[cc-sampling] LIBRE MUSIC FORMAT (Draft Proposal)

David Meme david at locarecords.com
Wed Apr 20 08:20:27 EDT 2005


Good to see something is being done on this, but is this CC specific or  
a generic format? It should take account of the many different licenses  
out there not just the creative commons (e.g. GPL). Otherwise we're  
liable to have a license monopoly rather than a proprietary monopoly.

My other question is do we really need an all singing, all bells and  
whistles, all media package? Wouldn't it be better to keep it simple  
for us musicians and make it specific to our needs as musicians rather  
than trying to fit all different needs (e.g. video, art, design etc)  
into the same format?

Thanks

David

http://www.locarecords.com


On 19 Apr 2005, at 19:59, Mike Linksvayer wrote:

> Hi. cc-metadata (cc'd) might be a better place to work out the  
> technical details.  Please look at extending existing work, e.g.,  
> "packaged media files" which are really just .zips with some added  
> information, as is your proposal, see  
> http://www.limewire.org/nightly/javadocs/com/limegroup/gnutella/gui/ 
> PackagedMediaFileLauncher.html for example.
>
> I'll probably have more comments later this week.
>
> Thanks,
> Mike
>
> David wrote:
>> I think it would make a lot of sense for people on this list to draw  
>> up a 'standard' for remixing work. We are Loca Records would be very  
>> happy to release to the standard.
>> In fact we should try to make it platform independent and  
>> non-proprietary. It only needs to set out the general framework (i.e.  
>> format etc) and some rules in a meta-data. For instance, maybe an XML  
>> document that tells you roughly the tracknames, contents and panning,  
>> volume etc. If we could then get some tools written that would  
>> translate this into say MIDI, Logic, Pro-tools, Acid or whatever  
>> format to read in to your app without all the messing about it would  
>> be great. I'm not an expert on all this but here is a rough draft.
>> So to kick start I propose:
>> *LIBRE MUSIC FORMAT (LMF) Draft Proposal
>> =====================================
>> *
>> lmf_track.zip: Zipped contents of LMF song
>> *Contents of ZIP (every file would contain this basic information)*
>> Basic_mix.xml: XML File Metadatafile. Name of song, songwriters,  
>> copyleft license type (e.g. CC-BY-SA), rules for fitting track  
>> together (e.g. tracknames, files, volumes, panning, suggesting  
>> effects, samples etc).
>> License.html: License text where appropriate. e.g. GPL
>> Readme.txt General info in addition. Name of song, songwriters,  
>> copyleft license type
>> Midi.mid midi file containing arrangement
>> samples Samples folder holding relevant samples for track (either  
>> mp3/ogg/aiff/wav)
>> audio Audio folder containing .mp3/.ogg or .flac files. Titled:  
>> track1.mp3, track2.mp3 etc
>> artwork Artwork folder where appropriate containing JPEG/PNG/GIFs
>> etc Folder for extra bits that you want to share. e.g. unused audio,  
>> finished mixes as mp3, arrangements in particular formats.
>> *APPs
>> ====
>> *
>> We would need an ability to translate to and from the format for  
>> proprietary software (as most of us unfortunately have to use it) to  
>> get the ball rolling. But it would mean that we as musicians could  
>> start to share work more easily. Be great if someone open-sourced an  
>> app to do this as it might help others to write one that is useful  
>> for them. Naturally there would be some simplification as you move to  
>> the non-proprietary format, but that should be fine as it is to  
>> assist sharing and remixes and save having to create the documents by  
>> hand every time. At least this way you would know straightaway where  
>> to find the info, files and so on and it would be in one simple  
>> location.
>> LMF -> Logic
>> Logic -> LMF
>> etc
>> -- END --
>> Cheers
>> David
>> http://www.locarecords.com
>> On 19 Apr 2005, at 17:11, HeavyConfetti wrote:
>>     I'm glad to see brother Trent being so charitable, but why  
>> couldn't
>>     he simply do what other
>>     artists have done: provide a compressed archive including all the
>>     tracks in a platform independent
>>     format (e.g., .mp3, .ogg, or even *gasp* .flac). Then let the
>>     remixer use the software/OS of
>>     his/her choice. I could even use .aiff, since it can be used on
>>     either the mac or pc. Not sure
>>     about the linux world...
>>     I am a PC user and have friends who have GarageBand so I can get
>>     with them and have them spit out
>>     the tracks in a format I can use, but I think it would be a good
>>     practice in general for "artists"
>>     to post tracks for public manipulation in a general rather than
>>     proprietary format.
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>
> -- 
>   Mike Linksvayer
>   http://creativecommons.org/about/people#21




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