

This process is carried out by an electronic circuit called an analog to digital converter, which turns sounds (analog) into streams of numbers (digital), which are then stored in sequence in an MP3 file or on a CD. It analyzes all the sounds it can hear and converts them into a number. At the time of recording, a computer "listens" to the music track that'sīeing recorded and "samples" the volumes and frequencies of the sounds: about 44,000 times each second, (Jingle Bells, for example, looks a bit like this written in digital form: 3 3 3-3 3 3-3 5 1 2 3.) Instead of reading a musical score, you would have simply readĪ list of numbers and pressed the corresponding key or bell to generate each note in turn. Instrument with numbers stuck to the keys or bells. Younger, you might have learned to play a simplified piano, xylophone, or other musical

Sampling-and it's a kind of "music by numbers." When you were The key to storing music (or any other kind of sound) in digital format is a process called Stored by a groove on a plastic record that was twice as deep as normal, so the stored information wasĪ faithful "analog" of the original sound. A sound twice as loud as normal might have been Representation of the original sound, without using any numbers at all. That means music was stored as a physical or magnetic CDs are digital too, but older music formats (including LP records and cassette tapes) used analog technology. Sounds you hear are stored in numerical form. MP3 is an example of digital technology, which means Halfway to understanding how it all works. Stored in coded format inside those files, and you're Special type of computer, dedicated to playing back sounds Think of MP3s as computer files and an MP3 player as a Printable documents, so MP3 is a particular file type used for storing music.
#MP3 PLAYER WALMART PDF#
Word-processing program, and PDF is another type of file for storing

How is music stored inside an MP3 file?Īn MP3 player gets it name from the MP3 files that you store on it.With built-in web browsing, email, and apps, it's a powerful pocket computer. My newer iPod Touch (black) is thinner and lighter, partly because it uses flash chips instead of a hard drive, and its 32GB memory can store correspondingly more music. I still can't quite believe that this tiny little box holds (at the last count) 3,717 tracks on 401 albums by 250 artists-and yet fits in my pocket. My old 20GB, 4th generation Apple iPod (white) does little more than play music. Photo: The Apple iPod: one of the pocket MP3 players that put digital music on the map. IPod has enough memory to store about 500 CDs-rather more than you canįit in your pocket! So what exactly is "MP3" and how does it work? You can take them with you wherever you go. Heavier, they can store thousands of music tracks, photos, or videos so Smaller than a pack of cards and only a little Last updated: November 20, 2021.Īre a great example.
