Re: [Finale] Project Roemer
Has anyone looked at Lilypond? I downloaded it last week and installed it, but for some reason, the GUI won't run. I looked at it, for about five minutes, until I found this priceless line in the manual, under 'advanced notation': In general, the use of new, innovative notation makes a piece harder to understand and perform and its use should therefore be avoided. For this reason, support for contemporary notation in LilyPond is limited. http://www.lilypond.org/doc/v2.6/Documentation/user/out-www/lilypond/Contemporary-notation.html#Contemporary-notation In other words, This program doesn't do everything, but that's only a problem if you're doing things we don't like. Owain ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Project Roemer
On Nov 10, 2005, at 12:19 AM, Owain Sutton wrote: In general, the use of new, innovative notation makes a piece harder to understand and perform and its use should therefore be avoided. For this reason, support for contemporary notation in LilyPond is limited. That's an interesting notion. If something is more difficult to understand it should therefore be avoided. What if they were publishing a physics textbook? Would they say, Differential equations make physics harder to understand and their use should therefore be avoided? In other words, This program doesn't do everything, but that's only a problem if you're doing things we don't like. This paraphrase is actually much less offensive. Nothing wrong with declining to support things that don't interest you. mdl ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Project Roemer
Mark D Lew wrote: On Nov 10, 2005, at 12:19 AM, Owain Sutton wrote: In general, the use of new, innovative notation makes a piece harder to understand and perform and its use should therefore be avoided. For this reason, support for contemporary notation in LilyPond is limited. That's an interesting notion. If something is more difficult to understand it should therefore be avoided. What if they were publishing a physics textbook? Would they say, Differential equations make physics harder to understand and their use should therefore be avoided? In other words, This program doesn't do everything, but that's only a problem if you're doing things we don't like. This paraphrase is actually much less offensive. Nothing wrong with declining to support things that don't interest you. Actually, what I got from it was more This program doesn't do everything because we can't figure out how to program such things, so we'll tell you you shouldn't do them out of a matter of taste, rather than admit that you can't do them with Lime as a matter of our incompetence, which we're too embarassed to admit publicly. Whenever anybody brings up a matter of taste when a technical point is raised, I realize that person doesn't understand or can't do what is really being asked. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Cross-Group Time Signatures
At 02:27 AM 11/10/2005, Brennon Bortz wrote: Are there any font editors that you recommend? On Win, there's a good little program called Font Creator, at www.high-logic.com But you're on Mac, and I don't know what's available there -- aside from the expensive things at www.fontlab.com. Aaron. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Cross-Group Time Signatures
At 02:26 AM 11/10/2005, Brennon Bortz wrote: This approach seems to work best for me. However, I'm having trouble applying this when I want one time signature to span two staves, and another to span more. Right. That's the advantage of Tall Metric, as I said. The downside is that Tall Metric (or similar) need to placed by hand as expressions at each time sig change, rather than being automatically displayed. Aaron. ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? Check to see if you have any dynamics placed in the snare-drum staff -- if so, either remove them or redefine them to give a louder sound. Something like MF would definitely produce the effect you're getting. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] Ties and accidentals
Dear list, In document-options-ties, I see no difference when end before single accidental is checked or not? It will be great in the case of notes with accidentals tied from one line to the next... Thanks for your responses. Pierre ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
Thanks David but I've got it cranked to velo 127 and it's not enough. ( I need it for a gunfire effect -- startling loud) I need to tweek the Db level for sure. Jerry On 10-Nov-05, at 8:53 AM, dhbailey wrote: Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? Check to see if you have any dynamics placed in the snare-drum staff -- if so, either remove them or redefine them to give a louder sound. Something like MF would definitely produce the effect you're getting. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? One thing I've noticed lately (I use full GPO with FinWin 2005) is that GPO (and/or HP) respond more readily with note-attached expressions than with measure attached expressions. RBH ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Project Roemer
