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Make Your Own Music Website
Because many visitors come here from search engines, and because the words " PS-04 " and "tutorial" appear on these pages, some have found their way here when looking for a tutorial on how to use the PS-04 . What follows is a coding tutorial for musicians who want to make their own music website. This page is not a PS-04 tutorial, but there is hope. The music page of this website has a brief tutorial about how to make your first recording. The cardmanager page has a tutorial on how to use Card Manager to import a track for jamming along to. You will also find a world of helpful information on the 2090 forum, mentioned at the bottom of this page, with a link.
Introduction
My name is Howard Lang, and I have been building websites for myself and others since 1997. If you do not have your own web page or website, I encourage you to make one. You may find this is an interesting addition to your music experience. When I say "website" I don't mean a listing at SoundClick or a page at MySpace. I mean a real web site like this one you are viewing now, where you have complete control over the content and how it is displayed. Of course it's more work than the two mentioned above, but the work is rewarding in the long run. It can cost as little as a few dollars a month for website hosting and domain registration.
What if you don't want to work so hard to make your own website, or what if you don't want to spend any money? The easiest way to do it is to go to Geocities, sign up for a free account, and use one of their page building programs to do all the work. Easy, yes, and they allow you to upload music files. But there are some limitations on file types and bandwidth. There are other free website services out there, but Geocities seems to have been around the longest, and some of the others prohibit media files. The ads on Geocities are very annoying to some. You can pay to have them removed, but you can get a better hosting deal elsewhere.
After you've built your site using a site builder, you might want to try your hand at coding html. You'll need to learn some of that to code your music onto your pages anyway, so might as well get your feet (or typing fingers) wet. My first html pages were hand-coded because I didn't know any better. Then I went through trying out countless what-you-see-is-what-you-get page making programs. Next I tried the page builders at Geocities - there's more about that on my site, Howard's Web Page Help (see link below). Finally, I have gone back to hand coding because I have more control over what I get. If you don't know how to code HTML, there are links at the bottom of this page to sites that teach you how.
When I hand-code and want to make a change to a page, I simply pull down the View menu, click on Source, and open the file as a text file. I edit the text file, save the change, and hit F5 to refresh and see what my change did. (Hint - make a copy of the html file before doing any editing - you'll be glad you did.)
If you find the information on this page useful, you might consider making a contribution toward the maintenance of this site. There is a donation button in the right column for that purpose. Thank you for your support.
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Web
If you already have a website and would like to put your own music on your own website, here are a few pointers which may help you and your listener.
Ever notice how on some music sites, you only have the option to "download" the mp3, or it simply says "song - mp3" or something like that?
If you have high speed internet (DSL or Cable Modem) you can click and listen. If you have dial-up, you need to download the song in order to hear it without your player stopping and starting.
More "user-friendly" sites have two (or more) links for each song. Usually, they have the typical download link, plus one or more links to play the music. The links may say "lo-fi" and "hi-fi" or they may specify "dialup" and "broadband" or otherwise tell you which is best for your particular connection.
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Bandwidth
When I only had a dial-up connection, I appreciated having the option to stream music at a low enough bit rate that the player did not stop and start. If you want to serve those with dialup, you should give the visitor a lower bandwidth option for streaming or downloading your music. Do this by making a separate lower bit rate mp3 (or a lower bit rate wma) and make a link to it in addition to the link to your regular 128Kbps mp3. My music page is an example of this.
Also, if you are using a free hosting service, serving your streaming audio at a lower bit rate can help prevent suspension of your account for exceeding bandwidth limits. If you are using a paid hosting service, part of what you are paying for is bandwidth. Having lower bit rate streams available helps prevent you from having to upgrade to a more expensive higher bandwidth account.
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Speed
Typical "hi-fi" recordings are 128/44, while "lo-fi" means anything below 96/44, most commonly, 32/22, or even as low as 22/11.
The last of these may sound a big like an "AM Radio," but they get the job done of a faster download. SoundClick has gone to flash player presentation of lo-fi and hi-fi streams. Before that, their .m3u files opened the streams in my WinAmp player. There, I could see that the lo-fi versions were recorded at 22Kbps, thereby enabling the "connectivity challenged" to listen to the song without too many stops and starts, and well enough to see if they want to spend 20 minutes downloading the music file.
