the ins and outs of Thelonius Monk's
Brilliant Corners. Users can read Spin magazine's reviews of twenty of the
best alternative albums, from Deee-Lite's World Clique to Peter Gabriel's
Us
to Sonic Youth's Dirty. Rykodisc's site features Jimmy Guterman taking
apart
Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom and putting it back together as well as
Bill Lantz dissecting Frank Zappa's Hot Rats. For users who want access to
even more content, Voyager's web site--http://www.voyagerco.com/cdlink--the
central Voyager CDLink location, will maintain a registry of all existing
Voyager CDLink sites.
Voyager CDLink breathes new life into the world of audio CDs. Music
writing--whether by critics, professors, or groupies--is transformed by
building music itself into the discussion. Artists can annotate their work
and illustrate individual points musically; record companies can add
enormous value to previously released content and rejuvenate their
libraries. Fans now have a whole new reason to buy audio CDs.
There's nothing to buy and no extra cost to the consumer. Voyager CDLink is
free to World Wide Web users and to non-commercial Internet sites.
Beginning
July 12, 1995 users can connect to http://www.voyagerco.com/cdlink to
download Voyager CDLink software and read documentation on using and
authoring CDLink pages. Use for commercial applications is subject to a
licensing fee.
Voyager CDLink will be launched at the Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street,
New York City on July 12th at 7:00 PM. Jointly sponsored by Rykodisc, SPIN
magazine, and the New Amsterdam Brewery, this premiere will kickoff the
Macintosh New York Music Festival.
About Rykodisc:
Based in Salem, MA, Rykodisc is one of the largest and most successful
independent music labels in America, recognized for its dedication to
diverse, high-quality music releases and innovative marketing strategies.
Founded in 1983 as the first CD-only label, Rykodisc's broad range of
activities includes artist development, re-releases, music publishing,
distribution, and now, interactive media.
About SPIN:
Read by nearly 3.5 million readers every month, SPIN is the freshest,
hippest, and most intelligently provocative voice in new music and youth
culture. Aimed at passionate music fans and trend-setting young adults,
SPIN
delivers award-winning editorial every month and has also established many
journalistic firsts--from handing over the editorial reins for the annual
Guest Editor issue (this year Jaron Lanier, the "Father of Virtual
Reality,"
is overseeing November's "Future" issue) to enclosing a free condom in the
magazine in a stand against AIDS.
About New Amsterdam:
While other microbeer producers have emulated New Amsterdam beers, none of
them has succeeded in creating a brew of the same quality and taste.
Craft-brewed and all-natural, New Amsterdam microbrews (Amber, Light, Ale,
Black and Tan, and Blonde Lager) are made from exceptional hand-selected
ingredients, and brewed slowly in small batches. Just as Voyager CDLink
will
set a new standard for audio access on the World Wide Web, New Amsterdam
sets the standard for microbrewery.
About Voyager:
Based in New York, Voyager is a publisher of high-quality interactive
media,
with over 300 titles in its catalog. Voyager cultivates and maintains close
relationships with authors, artists, filmmakers and educators who want to
express their ideas using electronic media, and collaborates on the
development of new forms, most recently the World Wide Web. Recent titles
include Laurie Anderson's Puppet Motel, Art Spiegelman's The Complete Maus,
Rodney Alan Greeenblat's Dazzeloids, This Is Spinal Tap, and The Residents
Freak Show.
Contacts: John Porter tel: 212-431-5199 por...@voyagerco.com
Paul Canter fax: 212-431-5799 can...@voyagerco.com
Mitch Gart
: The Voyager Company in association with SPIN magazine and Rykodisc has just
: released (free for non-commercial use) a technology designed to make it
: easy to annotate CD's on the Web. In other words, your Dylan Web page
: could interface with CD-ROMs loaded with the music CD's of those who browse
: your page.
[snip]
Thanks for posting this! Your EDLIS CD-ROM agent was not previously aware
of this technology but he has now downloaded it and is investigating.
It looks very interesting.
Mitch
Mitch Gart
Basically it lets you create a Web page that contains annotations -
pictures, text, and so on - for a music CD. The Web page can
display the visual information and control the playing of the music
at the same time. Pretty neat stuff.
Over the weekend both Tim Dixon and I seem to have had the same
idea. We both tried to make the first Dylan CDLink page. We
both did it for World Gone Wrong. Mine (still under construction)
is http://www.inmet.com/~mg/wgw/wgw.html and his (more polished)
is http://www.tmjfound.com/~sbroock/timdixon/wgwvcd1.html
Aside from both having the idea of doing a page for WGW,
it's interesting how much our approaches differ: Tim did *a lot*
with putting really beautiful graphics into his pages, and for the
main text he copied the album's liner notes. I concentrated on
the album's lyrics.
Has anybody else made CDLink pages for Dylan?
Mitch