David W. Fenton [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Why, then, does the installer create a shortcut on my desktop with this commandline: D:\Programs\LilyPond\usr\bin\lilypond-windows.exe -dgui Why is there a switch there for a gui? Or is it a deceptively-named switch that has nothing whatsoever to do with a GUI? If I'm not mistaken, that's an option which says that lilypond is being run from a graphical environment, and thus makes sure that warning messages are being directed to an appropriate log file. Again, if you read the FAQ, you'll be told rather explicitly that there is no GUI, and where to find programs which can export in Lilypond format. -- Stephen L. Peters [EMAIL PROTECTED] GPG fingerprint: A1BF 5A81 03E7 47CE 71E0 3BD4 8DA6 9268 5BB6 4BBE And it don't make you an actress just because you've been on COPS. -- Laurence O'Keefe's Sensitive Song ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
A problem I've noticed on occasion is that of a forte or a fortissimo marking putting levels past some midi threshhold or something, and resulting in an actual reduction in volume. Never was sure what if anything could be done about the problem, or what exactly triggered it, and HP wasn't necessarily involved. Thought I'd mention it just in case it helped. Don Hart on 11/10/05 9:21 AM, Gerald Berg at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks David but I've got it cranked to velo 127 and it's not enough. ( I need it for a gunfire effect -- startling loud) I need to tweek the Db level for sure. Jerry On 10-Nov-05, at 8:53 AM, dhbailey wrote: Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? Check to see if you have any dynamics placed in the snare-drum staff -- if so, either remove them or redefine them to give a louder sound. Something like MF would definitely produce the effect you're getting. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
Apropos this issue - Darcy suggests setting the master volume in the mixer somewhere around 64 when using GPO sounds, and then reducing the level of other instruments in order to adjust balances rather than boosting the softer ones. Works for me. Chuck On Nov 10, 2005, at 9:52 AM, Don Hart wrote: A problem I've noticed on occasion is that of a forte or a fortissimo marking putting levels past some midi threshhold or something, and resulting in an actual reduction in volume. Never was sure what if anything could be done about the problem, or what exactly triggered it, and HP wasn't necessarily involved. Thought I'd mention it just in case it helped. Don Hart on 11/10/05 9:21 AM, Gerald Berg at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks David but I've got it cranked to velo 127 and it's not enough. ( I need it for a gunfire effect -- startling loud) I need to tweek the Db level for sure. Jerry On 10-Nov-05, at 8:53 AM, dhbailey wrote: Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? Check to see if you have any dynamics placed in the snare-drum staff -- if so, either remove them or redefine them to give a louder sound. Something like MF would definitely produce the effect you're getting. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale Chuck Israels 230 North Garden Terrace Bellingham, WA 98225-5836 phone (360) 671-3402 fax (360) 676-6055 www.chuckisraels.com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
This is FINMAC 2005b. So the mixer is nixed but even at that (the score is 2 pianos and 2 perc.) I have the pianos down to pp and ppp (moody) and that snare at 127 and it don't mean a thing. Velo 150 would about do it. I find the pianos at forte very loud. This is definitely HP related. I crank the Db level (GPO studio) and when playing back it turns it back down -- with HP off it works fine. I just don't know what specifically is doing it. Maybe I wouldn't want to turn that feature off anyways. Compare the snare at velo 127 and chimes at 127 --- the chimes are much louder. They hurt and so should the snare. Maybe all the drumming as a second instrument as a teenager has harden me but.. On the other hand I heard a Marine snare drummer (one of the best) do a 2 minute buzz roll from to as loud as possible -- folks --it's very loud and was very, very smooth both in sight and sound. 