MagicRoadie.com. Taking the mystery out of stage technology.

All About Show CDs

Hi, everyone, and thanks for stopping by!

Having seen “show CDs” for hundreds of live events — magic, theatre, fashion shows, trade shows — I can tell you I’ve seen some really good CDs, and I’ve seen some truly atrocious CDs. Some have good sound, good organization, clear labeling, and good packaging. Others have a mish-mash of inconsistent levels, a few nasty pops & clicks, un-readable labels, and out-of-sequence songs, and aren’t recognized by some CD players. Well, as in all of the MagicRoadie.com articles, I’ll help you get on course by spewing some facts, dispelling some urban myths, and offering some personal opinions. I don't deal in hearsay, and I don't trust sporadically-supported anectotal evidence.

In this article, we’re gonna look at what you need to know, and what you need to do, in order to create professional show CDs with all your music and sound effects. We won’t touch on DVD, CD-ROMs or other similar-looking media. We also won’t go over how to use specific software or hardware, because there are too many different products on the market, but we will speak in general terms.

By the way, the article on "Cue Sheets" is the perfect companion piece to this one.

But Dan, I use a (insert name of wireless remote control system). Why should I worry about audio CDs?
Even if you’re using a Virtual Soundman, ShowTech, or StageCue with your own MD or MP3 player, ALWAYS bring a "Red Book compliant" audio CD as well (MUCH more on this later). If your MD or MP3 player is lost, stolen or damaged, you may need to rely on whatever CD player is handy. CDs are pretty cheap, so there’s no good excuse for not having a CD back-up.

This article concerns itself specifically with audio CDs, but many of the principles herein are fully transferable to MiniDisc (MD), and many even transfer to the use of an MP3 player, whether used with a stand-alone player or with a wireless remote control system like the Virtual Soundman, the ShowTech, or the StageCue. The main difference is that if you hand your show CD to a technician, you’d better be sure it’s well-organized, clearly labeled, and well-packaged, because you need to be taken seriously and you need to take every possible step to avoid confusion or miscommunication.

Legal Stuff
Before we even start, know that copyright laws protect all recorded music, and the use of copyrighted music is subject to permission from the copyright owners. (Thanks to my friend and magic mentor Bob Farmer for helping me trim my original two paragraphs down to that sentence. Check out his Bammo Monte Monster. It is EVIL!) For the ins-and-outs of copyright law, don’t rely upon hearsay, or on any exceptions or work-arounds you read about in online forums: Check out http://www.cmrra.com, http://www.socan.com, http://www.harryfox.com, http://www.ascap.com, or http://www.bmi.com, or the performing right organization in your country.

Media
“CD-R” stands for "CD-Recordable". A CD-R can be recorded onto only once: You can’t re-use the disc. “CD-RW” stands for “CD-ReWritable”. A CD-RW can be recorded onto more than once — kinda like a VHS tape. CD-RWs cannot be played in many audio CD players, so only use CD-Rs for your shows, because even if your CD-RWs run on your show player, you never know when you’ll need to use someone else’s CD player to run your show.
Only use CD-Rs that hold 74 minutes (650MB) of music. Other capacities are not as widely supported.
You may see “music” CD-Rs in the stores. These are for stand-alone CD recorders that hook up to your stereo and record in real time. When using your computer to burn music CDs, there is no difference between using a standard CD-R and using a “music” CD-R. Therefore, use standard data CD-Rs, because they’re cheaper.
Most "big name" CD-R manufacturers buy from other manufacturers and stamp their own logo on the discs. You may find that one batch from a particular brand works well with your burner, and the next batch doesn’t. This is most likely because they’re changed suppliers. Just find a brand that works well, and stick with that brand until it doesn’t work well any more. How's THAT for science?!!! Unfortunately, there’s no way for you to tell who made the CD, even though there are apps which claim to be able to tell: They’re a unreliable.

