What is iTunes

iTunes is a popular free application from Apple which, among other things, can import, organize and play back a library of music. All Macs come with itunes preinstalled and a Windows version is also available free of charge.

The main features of iTunes are

Simplicity

iTunes is easy to use and most functions can be achieved within a couple of mouse clicks.

Importing from CD

iTunes can import your CDs for you and if you have an internet connection it will automatically get the track names from the CDDB database. This means you don't have to manually name your tracks and is a great time saver, iTunes can encode your music into a variety of formats.

For more information on encoding check out the ripping/encoding section on page 3

Automatic Library organization

If you let iTunes organize your music for you, all the tracks you add to your library will be moved into a folder structure according to the tags in your files. So if you have a track by Toto called Rosanna, from the album Past to Present, it will be moved into your iTunes Music folder under:

iTunes Music/Toto/Past To Present/Rosanna.mp3

This can be a valuable tool for keeping your music tidy on your hard drive.

Other features

iTunes is the default way to manage music on an iPod, iTunes will automatically synchronise the music collection on your iPod with the music on your machine. iTunes also allows you to purchase and download music from the apple music store

Please note: older music bought from the Apple Store can be DRM protected and will not play in Scratch LIVE or anything other than iTunes. You can upgrade most music to remove the DRM protection using the iTunes Plus service form the Apple Store.

Some useful iTunes links

Apple iTunes page
Wikipedia iTunes Article
Wikipedia comparison of media players

Getting started with iTunes

To download iTunes go to the iTunes download page for some info about setting up iTunes check out: iTunes Support

The iTunes interface

Let's check out the iTunes main screen:

Some useful links
iTunes New User's Guide
iPod 101: iTunes Initiation

Getting your music into iTunes

There are 3 main ways of adding music to an iTunes library; purchased downloads from the iTunes Music Store, ripping CDs directly into iTunes, and importing files that are already on your hard drive into your library.

Files from the iTunes Music Store can not be decoded by Scratch LIVE, so we'll focus on the latter two.

Setting up iTunes to import

The default settings in iTunes are to encode AAC files, which at the time of writing aren't supported by Scratch LIVE. To change this, the encoding settings are under preferences, advanced, importing.

These settings would be a good start for new users:

Bitrate - 224 kps

VBR

Joint Stereo


Besides the encoder and it's settings, the other option which simplifies importing CDs is the second check box: "Automatically retrieve CD track names from internet". As long as your computer is connected to the internet, this option will fill in the basic track information when you insert a CD to rip, which can save a lot of time typing names into iTunes.

For more detailed information on encoding audio files, check out my article on encoding.

Ripping/encoding CDs

Once you have the encoding options set correctly, ripping and encoding in iTunes is a very simple process.

1) Insert the audio CD into your computer.

2) Retrieve the track names from the CDDB

3) Select the Audio CD in the source list

4) Click the import CD button


Once the import is complete, the tracks on the CD should now be files on your computer, usable both in iTunes and Scratch LIVE.

Adding files to iTunes

If you already have audio files on your system. Importing them into iTunes is easy.

You can either drag them in your library from the operating system, or use the import files dialogue in iTunes itself, which is in the file menu -> Import.

Caring for your iTunes Library

Once you have more than a few files on your system, and especially if they are coming from more than one source, it's a good idea to start organizing your files in a clearly structured manner. This is a good practice because it makes things easy to manage if you have to transfer files to another drive; you know exactly what files are in which directory.

Organizing your library

There are a couple of options for organizing your files. The first is to have iTunes organize your files automatically based on the file tag info. To enable this function open your iTunes preferences, select the advanced tab and check the the two options; Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized and Copy Files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library. Note: If you change the relevant tags iTunes will move the file, this might cause Scratch LIVE to lose track of the file's location.

Consolidating your library

A useful function in iTunes is Consolidate Library, once you've been collecting music for a while, you might find you have files spread over your hard drive, on your desktop, on external hard disks, etc. This function copies all the files in your library into a single file structure. Very useful for backing up, keeping your drives tidy. Consolidate Library is in the advanced menu in iTunes.

Integrating Itunes and ScratchLIVE

The iTunes integration in Scratch LIVE is very easy to use, just click the import iTunes library button in the setup screen, and the files from your iTunes library will be added to your Scratch LIVE library.

Then your iTunes library and playlists will appear in the source list in Scratch LIVE.

Conclusion: iTunes and ScratchLIVE

iTunes is the media player of choice for many people, and a natural companion product for Scratch LIVE. Whether you've been using iTunes already and are now looking into using your iTunes library within SSL, or if you're new to both and want to find out about the most common way of putting your music from CD into Scratch LIVE, iTunes offers a very straightforward and simple way of doing the most common tasks for the digital DJ.

iTunes Troubleshooting

If you have problems with iTunes itself, your first stop should probably be Apple.com and the links listed below.

If you have problems with using iTunes inside Scratch LIVE, check out the forum for advice from us and other users.

Useful links
Apple 's iTunes troubleshooting section

HOWTO: Troubleshoot missing iTunes tracks in Scratch LIVE