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Sunday 20 November 2005

If there's anything I like more than live music it's capturing it for future listening. I got a chance today as we went to listen to our friend's band, Meshuggenismo!, play at Pier 39.

As I happened to have my digital camera with me I exercised its ability to caputure audio. We sat near the stage, kids in lap, and enjoyed the show. Ted, the group's founder and bassist, was thrilled to have an audience taping of the group's performance; a first.

When I got home I used Cacophony to cut the audio file into segments roughly corresponding to the songs (plus live ambiance, 'cause that's what makes a live album all worthwhile).

It might be vexing to a professional photographer to have two adjacent photos in a panorama with such different exposures of the sky, but it worked out perfectly for an album cover.

I named my "bootleg" album Meshuggenismo! Live on Pier 39, assembled text over the photo (the typeface is Didot), and imported the whole thing into iTunes.

A few days later it seemed that the project needed to have an image for the back of the CD jewel case. This is all new to me, so I figure out what I would want to see; what information I want to know about the music to which I listen.

First of all was a listing of the tracks (enumerated below for search engines), a description of the band's style, and even an excerpt from an on-line review.

Most interesting was the legal part: I knew Ted wanted the group to get wider exposure, but not to hurt themselves financially.

Live on Pier 39 is shared via the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike copyright. You may file-share, copy, webcast, and alter for any non-commercial uses. This is pod-safe music. Enjoy!

If the band agrees, this music can reach a wide audience and they can still charge for performances and sales; even better, I can also place these tracks on the Internet Archive. When they tell me I'll tell you.

This was a fun experience, and I may take the effort to package other recordings with faux CD artwork.

1. Sirba/Hora (Medley)
2. Ocho Kandelikas
3. Bei Mir Bist Du Sheyn
4. Tzena, Tzena
5. Papirosn
6. Di Grine Kuzine
7. Miserlu
8. Araber Tanz
9. Khosn Kalle Mazal Tov
10. Chanukah, Chanukah
11. And the Angels Sing
12. Havana Gila