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iCloud musician issues


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2 things I wanted to use the iCloud for:

 

1) I ripped 3 CD's onto my MacBook pro. Then I purchased an app to "slow down" music - for analytical listening. Then I subscribed to the 50 GB iCloud. I wanted to upload the ripped CD's into my iCloud to access from my iPad Pro and listen with headphones.

 

2) I also wanted to be able to share (with friends) a link to an mp3 file I recorded. I've done this for several years with my Google drive.

 

 

I called Apple support and (after she checked with her supervisor) was told that I will have to connect my iPad to my MacBook via a cable and move the ripped CD's onto the iPad.

 

Regarding sharing the music I recorded via an mp3 file, I have to buy another app.

 

So if I can't use the iCloud for my musical needs, why again is the Apple cloud so advantageous for musicians ? I'm hoping to begin recording some songs I've been writing - in the future using Garageband. This makes me wonder what other issues are in store.

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Unless I'm totally misunderstanding what you want, there are much better alternatives. I've become a huge fan of Google Play Music. You don't need Android to use it. You get cloud storage for up to 100,000 songs, for free. To play back from what's up there, you just install the Google Play Music app. I have it installed on my iPhone, and listen to music when I take walks (wi-fi isn't needed, although when you're out in the world, you are using cellular data).

 

As to sharing, I don't think Google Play is set up so much for that for that. I just put stuff for people to download on my OneDrive (5 GB free storage) or Google Drive (15 GB free storage).

 

For me, the iCloud's main value is iPhone photo storage and backup. I've been backing up the iPhone to my computer, but I take a lot of photos, and iCloud is the most convenient way to do backing up - it's constant, and in the background. So I'm going to spring for the 50 GB of storage one of these days. But I doubt I'll use it for any kind of music playback or sharing.

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iCloud was never intended for sharing. Its best use to me is to access files from different devices that you own. I have Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, and iMac; Mac Pro is my central storage machine and iCloud is very convenient for accessing files. It's also very handy for transferring bookmarks, calendar, notes, etc when you working on multiple machines. When I save a bookmark under Safari, the other machines also have them.

 

Yes, Apple support was correct that mp3s have to be transferred using the mobile device connected to the laptop or desktop machine. It's always been like that.

 

There are better alternatives for sharing mp3s.

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Unless I'm totally misunderstanding what you want, there are much better alternatives. I've become a huge fan of Google Play Music. You don't need Android to use it. You get cloud storage for up to 100,000 songs, for free. To play back from what's up there, you just install the Google Play Music app. I have it installed on my iPhone, and listen to music when I take walks (wi-fi isn't needed, although when you're out in the world, you are using cellular data).

 

As to sharing, I don't think Google Play is set up so much for that for that. I just put stuff for people to download on my OneDrive (5 GB free storage) or Google Drive (15 GB free storage).

 

For me, the iCloud's main value is iPhone photo storage and backup. I've been backing up the iPhone to my computer, but I take a lot of photos, and iCloud is the most convenient way to do backing up - it's constant, and in the background. So I'm going to spring for the 50 GB of storage one of these days. But I doubt I'll use it for any kind of music playback or sharing.

 

 

I was under an impression that I'd have extra difficulty using my Google Drive in the Apple ecosystem. My 15 GB Google Drive is 85% full and I didn't want to have two subscriptions. And I like using it to share things. Often demo recordings and photos of lyrics I'm writing. I don't really care about iCloud for photos and such.

 

So can I use my MacBook and iPad with my Google drive easily ? Pardon my ignorance.

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Thanks for the tip Kuru. I'm also going to have to do some experimenting with the Mac ant Google. I'm so accustomed to the Windows world.

 

You're welcome. I haven't tried Google Play, don't have a huge library of music.

 

Google Drive is handy but you have to be sure to provide "permission" for the email recipient to be able to download the file. It's simple as long as that is done.

I've found WeTransfer to be simpler for sending a song.

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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...

 

So can I use my MacBook and iPad with my Google drive easily ? Pardon my ignorance.

 

I use Google Drive exclusively for file transfer because I hate Dropbox. The iOS app can be glitchy unfortunately. However it works fine with my Mac and Windows computers. I've used it to transfer/store music, photos, large database files, tracks for collaboration, sheet music, etc. You get 15GB free storage, *but*, as I just recently found out, that storage is shared among your Gmail, Google Drive, Google Photos, and all other Google services.