Red Book Compliance (You're gonna get SOoooo sick of those words!)
I think pretty-well every CD burner you can buy comes with software which will prepare your music for burning. The problem is that not every hardware/software combination will produce a “Red Book Compliant” product. The “Red Book” is the standard that defines the specifications for audio compact discs. By the way, you should also be aware that, while there is a standard (Red Book) for CDs, there are no such standards for the drives that play them! Therefore, despite our best efforts, not all CD players will play all CD-Rs. Kinda sucks, don’t it. Burning to Red Book compliance does, however, allows for compatibility with the widest variety of audio CD equipment. Be sure your software/hardware combination will produce Red Book compliant CD. To ensure this, make sure the software claims to be capable of Red Book output, and make sure your burner is on that software’s list of supported burners.

CD Audio (.cda) & MP3
Audio CDs store their music as .cda files (a Mac interprets these files as .aiff, and a PC as .wav). Therefore, burning your finished file to Red Book compliance outputs a .cda, and not MP3.
I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the huge differences between the sound of an original CD audio product and that of an MP3. Yes, there’s a difference, but it will not be noticeable in a performance room, with customer & staff noise, air conditioner noise, etc. Any difference you hear is due to the fact that you're using different playback equipment. You can use MP3s as originals, but be aware that converting a file from MP3 to .cda will not improve its resolution. Keep in mind that most people can't tell the difference between an MP3 at 160Kbps and the original .cda, and that’s in a side-by-side listening test! Play the MP3 on its own, in a room with ANY amount of ambient noise, and you will not hear any compromise. Remember that the Red Book burning process automatically generates .cda, so you don’t have to worry about it. I use Roxio’s “Toast with Jam” for burning, and it works just fine. “Toast” alone does not generate Red Book output.

Compiling & Recording
“Ripping” For our purposes, “ripping” is the process of extracting audio from a CD. There’s lots of software out there to rip from CDs. If your MP3s have a static sound in them, they may have been poorly ripped. The sound may be like static, or like a scratchy vinyl record. Not all MP3 converters are created equal, and I certainly can’t test all of them, so just try ripping a few songs with a given app. If the rips aren’t good, either, a) clean the dust and grime off the source CD, b) extract more slowly, c) extract from a different device, or, d) try a different specialized ripping app.
Compiling Audio Files From Multile CDs In order to create a Red Book compliant audio CD, you need to have all of the audio files available at the same time. The problem is that, If you need to copy songs from multiple CDs, it may seem that every CD from which you need to draw a song needs to be in a drive which your computer can see. For most of us—who have only one CD drive—that means we can only draw songs from one CD at a time. What you need to do, is put in one CD and copy the song(s) you need into a folder, then insert another CD and copy its song(s) into the same folder, and so on. When you're done, drag all of the folder's songs into your burning app. Remember that the reason for this is that it will allow for Red Book compliance.
Finding Sound Effects There are lots of decent sites on the Web that have free & legal sound effects, mostly in .wav format. .wav is a pretty universal audio file type which is very good-sounding. Just do a Web search for "free sound fx" download or something like that. You'll find tons of sites with everything from machine & animal sounds to thematic music loops. With a multi-track audio app (more on this later), you can even add sound effects on top of your music tracks.
Getting Sound Out of an Audio Source (CD player, etc...) To connect a CD player, MD player, turntable or whatever into your computer, you need to go from the source’s “line out” jack(s) to your computer’s “line in” jack(s). These will be, either, two RCA jacks (left & right), or a stereo 1/8” jack. Know that a vinyl turntable outputs a special kind of signal that is different from that of any other device in that there’s an “RIAA pre-emphasis”. Without getting technical about it, all you need to know is that you need to plug a turntable into a suitable “pre-amp” (stereo receiver or DJ mixer) and then plug that pre-amp’s line outputs into the computer’s line inputs. If your source doesn’t have a line out jack(s), you can use its headphone jack, but it's certainly not the best way to go, because it’s too loud for the line level input on your computer. If you really have to do it this way, make sure the volume control for the source’s headphone jack is as low as possible. Otherwise, you’ll hear massive distortion, and I imagine you could even damage your computer. For audio files you've edited, as long as all these files are still on your computer, you're set.9*6
Setting Record Levels in Your Computer There’s a TON of software out there that can facilitate the recording of the sound you’ve just plugged into your computer. In your app, set the input volume so that the sound is as loud as possible without "clipping". Using your playing source, play the track’s loudest passage, and adjust the software’s input volume control until the loudest parts are just below the allowable maximum. Any higher, and you’ll get distortion. Any lower, and you’ll introduce more background noise. Your app's manula should tell you how to do this.