35 years ago and I still remember it. Jerry On 10-Nov-05, at 1:02 PM, Chuck Israels wrote: Apropos this issue - Darcy suggests setting the master volume in the mixer somewhere around 64 when using GPO sounds, and then reducing the level of other instruments in order to adjust balances rather than boosting the softer ones. Works for me. Chuck On Nov 10, 2005, at 9:52 AM, Don Hart wrote: A problem I've noticed on occasion is that of a forte or a fortissimo marking putting levels past some midi threshhold or something, and resulting in an actual reduction in volume. Never was sure what if anything could be done about the problem, or what exactly triggered it, and HP wasn't necessarily involved. Thought I'd mention it just in case it helped. Don Hart on 11/10/05 9:21 AM, Gerald Berg at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks David but I've got it cranked to velo 127 and it's not enough. ( I need it for a gunfire effect -- startling loud) I need to tweek the Db level for sure. Jerry On 10-Nov-05, at 8:53 AM, dhbailey wrote: Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? Check to see if you have any dynamics placed in the snare-drum staff -- if so, either remove them or redefine them to give a louder sound. Something like MF would definitely produce the effect you're getting. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale Chuck Israels 230 North Garden Terrace Bellingham, WA 98225-5836 phone (360) 671-3402 fax (360) 676-6055 www.chuckisraels.com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
Yeah, that's pretty much worked for me also Dean On Nov 10, 2005, at 10:02 AM, Chuck Israels wrote: Apropos this issue - Darcy suggests setting the master volume in the mixer somewhere around 64 when using GPO sounds, and then reducing the level of other instruments in order to adjust balances rather than boosting the softer ones. Works for me. Chuck On Nov 10, 2005, at 9:52 AM, Don Hart wrote: A problem I've noticed on occasion is that of a forte or a fortissimo marking putting levels past some midi threshhold or something, and resulting in an actual reduction in volume. Never was sure what if anything could be done about the problem, or what exactly triggered it, and HP wasn't necessarily involved. Thought I'd mention it just in case it helped. Don Hart on 11/10/05 9:21 AM, Gerald Berg at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Thanks David but I've got it cranked to velo 127 and it's not enough. ( I need it for a gunfire effect -- startling loud) I need to tweek the Db level for sure. Jerry On 10-Nov-05, at 8:53 AM, dhbailey wrote: Gerald Berg wrote: Hi all I am in need of a really loud snare drum so I set up an instance for it and cranked up the volume. Problem is my HP settings keep taking it back down again. What in HP would I have to turn off in order to prevent this behavior? Check to see if you have any dynamics placed in the snare-drum staff -- if so, either remove them or redefine them to give a louder sound. Something like MF would definitely produce the effect you're getting. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale Chuck Israels 230 North Garden Terrace Bellingham, WA 98225-5836 phone (360) 671-3402 fax (360) 676-6055 www.chuckisraels.com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Bass TAB problem
Simon No, I mean I wanted a bass TAB system, 4 strings, bass, 4 lines. All I could get was 6 strings, guitar, 6 lines, even when I loaded in the TAB library and even if I constructed a bass TAB system, 4 strings/lines, from scratch. Very odd... Kurt At 00:15 10.11.2005, you wrote: In some older documents I don't seem to be able to add a Bass TAB. I always get a guitar TAB, even if I go and define a bass TAB from scratch and select it. It is an old problem, I had it also in 2004 and 2005, and now in 2006. I'm not sure what you mean exactly. Do you mean the word TAB on the far left of the Tab staff? Or do you mean the actual bass tab four lines? Or do you mean the numbers themselves? -- Simon Troup Digital Music Art http://www.finaleirc.com Real-time Finale discussion ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Finale/HP/GPO
On 10 Nov 2005 at 14:23, Gerald Berg wrote: I have the pianos down to pp and ppp (moody) and that snare at 127 and it don't mean a thing. Velo 150 would about do it. Do you have any note or measure expressions for key velocity in the staff with your problematic note? You can set a base velocity of 127, but if you put a ppp dynamic mark on it, it will be less than 127. Have you tried putting a fff note expression on it (set to 127)? Have you tried putting an articulation on the single note that increases the key velocity by, e.g., 200%? Have you tried putting a note expression on the note that sets the volume controller to 127? Do you have HP configured to playback expressions/articulations as defined? I'm pretty certain that the default is to ignore what you've defined and interpret them according to its own rules. -- David W. Fentonhttp://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associateshttp://www.bway.net/~dfassoc ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Bass TAB problem