 

Some keyboardists on another forum I'm part of like to use a service called "Box" for storing .mp3s etc to share (it's a music-performance forum so we regularly post tracks for people to listen to of ourselves playing).

Yamaha: Motif XF8, MODX7, YS200, CVP-305, CLP-130, YPG-235, PSR-295, PSS-470 | Roland: Fantom 7, JV-1000

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Assorted electric & acoustic guitars and electric basses | Roland TD-17 KVX | Alesis SamplePad Pro | Assorted organs, accordions, other instruments

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Well I made some progress today. I've not been fooling with Garageband for a week or two. But today I recorded something to play around with (a reggaeish Here Comes The Sun). So then I did a bit of Googling and YouTubing to get some hints. I'm new to the Mac world. But I was able from my Google Drive to see my Garageband files. But when I upload a file to the Google drive it shows as a ****whatever name***band.zip So I'm guessing I'm uploading a whole project and maybe need to figure out how to convert to just an mp3.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm used to the Google drive and will probably subscribe for the $2 per month. I'll cancel the Apple drive.

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On the Share Menu in GarageBand, choose Export to Disk. Then choose .mp3 and select the quality of export (you can also export to .wav and a number of other formats). The .band "file" is actually more like a folder containing all of the setup information for the GB project. I am recording audio files using my Mac and GB to be used for online Bible study lessons. Switched to the Mac because all of the DAW applications that I had required way to much learning curve for what needed to be a very quick use. So, I hook up 1 or 2 condenser mics to my Focusrite 18i8, plug in the USB on the mac, open the Focusrite app (which looks like a mixer and check the gain and adjust if needed. Then I use GB to make the recording.

At that point, I save the .mp3 file to either OneDrive or iCloud Files (or Box or Google Drive or Dropbox, all of them work with either Mac or PC), transfer the file to the PC, use VSDC Free Video Editor to import the audio file, then import pictures for the video portion. Now that I've done it a couple of times, it works reasonably quick and easy.

GB is the easiest way I've found to do this in terms of needed learning curve. Every time I hit a snag, a quick Google search would give a useful answer. I used to use Dropbox for a lot of things, even the 2GB or so was enough. But when they went full commercial, I don't need 1TB of storage, especially at about $120 a year. 50GB on iCloud for 99 cents a month is much better. I also have 30GB on OneDrive (sent email while I could to keep the free storage that I already had), 50GB for life on Box, it came with a HP Win 8 tablet that I bought new a few years ago, and the 15GB on Google Drive.

Also easy to use all of those on the iPads. The oldest with OS 9.something is most difficult but I got a free files app for it. The newer IOS versions provide the Files app, and I can then transfer a file into whatever app I need to use with it. I've put some time into getting all this running smoothly, because one of the local specialties that my firm provides is "Making Apple and Microsoft PLAY NICE!" Nice little niche no one else in my area is filling.

Howard Grand|Hamm SK1-73|Kurz PC2|PC2X|PC3|PC3X|PC361; QSC K10's

HP DAW|Epi Les Paul & LP 5-str bass|iPad mini2

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Jim

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On the Share Menu in GarageBand, choose Export to Disk. Then choose .mp3 and select the quality of export (you can also export to .wav and a number of other formats). The .band "file" is actually more like a folder containing all of the setup information for the GB project. I am recording audio files using my Mac and GB to be used for online Bible study lessons. Switched to the Mac because all of the DAW applications that I had required way to much learning curve for what needed to be a very quick use. So, I hook up 1 or 2 condenser mics to my Focusrite 18i8, plug in the USB on the mac, open the Focusrite app (which looks like a mixer and check the gain and adjust if needed. Then I use GB to make the recording.

At that point, I save the .mp3 file to either OneDrive or iCloud Files (or Box or Google Drive or Dropbox, all of them work with either Mac or PC), transfer the file to the PC, use VSDC Free Video Editor to import the audio file, then import pictures for the video portion. Now that I've done it a couple of times, it works reasonably quick and easy.

GB is the easiest way I've found to do this in terms of needed learning curve. Every time I hit a snag, a quick Google search would give a useful answer.

 

I was successful following your advice on "Export to Disk". I tried exporting to my external Samsung T5 SSD - but then I couldn't find the mp3 file on the Samsung - but that's a different problem. When I used my iCloud drive , I was able to easily find the converted mp3 file to share via an email.

 

Thanks for the input(s) and advice from everyone.

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