Editing
Differing Levels from Song to Song When you create a compilation CD by gathering tracks from many different sources, you’ll usually find that each track is at a different volume level. This makes it very difficult for you, or your sound person, to run a smooth-sounding show. Essentially, two things contribute to the fact that one song sounds louder than another: Amplitude and average loudness. There are a few apps that will handle “normalization” and “average loudness” for you via menu functions (Izotpe's "Ozone" and Har-Bal are two). If you don’t have a suitable app, then the amplitude issue is usually pretty easy to deal with (see next paragraph), but without an automated app function, the average loudness issue is not for newbies (see second-next paragraph).
“Normalizing” Amplitude Normalization is the process of finding the highest peak (loudest part) in a waveform, then increasing the level of the entire waveform so the highest peak is at the maximum allowable volume. Normalization is a standard menu item in audio editing apps. You normalize a track before burning it. In most audio editing software, select the entire waveform and then select “normalize” from the menu. This will make sure the track is as loud as it can possibly be without risking distortion.
Average Loudness, The Hard Way If you don’t have an app which will take a stab at average loudness for you, then you need to read this paragraph. “Dynamic range” is the difference between the loudest and the quietist passages of a given track. In order to decrease the dynamic range of a track so that its “apparent” loudness is more similar to that of another track, it is necessary to make the quiet parts louder and the loud parts quieter. This is done with the use of an “audio compressor”. Audio compression is not for the faint-of heart, and, unfortunately, the theory & application of an audio compressor are FAR beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that if you’ve normalized your tracks and one track still sounds unacceptably louder than another, then you need the help of someone with professional audio experience. Most audio editing apps include a compressor, and you’re certainly welcome to try it, but be prepared that, for the uninitiated, it’s a conceptually — and practically — abstract tool. If you decide to try this, make sure you back-up your original file, because bad compression can really &*%# up a song!
Removing Vocals From A Recorded Song Sometimes, you may wish you could use the background music from a song, but get rid of the singer. There’s no perfect method for doing this, but it's possible to get close with some CDs. You see, most music is recorded with each instrument and each voice separated (the process is called multi-tracking) so that they can turn up the guitar or add echo to the voice long after they’re recorded. Then, in a final phase of the recording process, the independent tracks are “mixed” into a cohesive, blended package, and you can never actually re-separate the instruments. Your audio editing app may have a “Reduce Vocals” feature, the success of which will vary from song to song, and might even work well in one part of a song and poorly in another part of that same song.
Cross-Fades A "cross-fade" is a smooth transition from one track into another. While the first track is getting quieter, the next track is getting louder. Cross-fading doesn’t always sound appropriate, but you can try it. I imagine that all of the audio editing apps out there that will do cross-fades, and some burning apps do it to. Burning DAO will allow you to forego the 2-second gap so that your cross-fade happens exactly as you planned.

Burning
DAO vs TAO When burning, there are usually two choices: DAO (Disc-at-Once) and TAO (Track-At-Once) modes. Using Red Book compliant software will always yield DAO. DAO will also allow you, if you need to, to record a CD without the 2-second gap between tracks.
Finalizing The process of “closing” a burning session is called "finalizing". Red Book compliant software will automatically finalize every CD you burn.
How Many? Always burn a spare and take it with you. Carry it in a different place, though. For example, if one's in your briefcase, carry the other in your suit bag. That way, if one's damaged, the other may be okay. It’s probably best to burn the show on 2-3 different brands of CD, just in case a particular machine doesn’t like a particular CD. You know, while we're on the topic of carrying spare CDs, it would also be best to carry your own player that will play your CDs! A DiscMan-style palyer will suffice if you're tight for space. You'll also need a variety of cables to plug it into the venue's PA system. That'll mean four different cables to cover every possible mixer. The following list is based on the assumption that you're using a portable player with 1/8" live-level output. If not, just modify the list by changing the first part of each cable. • male 1/8" stereo to male 1/8" stereo • male 1/8" stereo to two (2) male 1/4" mono • male 1/8" stereo to two (2) male RCA • male 1/8" stereo to two (2) male XLR (3-pin)