No, I mean I wanted a bass TAB system, 4 strings, bass, 4 lines. All I could get was 6 strings, guitar, 6 lines, even when I loaded in the TAB library and even if I constructed a bass TAB system, 4 strings/lines, from scratch. Very odd... After setting the staff to tablature with 4 strings etc. etc. go to ... STAFF STTRIBUTES NOTATION STYLE TABLATURE ... and make sure you check the following box ... On OK, Reset Staff's Attributes To Tablature Defaults ... and click RETURN ... then tell me if that did the trick. It bamboozled me initially! That's the only illogical bit you have to do. It that's not it then I resign my crown as grand high magus of tabbage. I don't think it's a bug you're suffering as I can get bass TAB in all Finale versions. -- Simon Troup Digital Music Art http://www.finaleirc.com Real-time Finale discussion ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Bass TAB problem
STAFF STTRIBUTES I mean ATTRIBUTES ... obviously :) -- Simon Troup Digital Music Art http://www.finaleirc.com Real-time Finale discussion ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Cross-Group Time Signatures
Aaron Sherber wrote: At 02:27 AM 11/10/2005, Brennon Bortz wrote: Are there any font editors that you recommend? On Win, there's a good little program called Font Creator, at www.high-logic.com But you're on Mac, and I don't know what's available there -- aside from the expensive things at www.fontlab.com. Aaron. I use Fontforge in Linux - supposedly you can use it in Windows via Cygwin, but I've not tried this. http://fontforge.sourceforge.net/ Owain ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Bass TAB problem
Thanks, Simon, but - when I open an older document, say, Finale 98, I still get 6 string guitar and nothing other. No matter if at home or on my PC at school, it won't work. I do a lot of band arrangement. And now I have a bassist who can't play notes well but is all right with tabs. So I would like to open the older documents, delete everything but the bass, add a bass TAB and copy and edit the fingerings. If I could copy the bass line into a new document and getting everything, including repeats and so on, ok, this would also work as a workaround, but even if I select everything everywhere, I won't get everything copied. Kurt At 21:23 10.11.2005, you wrote: No, I mean I wanted a bass TAB system, 4 strings, bass, 4 lines. All I could get was 6 strings, guitar, 6 lines, even when I loaded in the TAB library and even if I constructed a bass TAB system, 4 strings/lines, from scratch. Very odd... After setting the staff to tablature with 4 strings etc. etc. go to ... STAFF STTRIBUTES NOTATION STYLE TABLATURE ... and make sure you check the following box ... On OK, Reset Staff's Attributes To Tablature Defaults ... and click RETURN ... then tell me if that did the trick. It bamboozled me initially! That's the only illogical bit you have to do. It that's not it then I resign my crown as grand high magus of tabbage. I don't think it's a bug you're suffering as I can get bass TAB in all Finale versions. -- Simon Troup Digital Music Art http://www.finaleirc.com Real-time Finale discussion ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Bass TAB problem
Kurt did On OK, Reset Staff's Attributes To Tablature Defaults work for you on the more recent versions of Finale? but - when I open an older document, say, Finale 98, I still get 6 string guitar and nothing other. No matter if at home or on my PC at school, it won't work. I do a lot of band arrangement. And now I have a bassist who can't play notes well but is all right with tabs. So I would like to open the older documents, delete everything but the bass, add a bass TAB and copy and edit the fingerings. Sorry I only have 2005 and 2006 installed at present. Can you send me one of the old files to test? Surely it would be easiest to work within the original document than get involved in a laborious reconstruction. -- Simon Troup Digital Music Art http://www.finaleirc.com Real-time Finale discussion ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] OT: Laser Printer Problem
Sorry about the OT nature of this query, but I've seen weirder problems solved here. I'm getting a band across the top of my laser printer copies, same place all the time. I recently tried a toner refill, which has been great for a couple of months so I'm not sure that's the problem. Anyway, if anyone can stand the 500k download here's a scan of one of the prints: http://www.digitalmusicart.com/PrinterProblem.PDF Bought second hand quite cheap with around 300,000 copies on it, it's been totally brilliant so far. -- Simon Troup Digital Music Art http://www.finaleirc.com Real-time Finale discussion ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] Bass TAB problem
