One lengthy MP3 file possible?

[Peter Franks]

Just wondering how to take a load of tracks in a playlist and then be able to send the whole lot as just one MP3 file?
I have to do it for a wedding but don't want to send loads of separate tracks. Is this possible?
Thanks.

 

[chown33]

It seems you can simply concatenate them:

Using cat to join mp3 files. What is this black sorcery?

A friend of mine just used plain-old cat to concatenate two mp3 files,... cat file1.mp3 file2.mp3 > out.mp3 ...and the resulting file is perfectly reproducible, playing one song and then the n...

stackoverflow.com

Found with search terms: concatenate mp3 files
That was my 2nd search. The 1st was for join mp3 files, which showed a lot of online sites and apps, but nothing I cared to click on.

You might have trouble emailing a gigantic file. Some ISPs limit the size of email attachments, and will fail with either a single file exceeding a limit, or a single email with multiple attachments that exceeds a limit.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thanks Chown, but I'm still not overly sure what that means... 'cat'?
Does it involve use of Terminal to do it?

 

[chown33]

Yes, 'cat' is a Terminal command.

Assembling the correct 'cat' command is going to need some typing on your part, or some specifically ordered drag-n-dropping onto the Terminal window. I suggest posting details, like where the folder with the MP3 files is, and what the names of the files are, and what order you want them in. Each of those elements (location, name, order) is significant if one is to make the correct 'cat' command.

There are ways to arrange the files to reduce the amount of typing, but you'd likely need to rename the MP3 files into a specific pattern, so wildcards work in the desired way.

If you don't want to do any of that, or someone else doesn't offer another idea, you can try the searches I used above, or try some of your own. You might find something online that you're willing to use, or another alternative I didn't find.

 

[Fishrrman]

Seems to me the best way is to burn the files to an "mp3 CD" (this is different than "an audio CD"). One can put a lot of individual mp3's onto an mp3 CD.

Then send it by "postman mail"...

 

[chown33]

Doesn't even need to be a CD. It could be a spare SD card. Just make sure to format it as FAT (MS-DOS) first.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Permute will let you do it without restriction in its free trial, it's right there in the intro at launch how to do it:

Permute - Media Converter for macOS - Charlie Monroe Software

Convert audio, video and images to 50 different formats.

software.charliemonroe.net

There's also Join Together:

Join Together - v8.1.0

Join Together - export audio tracks to a single file

dougscripts.com

 

[solouki]

Hi Peter,

This is on a related topic, but one that I have found useful for either emailing a large file or uploading a large file to some Cloud services.

The commandline (Terminal.app) "split" and "cat" ("cat" already mentioned above) commands will split any large file into defined segments allowing you to transfer the large file over the network as smaller segmented files and then easily recombine the segments at the other end into the large file once again.

It works like the following:

Terminal> split -b 4096m TheLargeFileName TheSegmentsName

The above Terminal command will split the large file called "TheLargeFileName" into 4096MB (4GB) segments named "TheSegmentsNameaa", "TheSegmentsNameab", "TheSegmentsNameac", etc.

You can then transfer these segmented 4096MB files however you wish. Once you have transferred the smaller segment files, you can then use the concatenate command, "cat", to regenerate the original large file. The Terminal command would resemble the following:

Terminal> cat TheSegmentsName* > TheLargeFileName

The above command concatenates all of the "TheSegmentsName*" files into the single large file named "TheLargeFileName".

Of course, you replace "TheLargeFileName" and "TheSegmentsName" with the file names appropriate for your application. You can transfer both ascii as well as binary files this way.

If you wish to verify that the original large file and the reconstituted large file are identical, then you might check their checksums using the "shasum" command:

Original file Terminal> shasum --UNIVERSAL TheLargeFileName
Reconstituted file Terminal> shasum --UNIVERSAL TheLargeFileName

and then verify that the two checksums are identical. (This can be done easily by sight or automatically using the "diff" command.)

The "man" Terminal command will give you further information on these Terminal commands:

Terminal> man split
Terminal> man cat
Terminal> man shasum
Terminal> man diff

I know this is a little off topic, but sometimes you cannot email or upload arbitrarily large files, and when this occurs you may find the "split" and "cat" commands useful.

Regards,
Solouki

P.S. I haven't tried it, but I believe the "type" DOS command will perform the similar concatenation function as the MacOS/Linux command "cat".

 

[Boyd01]

I have used Piezo for this kind of thing before, it's also handy for other things. Basically, it can record anything that plays through your speaker. So, just hit the record button, play the songs and hit stop. Of course, this happens in real time so you have to actually sit there and wait while the songs play.

Piezo - Charmingly simple audio recording for Mac

In seconds, you can record from any audio device or app on your Mac.

rogueamoeba.com

 

[fischersd]

Actually, the file system you want to use for removable media that you want to be compatible with everything is exFAT (at least compatible with all modern operating systems / devices). Earlier versions of FAT have file size and file system restrictions you really don't want to be bothered with.

