About the "Listen" CD Set

Once you have your copy of the CD set for "Listen", you may want to rip the CDs to your computer, so you can listen to them more conveniently, or even copy the tracks to an iPod or similar device for portability. Here are a few tips to make that run smoothly:

  1. The "bit rate" at which you copy a CD has a great deal to do with the overall sound quality. The lower the bit rate, the lower the quality (although the smaller the resultant files.) If you're ripping in mp3 format, I recommend about 256 or 320 kbps. If you're ripping in AAC or WMA formats, you can probably get by at 256 kbps -- although there are going to be some definite losses. For those of you who really demand finest audiophile quality, use one of the 'lossless' formats -- FLAC and Apple Lossless are common. Keep in mind, though, that the files are going to be *very* large.
  2. Before pressing the "Copy CD" button in your software, make sure that the track listings are useable. Most software uses an online database like Gracenotes to look up track listings, but those may not be all that correct or even ideal for your use. It's well worth your time to spend a certain amount of time making sure that each track lists the composer's name and the name of the piece, so you can find it easily.
  3. Some of the longer selections are split up into multiple tracks on the CD; that's so you can find various places on within the selection easily. It doesn't cause any problems on a CD -- which moves seamlessly from one track to the next -- but heard on a portable player or a computer, sometimes there's an obvious gap between the tracks (depending on your playback software). Therefore, it's best to re-join those tracks back together before you copy the CD. Most music-playing software can do this, although be advised that you usually need to do this before ripping the CD. In iTunes, you select the tracks in question, then select "Join CD Tracks" from the "Advanced" menu. (I haven't used Windows Media Player in a while, but I don't remember this as being an available feature.) Here are the tracks which need to be joined on the current 6-CD set:

CD 2

  • Bach Brandenburg Concerto #5, 1 (tracks 1 - 5)
  • Mozart Symphony No. 40, I (tracks 16 - 21)
  • Haydn Symphony No. 95, I (tracks 22 - 24)
  • Haydn Symphony No. 95, II (tracks 25 - 29)
  • Haydn Symphony No. 95, III (tracks 30 - 32)
  • Haydn Symphony No. 95, IV (tracks 33 - 36)
  • Mozart Concerto in A, K. 288, I (tracks 37-41)

CD 3

  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5, I (tracks 5 - 13)
  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5, II (tracks 14 - 15)
  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5, III (tracks 16 - 17)
  • Beethoven Symphony No. 5, IV (tracks 18-19)

CD 6

  • Bartók: Music for Strs., Perc. & Celesta (tracks 2 - 8)
  • Prokofiev: Alexander Nevsky (tracks 9 - 10)
  • Ligeti: Lux Aeterna (tracks 12 - 15)
  • Reich: Music for 18 Instruments (tracks 17 - 18)
  • Saariaho, From Grammar of Dreams (tracks 19 - 21)

CD 4

  • Berlioz Fantastic Symphony, V (tracks 2 - 8)
  • Verdi Aida, Act IV, scene ii ( tracks 9 - 12)
  • Wagner The Valkyrie, Act I, scene i (tracks 13 - 18)
  • Chaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet (tracks 19 - 30)

CD 5

  • Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, III (tracks 1 - 6)
  • Mahler: Symphony No. 1, III (tracks 7 - 14)
  • Debussy: Clouds (tracks 15 - 20)
  • Stravinsky: Rite of Spring (tracks 21 - 27)
  • Berg: Wozzeck Act II (tracks 30 - 34)
  • Ives: Second Orchestral Set (tracks 35 - 36)
  • Ravel: Piano Concerto in G, I (tracks 37 - 41)
  • Copland: Appalachian Spring (tracks 42 - 45)