Be careful if your file seems to take no time at all to play if that file is also on your computer. Your browser may be getting it from the hard drive, rather than from the website, and you may not know what others hear if they are on dialup. Best to ask someone to check it out for you.
In case you don't have that option, or are otherwise not convinced, I have recorded one of my 128/44 recordings ("Moody") playing off the web over a dialup connection. There are many stops and starts: about three or four seconds of music, followed by about ten seconds of silence. It would go on for over ten minutes in length, just to play a one minute recording off the web on dialup, so I have recorded only the first couple of minutes of it playing off the web. My 128/44 recording, as played over a dialup connection, is available here: lo-fi hi-fi .
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Codes
When this tutorial was originally posted, it contained a link to a text file which contained many codes you could cut and paste into your web pages. Because it is unpredictable how these codes will behave in all circumstances, I took the page off. In the help section below, are links to websites with more accurate instruction in coding music meta files.
update...
The following coding information has been provided by Christina of the dBpowerAMP forum:
______________________________
Streaming Audio Syllabus
by Christina
Once you've got your files in mp3 and/or wma format you have to deal with the streaming aspect.
Incidentally don't bother with the AAC (or .m4a) format, it's not appropriate at all for your purpose. That's an Apple proprietary format and won't stream from the server, for most people it won't even play in any way even downloaded, unless they have special programs and codecs.
I will just assume you don't have access to a streaming server. They are quite expensive. Nor worth the bother.
This is what you need to know to stream off of a regular server.
Real Media files always stream. That is Real Player or Real One automatically stream any .rm or .ra files from the web. You can also play them through a meta file which is prefixed by .ram. That's a text file and it acts as a playlist for Real Media files. It contains the actual real media file names (full path url) one per line.
For files meant to be played through Windows Media Player, they will stream when played through a Windows Media meta file: .wax for audio files, .wvx for video files and .asx for either. The meta file has a particular syntax which allows adding various other information that is displayed when the files are being played. Title, author, copyright, etc.
Once you use meta files on your server you may have to enable their MIME types, as often they are not part of the basic sever set up.
If your hosting control panel does not provide a tool for adding MIME types, then on a Linux server you can do it yourself easily by using an .htaccess file placed in the root which contains MIME type specifications like this:
application/smil smi smil
audio/x-ms-wax wax
audio/x-ms-wma wma
audio/x-pn-realaudio ram rm
audio/x-realaudio ra
video/x-ms-asf asf asx
video/x-ms-wmv wmv
video/x-ms-wvx wvx
You can add these lines at the top of the existing .htaccess file that may be already present in the root folder. Be very careful with this file. It may have content which controls access to your site and you don't want to overwrite it or destroy it. Make a copy of the original under a different name before playing with it.
The .htaccess file needs to be uploaded and downloaded by an FTP program using the ASCII mode so it's transferred as text. Start by downloading an existing .htaccess file from the server. If you don't have one make sure you are actually seeing all files, as it normally is a hidden file. It depends on your FTP program what you have to do to enable this.
If there is no .htaccess file already in the root folder on the server, you create one on the pc and edit it using Notepad. You may have to fool Windows as it may not allow you to create a file with this name (it's just an extension after all) so make a file called my.htaccess and upload that one, then rename it on the server to .htaccess .
For simplified discussions on meta files please see this: (links open in new window)
Songwriters-Chat on Streaming Audio
and
dBpowerAMP Forum on Streaming Audio
For more advanced information on Windows Media Player meta file content and structure, please see
Microsoft Library on Playlists
as well as
Microsoft Library on Meta Files
______________________________
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Hosting
If you don't want to go to the trouble to put lo-fi versions of your songs on your website, you can always register at one of the music hosting services that automatically does that for you. A good example is SoundClick.
Soundclick.com is used by many. You don't have the ability to make your own custom page like you do on Geocities, but you can put a link to your Soundclick page on your own page, and a link to your own page on your Soundclick page. There are advertisements on Soundclick pages, and artists' pages are made from the same template, so they all look alike. Anyone can listen, but you must be registered with them as a listener to download mp3's, so perhaps you already have a Soundclick account. Those registered as listeners, may create "band pages" for themselves. You can pay to add more available services. When you upload your .mp3 files, they are automatically converted to flash for hi-fi and lo-fi streaming playback. Only the song selected for playback is loaded in the flash player, so not all the comments about flash above apply. When you click on one of the links to listen to the stream, a popup window appears, and the flash stream is loaded in that window. You may elect to have your mp3's available for download. There appears to be no limit to the number of songs you can upload.