If the CAT solution above works, have at it. Likely the simplest.

If you do need a sound file editing suite that can do so much of this with ease, I've used Audacity for years. (just about the quickest thing for taking a blurb out of a song you love to make your custom ringtones)

Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!

Audacity is the world's most popular audio editing and recording app. Edit, mix, and enhance your audio tracks with the power of Audacity. Download now!

www.audacityteam.org

In this circumstance, you would just open all of the files in their own windows (or open one by one) - create a new file in another window (your destination mp3) - go to each one, in the order you want to play them and select all, copy, then paste at the end of your "to be" mp3 file. On to the next file (close the source files after you paste them into the new file, so you don't get confused and add them twice).

Cheers!

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

Just wondering how to take a load of tracks in a playlist and then be able to send the whole lot as just one MP3 file?
I have to do it for a wedding but don't want to send loads of separate tracks. Is this possible?
Thanks.

Why don't you zip the mp3 files in one zip file and send the zip file? As said by others there is a maximum on file size you can send by e-mail.

 

[Peter Franks]

Thank you all for all these very helpful suggestions, I'm trying a few of them out, just did a tester and for some reason, when playing in iTunes, they sound pretty levelled out, but when I put the tracks in Garageband 11(I know, ancient right), I assumed the auto normalisation would make the quiet ones more level, but they're barely audible for some reason. Wanted to try Garage purely for the flow into tracks.


Thanks Boyd, so realistically speaking I can make a playlist in iTunes and let that play out?

Piezo - Charmingly simple audio recording for Mac

In seconds, you can record from any audio device or app on your Mac.

rogueamoeba.com

I have used Piezo for this kind of thing before, it's also handy for other things. Basically, it can record anything that plays through your speaker. So, just hit the record button, play the songs and hit stop. Of course, this happens in real time so you have to actually sit there and wait while the songs play.

Also handy, thanks

Permute will let you do it without restriction in its free trial, it's right there in the intro at launch how to do it:

Permute - Media Converter for macOS - Charlie Monroe Software

Convert audio, video and images to 50 different formats.

software.charliemonroe.net

There's also Join Together:

Join Together - v8.1.0

Join Together - export audio tracks to a single file

dougscripts.com

Thanks again to all, I work my way through and see how it goes

 

[Peter Franks]

Hi Peter,

This is on a related topic, but one that I have found useful for either emailing a large file or uploading a large file to some Cloud services.

The commandline (Terminal.app) "split" and "cat" ("cat" already mentioned above) commands will split any large file into defined segments allowing you to transfer the large file over the network as smaller segmented files and then easily recombine the segments at the other end into the large file once again.

It works like the following:

Terminal> split -b 4096m TheLargeFileName TheSegmentsName

The above Terminal command will split the large file called "TheLargeFileName" into 4096MB (4GB) segments named "TheSegmentsNameaa", "TheSegmentsNameab", "TheSegmentsNameac", etc.

You can then transfer these segmented 4096MB files however you wish. Once you have transferred the smaller segment files, you can then use the concatenate command, "cat", to regenerate the original large file. The Terminal command would resemble the following:

Terminal> cat TheSegmentsName* > TheLargeFileName

The above command concatenates all of the "TheSegmentsName*" files into the single large file named "TheLargeFileName".

Of course, you replace "TheLargeFileName" and "TheSegmentsName" with the file names appropriate for your application. You can transfer both ascii as well as binary files this way.

If you wish to verify that the original large file and the reconstituted large file are identical, then you might check their checksums using the "shasum" command:

Original file Terminal> shasum --UNIVERSAL TheLargeFileName
Reconstituted file Terminal> shasum --UNIVERSAL TheLargeFileName

and then verify that the two checksums are identical. (This can be done easily by sight or automatically using the "diff" command.)

The "man" Terminal command will give you further information on these Terminal commands:

Terminal> man split
Terminal> man cat
Terminal> man shasum
Terminal> man diff

I know this is a little off topic, but sometimes you cannot email or upload arbitrarily large files, and when this occurs you may find the "split" and "cat" commands useful.

Regards,
Solouki

P.S. I haven't tried it, but I believe the "type" DOS command will perform the similar concatenation function as the MacOS/Linux command "cat".

This is serious stuff isn't it?

Actually, the file system you want to use for removable media that you want to be compatible with everything is exFAT (at least compatible with all modern operating systems / devices). Earlier versions of FAT have file size and file system restrictions you really don't want to be bothered with.

If the CAT solution above works, have at it. Likely the simplest.

If you do need a sound file editing suite that can do so much of this with ease, I've used Audacity for years. (just about the quickest thing for taking a blurb out of a song you love to make your custom ringtones)

Audacity ® | Free Audio editor, recorder, music making and more!

