TCS - Midi Music and Multimedia SIG

Midi Music and Multimedia SIG

by Mike Henson
Tulsa Computer Society
From the March 2000 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter

We had 15 people at the January meeting, where we discussed how to use a CD writer. Just for fun, we started off with a quiz of 11 questions about CD-ROMs. No one was able to answer all of the questions correctly. In fact, some people were surprised by the answers. Try the quiz yourself and see how you do; it is at the end of this article.

We covered the ins and outs of both CD-R (CD-Recordable), and CD-RW (CD-Rewritable) technologies. We discussed things like how to make a CD that is readable in any CD-ROM drive, how to add data to a CD in increments, how to copy a CD, how to make an audio CD, how long a CD will last, and so on. Most of the information presented in the meeting came from the following web sites: www.fadden.com/cdrfaq and home.cdarchive.com/info.

I cut 5 CDs containing thousands of MIDI songs and programs, and handed them out to anyone that was interested. I will have to make 5 more CDs and bring them to next month's meeting, because there weren't enough to go around.

The February meeting will be about various CD-ROM multi-media programs that are available these days. The March meeting will be on scanning sheet music into a computer for editing, transposing, playing or printing. The April meeting will be on MP3 files. Come join the fun at the Harmon Foundation, 2901 S. Harvard, on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 PM.

And now the quiz:

1. There are 2 layers that make up a CD-ROM (upper and lower layer). Where is the data stored on a CD-ROM?
a. Top of upper layer (label side)
b. Bottom of upper layer
c. Top of lower layer
d. Bottom of lower layer (opposite of label side)

2. How many different types of CDs are there?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 6

3. How much data can be stored on a typical CD-ROM?
a. 420MB
b. 540MB
c. 650MB
d. 1GB

4. How many minutes of audio can be stored on a typical CD-ROM?
a. 60 minutes
b. 74 minutes
c. 90 minutes
d. 120 minutes

5. Can CD-ROMs be made "copy protected"?
a. yes
b. no

6. Do data CD-ROMs use any kind of error correction?
a. yes
b. no

7. Do audio CD-ROMs use any kind of error correction?
a. yes
b. no

8. What is the maximum number of tracks (sessions) that can be written on a CD?
a. 50
b. 99
c. 1000
d. unlimited

9. What is the maximum number of files that can be written on a CD?
a. 50
b. 99
c. 1000
d. unlimited

10. Why was 74 minutes chosen as the standard length of a CD?
a. Just happened that way
b. To enable it to hold Beethoven's ninth symphony
c. Easily divisible number of sectors for the Table of Contents
d. To be compatible with most LP records at the time

11. Which direction is the data on a CD-ROM written?
a. From the inside of the disc outward
b. From the outside of the disc inward

answers:
1-b, 2-c, 3-c, 4-b, 5-a, 6-a, 7-a, 8-b, 9-d, 10-b, 11-a



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Tulsa Computer Society 2/07/2000
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