Kurt Gnos wrote: Thanks, Simon, but - when I open an older document, say, Finale 98, I still get 6 string guitar and nothing other. No matter if at home or on my PC at school, it won't work. I do a lot of band arrangement. And now I have a bassist who can't play notes well but is all right with tabs. So I would like to open the older documents, delete everything but the bass, add a bass TAB and copy and edit the fingerings. If I could copy the bass line into a new document and getting everything, including repeats and so on, ok, this would also work as a workaround, but even if I select everything everywhere, I won't get everything copied. You should everything if you have one empty measure in the new work, and once you've copied all the stuff in the original file, use EDIT/INSERT rather than ctrl-v (paste). It's when you paste that a lot of formating and clef changes and other important stuff gets lost. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Laser Printer Problem
At 10:59 PM 11/10/05 +, Simon Troup wrote: I'm getting a band across the top of my laser printer copies, same place all the time. I recently tried a toner refill, which has been great for a couple of months so I'm not sure that's the problem. Anyway, if anyone can stand the 500k download here's a scan of one of the prints: Does your refill include the whole assembly (toner, drum, gears, rollers), or just the toner? I the old days, this symptom would indicate the need for a new drum (or drum 'sheet', depending on the mechanism) and associated wipers. If you only renew the toner, this may be a service call. If your mechanism has a sheet of electrostatic material instead of a drum, you may be able to check your manual to see if it can be manually advanced. Dennis ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Laser Printer Problem
Simon Troup wrote: Sorry about the OT nature of this query, but I've seen weirder problems solved here. I'm getting a band across the top of my laser printer copies, same place all the time. I recently tried a toner refill, which has been great for a couple of months so I'm not sure that's the problem. Anyway, if anyone can stand the 500k download here's a scan of one of the prints: http://www.digitalmusicart.com/PrinterProblem.PDF Bought second hand quite cheap with around 300,000 copies on it, it's been totally brilliant so far. Looks like some toner got on one of the rollers -- but if it's happening on every copy, perhaps it's time to change the drum. -- David H. Bailey [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
[Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
Hello! This is heavily offtopic on this list but I couldn't stand to let anyone here get into the pitfall which would be even more serious to anyone using his/her PC for business. Sony BMG and their subsidary record labels [1] have released a couple of music CDs that contain malicious software claiming to simply be a copy protection system called XPC. But it's worse. Far worse. When one of these CDs is put into the computer's CD or DVD drive, it installs software that - hides itself from the user - opens backdoors enabling the PC to be controlled from the internet - submits infos on played CDs (and maybe more) to Sony BMG - disturbs MP3 playback and iPod filling - consumes up to 2% CPU time EVEN IF NO CD OR SOUND FILE IS PLAYED - is not removeable In my eyes, this is a violent attack against consumer rights worldwide and a clear case of computer sabotage. The EFF has made a list of CD's being affected with this software: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004144.php Do NOT put any of these in a Windows PC's drive! The main EFF article on this issue can be found at: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004117.php In-depth technical information on the software by Mark Russinovich who discovered it: http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital- rights.html Be very careful bying CD's from one of the Sony BMG labels (according to http://www.sonybmg.com/labels.html): Arista Records BMG Classics BMG Heritage BMG International Companies Columbia Records Epic Records J Records Jive Records LaFace Records Legacy Recordings Provident Music Group RCA Records RCA Victor Group RLG - Nashville Sony Classical Sony Music International Sony Music Nashville Sony Wonder Sony Urban Music So So Def Records Verity Records One last beg: SPREAD THIS WARNING! Pass it over to friends and collegues. If they dont' have email, printit out and copy it! Protecting creative work is one thing, but attacking user's privacy like this is not tolerable. Thanks you all for reading. Gerhard Torges ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