Labeling CDs
What To Put On The Label There isn't really a standard, but think of the old vinyl records. Put your name, the running time of each track, the total "running time" of the show (how long it is), the track numbers, and a VERY basic descriptor of each effect. By "descriptor", I mean that it's not a good idea to use the name of the effect, beacuse your sound person won't know what a "Zombie Ball" is, but he'll understand the lay descriptor of "Floating Sliver Ball". Don't clutter the CDs label with contact info: That'll work better on the jewel case's paper insert. Use only as much text as necessary. Clutter is not your friend. Use a 100%-readable "sans serif" font like Arial. Don't try a cool font.; Cool = Harder to read. Make sure the label is white and the print is black, again, for readability. Make sure the look of your CDs is tres similar to that of your cue sheet, for ease-of-identification and for professional consistency.
Stickers Some label adhesives can damage some discs: even labels that are specifically made for CDs. Off-centre labels (even slightly off-centre) can throw the disc critically out of balance. CDs that are left baking inside a CD player can see their labels begin to peel off. Slot-loading CD players, like those found in cars, sometimes don’t like the added thickness of a label. If you use labels that are specifically designed for CD-R discs, you will “probably” be okay — For me, “probably” doesn’t put food on the table, so I don’t use adhesive labels.
Felt-Tip Markers Most CDs are fine if you label them with a Sanford Sharpie felt-tip marker (the regular, fine-tip model), and you can get felt-tip markers that are specifically for most CDs. As with labels, you will “probably” be okay — Again, “probably” doesn’t put food on the table, so I wouldn’t use markers for show CDs. Writing directly on the top of a CD with a marker is definitely safer than using an adhesive label, but it really doesn’t look pro. Whatever you do, don’t ever use anything with a hard tip, like a ballpoint pen.
Printable CD-Rs Your best bet is to buy “printable” CDs and a printer that will handle them. They’re both becoming more common, and aren’t really any more expensive than the usual stuff. This will give you clean, professional-looking CDs. When you buy printable CDs, be sure that you’re getting CDs suited to your printer (ie, ink-jet or laser, and not “thermal”)

Packaging
Just make sure you use professional-looking paper inserts in your jewel cases, that have the same info that's on the actual CD, and maybe some contact info. Don't hand-write the insert, and don't eliminate the insert altogether. As ever, the key word is "pro".

Portable Players
If you're using a portable CD player in your show (DiscMan-style) and you’re experiencing “skips” in the sound, disable the anti-skip feature.

Software
There are a few tasks you’ll need the software to perform, and although it will take more than one app to complete the project, you may find one app that will perform several of tasks. You may need the software to do more or less than what’s on the following list, but here goes.
An “audio extractor” to get the audio from the source, and maybe to convert it to or from MP3 or wav. A dedicated ripping app will work best, but iTunes or other MP3 players will also work.
A “mulit-track recorder/editor” to add sound effects or a voice-over, to make the track longer or shorter (by copying or deleting a few bars of music), to normalize the track, and to adjust for average loudness. If you don’t need to do any multi-tracking, then you may be better off with a standard editor because its interface will be less cluttered. Audacity is free, does a good job, and is available for Mac OSX/OS9, Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, and for Linux/Unix. Lots of software is available, and there is no “best” app: It’s a matter of preference & your specific needs.
A Red Book compliant “burning app”. If your burning app doesn’t tout that it’s Red Book compliant … it isn’t. This app will also, most likely, verify the burn after it’s done. Being a Mac OSX guy, I use Roxio’s “Toast with Jam”.

The Bottom Line
• Don't steal music. • Use quality media • Use CD-R, not CD-RW. • Use big name CD-Rs. • Use 74-minute CD-Rs. • Use printable CD-Rs. • Read the manuals for the apps and hardware you’re using. As ever, some software/hardware pairings don’t jive. • Normalize and adjust for average loudness. • Use a Red Book compliant burning app. • Test. Make sure your burning app verifies the burn. • Create professional-looking labels and jewel case inserts. • Take a duplicate CD as a spare, as well as your own player.

Thanks for your interest, and I hope this has helped

Dan McLean Jr
MagicRoadie.com