Audacity is the world's most popular audio editing and recording app. Edit, mix, and enhance your audio tracks with the power of Audacity. Download now!

www.audacityteam.org

In this circumstance, you would just open all of the files in their own windows (or open one by one) - create a new file in another window (your destination mp3) - go to each one, in the order you want to play them and select all, copy, then paste at the end of your "to be" mp3 file. On to the next file (close the source files after you paste them into the new file, so you don't get confused and add them twice).

Cheers!

Thanks, I've heard of Audacity but never used, this sounds easy, which usually means....?!

 

[Boyd01]

Thanks Boyd, so realistically speaking I can make a playlist in iTunes and let that play out?

Exactly. I really like Piezo for it's simplicity, it's just like a tape recorder (and even looks like one). Click the record button and whatever is playing through your speakers is recorded. Click stop and it saves it as an .mp3 file (or you can select other formats). It also has a nice feature, when you click record, nothing will happen until you start the music in iTunes (or whatever). Then it automatically begins recording, so you don't get any blank space before the music.

I also use Logic Pro, but if I want to do something quick and easy, Piezo's the thing.

 

[Peter Franks]

Is it worth paying for, freebie is only 10 minute tester? Logic Pro I'm not familiar with. I remember my old musician 80s/90s days of cubase which I assume is a similar thing. I can't get these volumes to even out which is annoying despite what Garageband says it does, It doesn't.

Exactly. I really like Piezo for it's simplicity, it's just like a tape recorder (and even looks like one). Click the record button and whatever is playing through your speakers is recorded. Click stop and it saves it as an .mp3 file (or you can select other formats). It also has a nice feature, when you click record, nothing will happen until you start the music in iTunes (or whatever). Then it automatically begins recording, so you don't get any blank space before the music.

I also use Logic Pro, but if I want to do something quick and easy, Piezo's the thing.

 

[Boyd01]

Only you can say if it's worth paying for. Logic Pro has a free trial - didn't realize that. It's great for serious audio editing and the free iOS remote app gives you a nice control surface on the iPad. Massive overkill for your type of project, and would take awhile to learn. But since the trial lasts for 90 days, you could check it out.

Logic Pro for Mac - Free Trial

Logic Pro is a complete professional recording studio on the Mac. Try it now with a free 90-day trial.

www.apple.com

 

[iluvmacs99]

Just wondering how to take a load of tracks in a playlist and then be able to send the whole lot as just one MP3 file?
I have to do it for a wedding but don't want to send loads of separate tracks. Is this possible?
Thanks.

Yes you can. While I use the PC to do this easily, there is the same mac equivalent that you can do also as well.

But first of all, you need to "normalize" the audio to have the same volume level to the human ear. In order to do so, you need to first process all of your MP3 files through a software called MP3Gain. For the PC, it's called MP3Gain and its Mac equivalent is called MP3Gain Express.

MP3Gain Express for macOS

Once you've normalized all of your tracks, then all you have to do is to combine them all together as one file. You can do so either via online such as the one I'm listing below or use a standalone program like VideoProc.

MP3 Joiner Online & Free — Clideo

clideo.com

I mainly use VideoProc (a commercial software (Mac and PC) I got it for free a few years back during their promotion) and dump a bunch of normalized MP3 audio tracks that I made via SoundStudio or captured through my Tascam into 1 large MP3 audio file. Works fast and well, but the key to success is to first normalize all the tracks so they all sound the same.

Here's a link also provided kindly from the maker of VideoProc for the procedure to combine audio files from various software makers including iTunes, VLC, Audacity etc..

5 Methods to Combine Audio Files | MP3, WAV, M4A, M4R

We've tested 5 ways to help you combine audio files on Windows and Mac easily, with MP3, FLAC, M4A, M4R, etc. formats included.

www.videoproc.com

Hope this helps.

 

[portland-dude]

I cannot believe people here were suggesting terminal commands to a person that wasn't sure if it's possible to make one big mp3 file. Think first, eh? Just drag all the mp3's into a new Audacity track and export. Boom, done.

 

[Fishrrman]

I still do not approve of creating a single, extra large (and extra long) mp3 file.

Reason:
You are creating this to send to someone, right?
Who will play it at a wedding, right?

What happens if he/she STOPS the file during mid-play?
And then "loses the place"?
It may not be easy to find/restart again.

If you send individual files, then it will be easy to locate what was playing, and restart.

 

[solouki]

I cannot believe people here were suggesting terminal commands to a person that wasn't sure if it's possible to make one big mp3 file. Think first, eh? Just drag all the mp3's into a new Audacity track and export. Boom, done.

Hi portland-dude,

You are probably right, but I was actually attempting to "think first", and thus I included the actual command lines to accomplish the desired task. And I would argue that Terminal commands are the simplest and fastest way of both concatenating a bunch of MP3 files into one large file (i.e., a single short "cat" command) as well as splitting a large MP3 file into segments (also a single short "split" command) that can be emailed and then recombined by the recipient.

For instance, neither the sender nor the recipient have to install the third-party Audacity application to accomplish the desired concatenation and transfer.

...just my opinions, of course.

Regards,
Solouki