At 2:03 AM +0100 11/11/05, Gerhard Torges, geb. Hölscher wrote: Hello! This is heavily offtopic on this list but I couldn't stand to let anyone here get into the pitfall which would be even more serious to anyone using his/her PC for business. Sony BMG and their subsidary record labels [1] have released a couple of music CDs that contain malicious software claiming to simply be a copy protection system called XPC. But it's worse. Far worse. OK, esteemed computer gurus: urban legend, spam or confirmed terrorism? John -- John Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
This is heavily offtopic on this list but I couldn't stand to let anyone here get into the pitfall which would be even more serious to anyone using his/her PC for business. Sony BMG and their subsidary record labels [1] have released a couple of music CDs that contain malicious software claiming to simply be a copy protection system called XPC. As long as the issue has been opened on-list I'll cross-post David Pogue's NY Times e-column on the subject which is just a bit less flamitory: Thursday, October 10, 2005 From the Desk of David Pogue Sony BMG's Copy-Protecting Watchdog My In box usually bursts to the seams with reader reaction to stuff I've written. What was unusual this week, though, was the amount of mail that came in on a topic that I've never even mentioned: the Sony BMG rootkit tactic. The story goes like this. Starting in June 2004, Sony BMG records began copy-protecting its pop-music CD's. Over the months, the company has used several software schemes for preventing you, the customer, from making illegal copies of its discs. But 20 albums are protected by a scheme devised by a company called First 4 Internet-and it's caused an incredible online furor. These CD's, all bearing Content Protected labels on the packaging (meaning copy protected), do something very sneaky if you try to play them on a Windows PC: they install a proprietary watchdog program that prevents you from copying the CD more than twice. (On a Macintosh or Linux machine, these CD's play just fine, without any copy protection.) Last week, a programmer and blogger named Mark Russinovich dug a little deeper, and found out something disturbing: the Sony watchdog program not only installs itself deep in the core of Windows-it's what's called a rootkit-but it also makes itself invisible. The record company doesn't dispute Russinovich's findings. The cloaking is an additional level of protection to hide the protection files themselves, Mathew Gilliat-Smith, CEO of First 4 Internet, told me. It's an extra speedbump to make it that much more difficult [for prospective music pirates] to circumvent the protection. But Sony BMG didn't seem to be prepared for the outcry from privacy advocates and ordinary citizens who felt violated. To them, Sony BMG's tactic was dangerous, sneaky, intrusive and maybe even illegal. Some of the problems: * The hidden-rootkit trick has been used by virus writers to conceal their tracks. It doesn't give you such a rosy feeling to know that Sony BMG is treating you the same way. * Once hidden, the copy-protection software is invisible to antivirus programs, too. So the baddies of the Internet could, in theory, use Sony's software as a backdoor to infect your machine, and your virus checker would miss it. * If you try to remove the software manually, you risk disabling your CD player completely. (Instead you should use the Uninstall link on Sony BMG's customer-service Web site, whose link appears on the Help screens of Windows Media Player. Of course, then you can't play the CD on your computer.) * When you insert one of these music discs into your PC, one of those software license agreements appears. It says explicitly what's about to occur: This CD will automatically install a small proprietary software onto your computer. The software is intended to protect the audio files on this CD. It will reside on your computer until it is removed or deleted. But this note does not say that the software hides itself. And, even more damning, you don't see this note until you've scrolled down to the third page of legalese in the license agreement. Let's not kid ourselves: NOBODY ever reads those license agreements. They're too long, too opaquely written and generally of little use to anyone except the lawyers. * Sony's copy-protection software prevents you from playing the music you've bought on your iPod, which happens to be the world's most popular music player. Once the true nature of the Sony BMG software tactic became public, the company wasted no time in attempting to defuse the issue. Within 48 hours, it released a patch that makes its software visible again; you can download it from http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp. (Click the Software Updates button.) Sony also provided the rootkit-cloaking information to antivirus-software companies, so that the software will no longer be a potential virus magnet. At that same Web site, you'll find, incredibly, a link to a Sony-sanctioned workaround that lets you copy the protected songs to the iPod. (Sony says it will send you the workaround by e-mail once you supply the name of the CD and other information.) Finally, Sony has abandoned the rootkit protection method. (It says, in fact, that it had planned to do so even before the trick became public.) It still intends to install copy-protection software on every audio CD-but it will use other methods. For now, then, it seems that
