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Make mp3s searchable

Rob

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Hi all, how would you approach this? I'm producing the audio simulation of a contemporary opera, and since deadline is very tight, I don't have the time to deliver a video of the scrolling orchestral score, as I usually do. I'm forced to send the sheer audio, in mp3 format.
However, the conductor needs to find his way in the audio file, in scenes that can be 400 bars each... I don't really know on which device he'll be listening, but I want to make the mp3 searchable, so to at least make rehearsal marks visible. How would you do that?
Any help appreciated, thank you!
 
I guess one solution could be to upload it as a private track on Soundcloud and insert notes as comments on the timeline.

He will be able to listen to it on any device and comments are timecoded.

You could do the same thing on youtube, by inserting comments with a timestamp
 
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I guess one solution could be to upload it as a private track on Soundcloud and insert notes as comments on the timeline.

He will be able to listen to it on any device and comments are timecoded.

You could do the same thing on youtube, by inserting comments with a timestamp
thanks Nico, that could be a way...
 
@Rob, Reaper does this automatically, if you set the markers correctly. I don't know if you use Reaper, but I will give you the steps:

  • Add markers and name them as "CHAP=Chapter Name" (without quotes). For example: "CHAP=Second Scene"; "CHAP=Ending"; etc.
  • On the Render pane, check the Metadata option for embedding.
  • Click the Metadata button if you want to add additional information.

The problem I see is that the person you will send the files needs to use a player that supports MP3 chapter metadata, which are mostly podcast players. There are many good ones for mobile devices, but I'm not familiar with desktop players that support that.
 
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@Rob, Reaper does this automatically, if you set the markers correctly. I don't know if you use Reaper, but I will give you the steps:

  • Add markers and name them as "CHAP=Chapter Name" (without quotes). For example: "CHAP=Second Scene"; "CHAP=Ending"; etc.
  • On the Render pane, check the Metadata option for embedding.
  • Click the Metadata button if you want to add additional information.

The problem I see is that the person you will send the files needs to use a player that supports MP3 chapter metadata, which are mostly podcast players. There are many good ones for mobile devices, but I'm not familiar with desktop players that support that.
Excellent advice, thanks! I do have Reaper, will sure try that. As you say, it then depends on the player the conductor will be using, and how familiar he is with the technology...
 
It is possible that all of the major players on Windows/Mac etc. support ID3 metadata by now. I'm no help here because I'm on Linux.

Reaper itself can test if the chapters have been embedded correctly, by using the Media Explorer. Just browse to the rendered file and check the waveform at the bottom, the chapter names should be overlaid.

If the conductor is unable to work this way, I guess the most foolproof approach would be to split every scene into multiple files. This can be done in Reaper using regions. You can convert the markers used previously to regions to speed up this step.
 
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