Free Classical Music downloads?

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neo-fi /img/forum/go_quote.gif You're good at explaining stuff! I think I rip some of my CDs to different formats and compare them to FLAC/CD-audio. But atm I dunno if I hear any difference between those... Still waiting Essence STX to arrive.

LAME MP3 at -V0 or -V1 (both are variable bit rate settings) should be audibly transparent (meaning you can't tell the difference between the lossy file and a WAV file) for most people unless you happen to have a natural ear for hearing the differences and have good equipment. Most of the lossy formats should be very good if in the 256-320 kbps range.

MP3 at around 128 kbps is much easier to hear the differences. I have a tin ear when it comes to hearing lossy compression problems, but even I can hear problems at 128 kbps. I cannot hear differences (except in rare cases) at high bitrates (at say LAME -V0 or 320 CBR).

I still chose to do lossless when given the choice. Lossless is much better if you plan on keeping your music files for 5+ years. Lossless gives you future proofing because you can change to new formats without loss. Lossy files are stuck at what they are and it is very very bad to re-encode them to something else.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

I was checking some of my bookmarks and found a link to free FLAC recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos by Czech Radio.

Brandenburg Concertos by Czech Radio

If someone is good at navigating Czech maybe there are some additional downloads on the site.

The Brandenburg Concerto recording is with period instruments and it sounds it. I listened to the first concerto and the performance isn't what I consider great, but it's free. The FLAC files aren't tagged so you'll need to manually tag the files as you download to keep them straight.

 

[neo-fi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was checking some of my bookmarks and found a link to free FLAC recordings of the Brandenburg Concertos by Czech Radio. Brandenburg Concertos by Czech Radio If someone is good at navigating Czech maybe there are some additional downloads on the site.

Well I'm glad we have Google to help us out: Google Translate click link to see Brandenburg Concertos in computer english!

Also in case you haven't noticed I've made a list of links posted here for easier access. Check out the 1st post, enjoy!

 

[neo-fi]

Ok, I did some ripping with winamp... couldn't rip into mp3 though

Anyways, ripped into *.AAC then. Did 24/128/320 kbps AAC samples from one song and compared them to FLAC.

Unfortunately my "Hi-Fi" equipent atm = Realtek ALC885 HD Audio + Koss SB/45 headset. Asus Xonar Essence STX has been ordered!

Atm I could only hear apparent quality difference between 24 and 128 kbps AAC file.
And maybe, just maybe some differences between 128 and 320 kbps and FLAC.
Have to wait for Essence STX for further analyzing.

 

[Xaverian]

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ham Sandwich /img/forum/go_quote.gif Even if the composer is long gone, the performance of a work is still covered by copyright. So you'd have to go looking for a recorded performance that is old enough that the copyright has expired.

So copyrights expire roughly in 100 years then... How Long Does Copyright Protection Last?
I guess earliest recordings without copyrights will be like WWI/WWII era.

If music copyright are the same as book copyrights, they expire 100 years after the artist(s)' death. So it's essentially impossible to find music with an expired copyright, you'd have to look for copyright free music.

 

[Henry Flower]

Quote:

If music copyright are the same as book copyrights, they expire 100 years after the artist(s)' death. So it's essentially impossible to find music with an expired copyright, you'd have to look for copyright free music.

This is not true. US copyright rules for books are summarised here: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Copyright_How-To and (plus some information on other countries) here: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/okbooks.html
 
For practical purposes, in the US, it must have been published pre-1923 (such recordings exist, but not the highest of fi); the copyright term in Canada is life+50 years; in the EU life+70 (but with complications).
 
All this assuming, as you do, that recordings are subject to the same rules as books.

 

[Xaverian]

Quote:

This is not true. US copyright rules for books are summarised here: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Copyright_How-To and (plus some information on other countries) here: http://digital.library.upenn.edu/books/okbooks.html
 
For practical purposes, in the US, it must have been published pre-1923 (such recordings exist, but not the highest of fi); the copyright term in Canada is life+50 years; in the EU life+70 (but with complications).
 
All this assuming, as you do, that recordings are subject to the same rules as books.

Wow, my bad. I'll have to track down whoever told me it was 100 years and inform then that they were wrong. Thanks for the info! 

 

Also, I think the point here is that it is essentially impossible/pointless to find music that no longer has a copyright. I have a recording of Bach's cello suites played by Pau Casals from the 1930s that has been remastered and the scratches, hisses and pops become extremely annoying with higher fi headphones. 

 

[Lex2]

This is an interesting article:
 
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/02/international/02CND_COPY.html?pagewanted=all
 
I bought my complete Heifetz (mono) Pre-War recordings published by Naxos in Europe a couple of years ago. Yes, they hiss and pop some but don't seriously deter from my enjoyment of his incandescent playing. Some of the expired copyright stuff that labels like Naxos have released are generally good remasterings of older sources.