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
At 08:21 PM 11/10/05 -0500, John Howell wrote: OK, esteemed computer gurus: urban legend, spam or confirmed terrorism? Absolutely true. I hope it's a nightmare for Sony, who deserves every lawsuit that comes their way. Reading for the evening: http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/sonys-rootkit-first-4-internet.html http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/sony-you-dont-rlly-want-to_09.html http://www.f-secure.com/v-descs/xcp_drm.shtml http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/newsinfo/collateral.aspx?cid=76345 http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/calif_ny_lawsui.html http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,123454,00.asp There's a reason I've complained about copy protection and all its kin Dennis ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
Unfortunately, all too real. This IS NOT A HOAX. Today msnbc.com has a front-page article about it. There are also relevant articles at eff.org and others. FWIW: You can safeguard your Windows machine by disabling Autorun. A number of website will show you the registry key to modify. Mac users (as with a previous CD/CP scheme) are immune. Gerhard Torges, geb. Hölscher wrote: Hello! This is heavily offtopic on this list but I couldn't stand to let anyone here get into the pitfall which would be even more serious to anyone using his/her PC for business. Sony BMG and their subsidary record labels [1] have released a couple of music CDs that contain malicious software claiming to simply be a copy protection system called XPC. But it's worse. Far worse. When one of these CDs is put into the computer's CD or DVD drive, it installs software that - hides itself from the user - opens backdoors enabling the PC to be controlled from the internet - submits infos on played CDs (and maybe more) to Sony BMG - disturbs MP3 playback and iPod filling - consumes up to 2% CPU time EVEN IF NO CD OR SOUND FILE IS PLAYED - is not removeable In my eyes, this is a violent attack against consumer rights worldwide and a clear case of computer sabotage. The EFF has made a list of CD's being affected with this software: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004144.php Do NOT put any of these in a Windows PC's drive! The main EFF article on this issue can be found at: http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004117.php In-depth technical information on the software by Mark Russinovich who discovered it: http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital- rights.html Be very careful bying CD's from one of the Sony BMG labels (according to http://www.sonybmg.com/labels.html): Arista Records BMG Classics BMG Heritage BMG International Companies Columbia Records Epic Records J Records Jive Records LaFace Records Legacy Recordings Provident Music Group RCA Records RCA Victor Group RLG - Nashville Sony Classical Sony Music International Sony Music Nashville Sony Wonder Sony Urban Music So So Def Records Verity Records One last beg: SPREAD THIS WARNING! Pass it over to friends and collegues. If they dont' have email, printit out and copy it! Protecting creative work is one thing, but attacking user's privacy like this is not tolerable. Thanks you all for reading. Gerhard Torges ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale -- Robert Patterson http://RobertGPatterson.com ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
^On 10 Nov 2005 at 20:21, John Howell wrote: OK, esteemed computer gurus: urban legend, spam or confirmed terrorism? It's unquestionably real. And it's very dangerous. One of the things it does is hook into low-level file I/O subroutines to hide its own files and its own activities. This is accomplished by hiding every file/directory that begins with $sys$ (or a similar such pattern -- I could be misremembering the exact prefix). Now that it's public knowledge, any hacker could exploit this on computers on which it has been installed to install their own nefarious files, as long as they name them with the same prefix. It's a hugely dangerous security hole. But the main issue is that it's a form of trespass -- they are installing software on your PC without full disclosure of the repercussions of that installation. And the really sad thing is that it's so poorly implemented that it could easily be avoided by: 1. turning off AutoPlay. 