Making a mixCD from iTunes

December 11, 2005 3:23 PM

Mefiswap filter: I'm putting the finishing touches on my Mefiswap cd (Hey swapset gray!) and I've got a couple of general questions:

1. Does the CD speed of burner matter? It's a pokey 10x burner, but that shouldn't matter when listening, correct, just if someone wants to copy off the disc?

2. Really want to put the playlist on paper for my peeps. Figured out how to get the playlist from iTunes to Excel to Indesign, except for the track listing: i.e. in Excel, I have a worksheet with 130 rows, but when I export that the actual row number isn't part of the table. Is there a way to make the row number part of the table?

3. Does the kind of CD media used matter? I.E. Will burning on Sony brand cd be better than a Phillips cd? Soundquality probably won't change, but I don't want to put out a mixcd that goes bad in a year.

4. What's something good for drawing/writing on a cd? Something like a sharpie, but perhaps more colorful.

5. Been looking at past Askmefi, but can't seem to fine a definite answer: Will burning the cd from iTunes, save the playlist in order, with all the relevant track data, so that someone could pop that cd into their iTunes or other modern CD playing app and get the ordered playlist and track data?

posted by Brandon Blatcher to Computers & Internet (13 answers total)

1 - Slower is better. It just takes longer.
2 - For the row numbers, number item 1 and 2 in a spare column, and then highlight the whole column (or down to the bottom of the table) and hit Alt-E, I, S .
posted by pompomtom at 3:59 PM on December 11, 2005

Everything odinsdream said with the exception of #4. Sharpies will bleed through over time. Use a pen designed for writing on CDs. TDK makes them, as do others I am sure. Or, if you can get your hands on some white ink jet CDs then you can be a little more creative with permanent markers, but your basic CDs will allow the Sharpie to bleed through the disc over time. Not really a big deal for a mix tape, but you kinda asked about longevity in #3.

Have fun.
posted by terrapin at 4:03 PM on December 11, 2005

For #5, iTunes and other CD playing apps use freedb and cddb to figure out what the CD in the tray actually is. So if you submit track data for your mix to them (you should be able to do that from iTunes), then the recipients will automatically see the appropriate data when they play your CD. Now, I'm not positive whether or not that's against freedb's code of conduct, but there you have it.
posted by cmonkey at 4:05 PM on December 11, 2005

Response by poster: 2. Don't want to print them, but have them saved with the file for import into another application. Baring THAT, is there a way to autoinsert the row number if I make a new column, just for track #'s

4. Color sharpies!!!!! Duh!

5. I'm sorry, but that was just greek to me. iTunes can't do this, but Toast can, you say?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:09 PM on December 11, 2005

Response by poster: Oh yeah, I'm using Excel X on the Mac.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:10 PM on December 11, 2005

Sharpies now come in something like 28 color packs, which is why everyone is giving the "color sharpies - duh!" answer. They go far beyond red, blue, and green, now.
posted by whatzit at 4:25 PM on December 11, 2005

Oh yeah, I'm using Excel X on the Mac.

then replace what I said about "alt-EIS" with Click Edit, Fill, Series, OK.
posted by pompomtom at 4:40 PM on December 11, 2005

Mefi CD swap? Why wasn't this announced anywhere? For some reason I was never able to log on to Dreama's site for the last swap, so I wasn't able to take part. How am I supposed to sign up for the next one if it is never announced!?

/pissed off
posted by salmacis at 3:14 AM on December 12, 2005

Response by poster: Salmacis,

Send me a mailing address and I'll send you copy of my cd, no strings attached.

Merry Christmas!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:49 AM on December 12, 2005

salmacis-It sucks that you missed the announcements, but a little searching will show you that you were not left out of something, you just missed the (two) threads announcing the swap. Oh, and this original announcement.
posted by OmieWise at 6:03 AM on December 12, 2005

OK, I stand corrected about the announcement bit - sorry! With previous swaps I've had an email to warn me.

I'm in the UK if that has a bearing on sending a CD, but I've just participated in a swap on another forum, so I have a disk all ready to go. I'm willing to send one out to anyone who wants to do a private swap.
posted by salmacis at 8:11 AM on December 12, 2005

BTW Brandon, your email address is not in your profile. Mine, however, is, so let me know if the disclaimer above hasn't put you off.
posted by salmacis at 8:13 AM on December 12, 2005

Response by poster: My email address is there now. Drop me a line if you want something.

and pay attention next time! :)
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:55 AM on December 12, 2005