PlayaTunes: Lend us your ears now and your recordings later!

[DancesWithElves]

The audio gallery is up and running at http://www.PlayaTunes.com. The purpose of this site it to collect the music drifting away across the playa. (I got really frustrated by the fact that I couldn't catch every set that I wanted to, or stay up for seven days straight, or clone myself!) Right now I just have a few things up there from last year, but my intent is to collect as many recordings as I can of all things musical. So if you know of a dj set, live performance, or whatever else seems to qualify, see if it'll be recorded. If not, see me - maybe we can get something set up. I'll have minidisc recorders with me to loan - *NOT* my gifts! (One note: two camps still have my recorders from last year. If this is YOU, please get in touch.)

For those of you that don't know me, I'm part of the Camp Desert Storm crew in the Lamplighter Village (look for the big military tent), or the PlayaGoRound mutant vehicle with the swings. I'll also be on radio channel 8/23.

See you on the playa!
-Karen aka DancesWithElves

[nym]

Can you put those tracks on http://slipperycat.com/ ?

Thanks,
nym

[DancesWithElves]

Um, not to sound rude, but - no. I've done the leg work, the domain registration, the hosting fees, and the legal stuff to get this site up and running. It's meant to be a place for burners to go to re-live the music they hear or miss at Burning Man. I'm not going to go and put each set out on another link somewhere else that's out of the control of me, the folks at Burning Man, and who knows what else! If SlipperyCat wants the sets, they can link to the PlayaTunes site. My apologies if I'm reading too much into this and it's actually just a link setup that' s required, but I'd rather just maintain one set of files, links, & such.

[nym]

No offense lady, but all the 'work' you've put in isn't all that much. All that money you've invested is like $20 tops, unless you paid someone more than average for hosting and domain regisration, and you still don't have a simple way to download or listen to your music. And I'm pretty sure you don't have permission to give away music by U2 either.

Calm down, I was offering to host your music on the playa over the wireless network, not rip you off.

[DancesWithElves]

Well, I'm sorry that I didn't understand what SlipperCat was all about. You know, before you bash how "little" work I've put into this project, you might want to stop and think about the fact that I've registered with ASCAP so that the U2 song CAN legally be streamed as long as you can't search for the name of the song as a separate item. I've individually contacted many camps to figure out how to get them recording equipment and get them set up to record. I ate the cost of two recorders last year from camps that just kept them, and have obtained more this year. Sometimes it takes a while to get the ball rolling with this sort of thing, but just because the quantity of sets hasn't reached critical mass doesn't mean I just haven't cared to put much time, effort or money into the thing. Geez. I think you hit a sore spot here, can you tell?!

Also, please let me know if you're having trouble getting the music to stream - they should just start playing the moment the page loads after you click on a link, should be the easiest thing in the world (they're not easily downloadable at Burning Man's request, so we don't start seeing "We present the MUSIC OF BURNING MAN, 18 hours of CDs for $19.99 if you order now" - you get the idea. But if you have some suggestions that would make the site easier to use or a more pleasant experience, please let me know - I'd like to make it better! The plan is on those pages that come up for the sets, to put pictures from the performer or camp, bios, links to their sites, etc.

I guess I don't understand how putting the tracks on SlipperCat would make them available over the wireless network any differently than just hitting the pages currently makes them available. Must be missing something here - can you please explain? Thanks!

[dahousekat]

I for one would like to thank you. I'm listening to the space virgins mix right now.

I can't wait to be back.

[ibdave]

Thanks so much..... 7 days till I'm home

[buckethead alien]

What's the status of the project this year? Will we be hearing anything soon?

[emily sparkle]

damn... this reminds me. i meant to take my ipod out into the middle of the playa and record the amazing sounds you hear drifting on the wind, rolling by on the art cars, gathered around fire.

if you get recordings like this will you post them? that i would love to hear.

[DVD Burner]

damn... this reminds me. i meant to take my ipod out into the middle of the playa and record the amazing sounds you hear drifting on the wind, rolling by on the art cars, gathered around fire.

if you get recordings like this will you post them? that i would love to hear.

You can do that with an i-pod?

oh, and playatunes and slipperycat are blogged on playacast.

[DancesWithElves]

I'm just now starting to get back in touch with everyone who told me they were recording on the playa, so I'll keep you posted as I put new sets on the site. And sure - any recordings you'd like to have available on there will happily become a part of the gallery. Just pm or email me and we'll get it set up!

[emily sparkle]

DVD, yeah, in theory you can if you have a little microphone that you plug into it. mine supposedly records a person speaking up to 40 feet away. i've had luck with it close up and recording talking and such, but i don't know if it really would capture the playa, but i thought i'd give it a shot.

[echohaus]

I used a little Minidisc recorder to capture some of the ambience in the mornings; didn't take my iPod out of the Ziploc bag all week...rather have that in good shape than the Minidisc.