2. holding the SHIFT key when you insert a CD (which turns off AutoPlay for that CD). And, most critically: 3. running under a user-level logon that does not have adminstrative permissions on your system. This prevents the software from installing itself, as on Windows 2000 and XP, the system data areas are not available for writing by user-level logons. I have been saying for years to anyone who listens that it is complete idiocy to run a Windows PC with an administrative logon. This is a perfect example of just where avoiding that widespread practice would immunize you from a very serious problem. Sony has also been extremely evasive and untruthful in its response to this problem, having released a fix that doesn't fix it at all, but, in fact, extends the capabilities of the hidden programs. -- David W. Fentonhttp://www.bway.net/~dfenton David Fenton Associateshttp://www.bway.net/~dfassoc ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
Hi! Am 11.11.2005 um 02:21 schrieb John Howell: Sony BMG and their subsidary record labels [1] have released a couple of music CDs that contain malicious software claiming to simply be a copy protection system called XPC. But it's worse. Far worse. OK, esteemed computer gurus: urban legend, spam or confirmed terrorism? The latter. Gerhard ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
Am 11.11.2005 um 02:36 schrieb Robert Patterson: Today msnbc.com has a front-page article about it. See here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9991596/ Viruses exploit Sony CD anti-piracy scheme Hackers use copy-protection software to hide in PCs SAN JOSE, Calif. - A controversial copy-protection program that automatically installs when some Sony BMG audio CDs are played on personal computers is now being targeted by malicious software that exploits the antipiracy technology’s ability to hide files. The Trojan horse programs — three have so far been identified by anti-virus companies — are named so as to trigger the cloaking feature of Sony’s XCP2 antipiracy technology, security experts said Thursday. “This could be the advanced guard,” said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at the security firm Sophos. “We wouldn’t be surprised at all if we saw more malware that exploits what Sony has introduced.” [...] Gerhard ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
On 11/10/05, Robert Patterson [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Mac users (as with a previous CD/CP scheme) are immune. Not completely true: http://digg.com/apple/Sony_Music_CDs_infect_Macs,_too_ It's not as invasive or as automatic, but there is DRM software on Sony CDs for Macs as well. -- Brad Beyenhof Real-time Finale discussion: http://www.finaleirc.com my blog: http://augmentedfourth.blogspot.com Silence will save me from being wrong (and foolish), but it will also deprive me of the possibility of being right. ~ Igor Stravinsky ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
Re: [Finale] OT: Windows users BEWARE of Sony BMG music CD's!
On Nov 10, 2005, at 8:26 PM, Raymond Horton wrote: Once the true nature of the Sony BMG software tactic became public, the company wasted no time in attempting to defuse the issue. Within 48 hours, it released a patch that makes its software visible again; you can download it from http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp. (Click the Software Updates button.) Sony also provided the rootkit-cloaking information to antivirus-software companies, so that the software will no longer be a potential virus magnet. At that same Web site, you'll find, incredibly, a link to a Sony-sanctioned workaround that lets you copy the protected songs to the iPod. (Sony says it will send you the workaround by e-mail once you supply the name of the CD and other information.) Finally, Sony has abandoned the rootkit protection method. (It says, in fact, that it had planned to do so even before the trick became public.) It still intends to install copy-protection software on every audio CD-but it will use other methods. For now, then, it seems that the cloaked-rootkit issue is dead. If you bought one of the 20 affected CD's, you can uncloak the software, and Sony won't be using this scheme anymore. According to another article I read, uncloaking the software still won't allow you to remove it without disabling your CD/DVD drive. You are hosed in certain cases (as it crashes some versions of Windows), unless you reformat. Plus, I think just about anyone would balk at having to provide their email address to a company in order to have physical access to content they already have legal access to. I'm glad (for now!) that I'm unaffected by this. Of course, at any time that may change... Christopher ___ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
