This question has come up with relative frequency, so I'm going to write the step-by-step directions to let you get your reference CD into your computer as .wav files or mp3 files.

These step by step directions are for converting a disc to .wav files, but the steps will be similar for converting to MP3 too.

Often a source of confusion is the .cda file.  On a windows computer, when you insert a RedBook Audio CD, the tracks show up as .cda files.  One might assume that these are the audio files on the disc because they are the only items that show up in the explorer window. . . that would be wrong.  The .cda files are merely placeholders pointing to a place on the CD that the song starts.  Think of them as what windows calls a 'shortcut'.

Monday, October 17 at 6:30 p.m. Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas George Strait, Dixie Chicks, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Asleep at the Wheel, and special guests Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani, Christopher Cross, Texas Tornados, Randy Rogers and Terri Hendrix will perform at Fire Relief: The Concert for Central Texas Oct. 17 at the Frank Erwin Center. “Friday Night Lights” Emmy® award-winning actor Kyle Chandler will emcee along with writer, actor and director Turk Pipkin.

Grammy U is the college student branch of The Recording Academy.  Today from 6:00pm-8:00pm by the UT Tower the Grammy U kickoff for Austin, TX will featuring DJ Spinderella.

Other Grammy U Kickoff events around Texas include:

Dear Music Community,

Please be sure to inform your colleagues whose livelihoods have been affected by the fires, to reach out to MusiCares, our non-profit entity of The Recording Academy.  MusiCares provides a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need.

MusiCares South Region  615.327.0050

Open House Friday, September 9th at 7p with Nick Landis

Our guest speaker this month is Nick Landis, Mastering Engineer at Terra Nova Mastering.

To start off the social, NIck will describe his experience of the music industry, and what it takes to stay successful.

Register to attend at the Recording Conservatory of Austin website.

Jitter is a time-based signal error.  Often misunderstood, this problem can range from subtle and nearly inaudible to loud and distracting.  Jitter can reduce low-level resolution (add noise) and add distortion.

In the past few months, we've had several requests for masters to be sent over the internet to the manufacturing plant.  DDP is the perfect format for this.  Many plants will give you FTP information to send the DDP master to their facility or a login to a webpage that you can upload the file.  I like this trend and recommend this for clients that have chosen replicators that accept DDP masters.

Today is my 6th Anniversary of being hired full-time at Terra Nova Mastering. As chance would have it, it’s also the birthday of a convenience store with a particularly famous (free on this day) frozen refreshment. I stopped in on my way home from work and treated myself to the drink. It always reminds me of middle school bike rides home from school. . .