Purevolume.com is also advertising-supported and template-based, but does not provide lo-fi versions of your songs. As with Soundclick, you can pay to add more services, and, when you upload your .mp3 files, they are automatically converted to flash for playback. When you click on a song in the player window, which is located on your main page, the flash for that song starts to load. On dialup, there will be stops and starts until the song fully loads. As with Soundclick, you may elect to have your mp3's available for download. The listener does not need to be registered to download an mp3. You may place a link on your Purevolume page to your own web page, and vice-versa. Purevolume limits you to three songs with their free service.
Geocities may work for you initially, and you almost can't lose if you desire to gain experience making a web site. Bandwidth limits make it less than desirable for music, but they will sell you more bandwidth if you tend to exceed what you get for free. Ads may be removed by paying monthly at various levels. The rates are higher than for similar services available elsewhere. Read the many forums and review sites such as free-webhosts.com on free web hosting services. There are better deals out there, however Geocities is one of the oldest and seems to have every bell and whistle you could think of.
A word of caution about Geocities and other free services: many musicians like to place links elsewhere (such as on forums) directly to their music files. This is against the terms of service of most free website providers (they want people to see the ads - that's what pays for your site).
Acidplanet.com has free music hosting. It is less automatic than SoundClick, but has similar features.
update...
This, on acidplanet by Christina of the dBpowerAMP forum:
______________________________
Acidplanet allows you to upload and maintain 3 versions of any audio file - all with a miaximum 20MB file size. Two versions for streaming, one for download.
The first file uploaded for a new song must be in Windows Media format (.wma, .wmv or .asf).
The second file can be another Windows Media or Real Media format: .rm or .ra .
The third file, if uploaded, must be .mp3 - as that's the one offered for download.
You need not upload all 3 ffiles, having just the first one is enough, as it will be used both for streaming and for download.
The common way of preceeding however is to have the first file as a low bitrate wma since that's what is being streamed nornally. Then the second file then can be high bitrate wma or high bitrate mp3.
See
AcidPlanet on Uploading (link opens in new window)
As a viewer on AP, you can opt to use their WMP player which will play embedded on thei page, or your own played standalone. Theirs is very good (way better than Soundclick I think) but it doesn't allow playing with equalizer and other settings. But you can use your own WMP.
______________________________
Final Thoughts on Hosting
There are many paid hosting services out there. You may already be paying for web space and not know it: Your own internet service provider may have space available to you simply because you are a customer. Limitations will apply, and there is usually no help, templates, nor wizards. You may be able to use the ISP's "file manager" program, if they have one, for uploading. Otherwise, FTP clients such as WS-FTP work well, but Win-SCP is more secure. These FTP programs take a bit of practice to learn to use. With ISP-provided free hosting, the URL of your website will contain the ISP's address (such as xyz.com) with your name appended (such as xyz.com/~yourname).
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Closing
If this tutorial page has helped you, please email me and let me know. I encourage to "get your feet wet" and make your own website and put your music on it. You can email me directly by using the form on my contact page.
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Help Section (links open in new window)
Howard's Web Page Help:
http://www.humsites.com/wph/
Html Tutorials:
AUMHA on HTML
ComputerHope on HTML
UIUC on HTML
Music Embedding and Streaming:
Spartanicus on Streaming
Blogdrive on Streaming
dBpowerAMP on Streaming
If you came here from a place other than the 2090.org Forum, here is a link to that:
PS-02 and PS-04 Forums
Some recordings I made on my PC are available here:
Howard's Digital Music (opens in new window)
If you like online music stores, this is one of the best:
zZounds.com (opens in new window)
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Streaming
When I refer to streaming, I mean streaming an archived recording, also called progressive download. Real-time streaming of live events is something else entirely, as is pay-per-click, and will not be covered here. To allow a visitor to your website to hear recordings you have uploaded, you have to link to the file in your html code. You can place a direct link, or, if you want more control over how the music is played, you can link through a "meta" file, like an m3u or wax or asx.
