The Song Files

Our site uses RealAudio (also called streaming audio) and MP3. Some sites make you pay to download their MP3 songs as they are virtually CD quality. However Candy Channel hope that by giving you a free taster of our music you will want to buy our CD album which is on sale for a mere £8.00 + p&p. The MP3 song we are giving away is a complete song called 'Making It Happen'. So download it completely free from http://www.geocities.com/sherriexx.

What is an MP3 file?

An MP3 file is a music file which has been specially encoded and compressed. The techniques used mean that an MP3 file is small enough to be transmitted on the web without the transmission time being too great. When the MP3 file is played through appropriate software the quality is very close to that of the original recording. 

How do I play MP3 files?

You need a program that will do this for you. Winamp and RealPlayer are just two of the most well-known. You can download them for free from: This link for RealPlayer  or  This link for WinAmp  .

Do I have to download a complete MP3 file before I can start to play it?

Yes, usually, although MP3 can now be streamed. However don't expect the quality of streaming MP3 to be as good as the download variety unless you have an ISDN.

What is streaming audio?

Streaming audio is a technology that allows you to play music while you are on-line. The music data is sent to you in small chunks and played as it is received. It's a bit like TV or radio. The advantages are:

• you can start listening to the music almost straightaway (there's a few seconds wait while the buffer fills up)
• you don't have to wait ages to download a complete file before you can listen to it
• none of your hard disk space is taken up as the music file does not have to be saved to it

However, the sound quality is not as good as you get when you download an MP3 file and play it back at your leisure. This is not a fault with the encoding system! There is a limit to the amount of data per second that telephone lines can cope with. The sound quality is usually lowered intentionally by whoever converted the sound files. Lower quality means smaller amounts of data going down your telephone line per second. The result is a more consistent playback.

Can I save a streaming audio file onto my hard drive?

Sometimes. It depends whether the person who made the file wants this. 

Which streaming audio player do you recommend?

We recommend RealPlayer, as this will play both streaming audio files and MP3 files. 

How do I play a RealPlayer streaming audio file?

There will be a hyperlink (somewhere for you to click) on the page. When you click on the link you might be presented with a choice: 'save it to disk' or 'open it'. A note of caution here! If you only want to hear it, you have to select 'open it'. It's really easy to accidentally select the 'save it to disk' option, and then wonder why you're not hearing anything! The RealPlayer window pops up and the track starts playing automatically after about 5 seconds. You might have to press Alt+tab to see it.

Where can I get RealPlayer?

From the website at real.com, to link click here . There's a free version called RealPlayer Basic or if you want something a bit better get the RealPlayer plus which will cost you a few dollars.

I'm new to this! How do I install RealPlayer?

Go to the real.com site  and click on the 'download' link under RealPlayer. Read and follow the instructions they give you. The download will take around fifteen minutes if you're using a 28k modem. The most common mistake you might make is to assume that downloading the files actually installs RealPlayer on your computer, but downloading is only the first stage in the installation process - the second stage is to run the .exe file you have downloaded, so make a note of which folder on your computer you downloaded it to.

How should I configure RealPlayer?

The good news is you don't have to do anything, however there are a few improvements you can make to the standard setup. They are not essential, but will improve the performance, so give them a try. You'll find them under Options/Preferences.

• Click on the Content tab and clear the 'Enable automatic headline updating' setting. This saves on your bandwidth usage, which means more of the music gets through per second, which means less timing problems.
• Click on Support and uncheck the 'Send connection statistics' box. 
• Still under Support, if you're a cookie hater clear the 'Enable cookies' box.
• If you're using a fast PC or net connection, click on the Connection tab. Select the option to buffer a specified number of seconds. You'll need to experiment with the actual number of seconds to find what what works best for you. With a 28k modem in the UK on a Sunday, forget it!

What about visuals?

Yeh, RealPlayer has visualisations which are awesome! Check 'em out.