These music meta files are supposed to get around problems of different browsers and different operating systems interpreting music streams improperly. Like many things about the internet, there are problems with some browsers interpreting these files properly, so use them with care. There are links below to sites that offer instruction on the construction and use of music meta links.
Even if you do learn how to use music meta links, you first need to check with your hosting service to see which file types are acceptable to upload. If you are paying a web hosting company to host your website, you will have more flexibility than if you are using "free" hosting service.
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For example, free Geocities does not allow you to upload a file with the extension .m3u, which is too bad if you want to use meta files to direct the visitor's browser to your music file. If you already have an mp3 file on your Geocities site, all you would need to do would be to make an m3u file, upload it, then put a link to it on your html page.
If you are on Geocities, you can use meta files for wma's but not mp3's. You need to make a .wma file and a .wax file, upload them both, then make a link to the .wax file on your html page. Clicking on the .m3u or .wax link would start the player and play the selection, just like clicking on the .mp3 link starts the download, but on Geocities, you can only use wax, not m3u files.
If you register with a free music service like SoundClick, all you need to do is upload your mp3.
If what I said above makes absolutely no sense to you, don't feel left out. I was that way when I started coding music pages.
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Flash
Some use flash to present their music. When a viewer clicks on the page where the links to play the music are located, the .swf file starts to load into their computer immediately. This will slow down page loading time for dial-up users. If multiple .swf files are presented on a page, all will start to download when the page is opened, further slowing the process. There are a number of flash-driven mp3 players available for you to embed on your page to get around this problem. Do a search on flash mp3 player and see what turns up. Also note, the visitor's computer must have Macromedia's Shockwave Flash or similar installed, but most do.
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Links
For the moment, let's assume you know how to create a text file, and that you also know how to write html as a text file, change the file extension to .html and have it instantly become a web page. If you know how to do that, you probably also know how to put a link on a web page. If you do not know how to do all this, there are links below to html tutorials. Follow those links to learn how to do what I just said.
In a typical page link, the "href" section points to a file with an .html extension. For a "listen" link, the "href" section points to a file with either a .wax or a .m3u, or other audio extension. (Wax and m3u files are text files, with the extensions changed from .txt to either .wax or .m3u, depending on what you want to create.) Don't worry if you are still lost. Keep reading.
If you click on a link to an mp3 file, depending on how you have your computer configured, either the mp3 starts to play (high speed internet connection) or you are offered the choice to download the file.
If you click on a wax or m3u file, the action is different, because these files are what are called "meta" files (they go in between you and the audio file).
What is supposed to happen, is that the meta file (the .wax or .m3u file) directs your browser to start your audio player program and load whatever .wma file or .mp3 file the .wax or .m3u file points it to. As I said above, that doesn't always happen with some browsers, so I have taken to simply providing a direct link to the mp3 or wma file and letting the visitor decide what to do with it. I also sometimes provide a meta file to play a whole list of songs. If the visitor's computer is not configured to use meta files, they can always click on each song individually.
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Uploading
If you can upload an .mp3 file to where your website is hosted, or if you already have an .mp3 file on the server, and you want to put up a music page where the viewer haves options when clicking on the link to your music file, there are ways to do that.
You can simply place a link to the file, or, if you want more control over playback, link to the file through a meta file.
If you are allowed to upload .m3u files, all you need to do is create an .m3u file, edit your music page so it also has a link to the .m3u file, then upload the .m3u and the revised page. When they click on the .m3u file, unless they have their computer set up in an odd way, the .m3u file will direct their Media Player to open and play the .mp3 file, rather than to download it.
If you are not allowed to upload an .m3u file, but you are allowed to upload a .wax file, all is not lost, because .wax files may be coded to start playback of media files. If you want, you can make a .wma copy of your .mp3 music file first, then make a .wax file that points to that. As with the .m3u, you put a link on your page to the .wax file. So you can have multiple versions of your song, multiple compression rates, and multiple ways for your visitor to play them.
Many audio programs will allow you to make .wma files out of .mp3 files. Winamp and dBpowerAMP are two of them. Winamp will also allow you to save a playlist as an m3u file. To do it yourself, just make a text file containing the full path (starting with http) to each song on its own separate line, save it, and re-name it with the proper extension - .m3u for mp3 files, .wax for wma files.
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