The RareTunes FAQ
- What is RareTunes?
- How do I listen to music in RareTunes?
- How do I download tracks from RareTunes, get them on my iPod, MP3 player, PC etc?
- Can I buy tracks from RareTunes?
- Why was RareTunes developed?
- Who is behind Ratetunes?
- I have some interesting material in my own collection which I would like to preserve and share. Would it be possible to add it to RareTunes?
- My organisation would like to establish and maintain a similar facility for preserving and sharing its own material. Can you help?
- Does RareTunes involve social networking? Can I become a friend? Can I use RareTunes to promote my music?
- Can I leave comments and opinions on each track?
- Is the material in the archive safe?
- How does RareTunes work?
- What software does RareTunes use?
- What is the situation regarding copyright?
- Is RareTunes associated with any academic institution, library or archive?
- Does Rateunes receive any public funding or subsidy?
- Is RareTunes associated with any commercial organisation or company?
- What information does the database hold?
- Can I provide links to RareTunes, and individual tracks, from my own web site?
- Can I use tracks from RareTunes in my CD, video, film, TV, radio, animation or multimedia project?
- How can I cite material in RareTunes in my dissertation, essay or published writing?
- What should I do if I am unhappy about material in RareTunes?
- Can you answer specific questions on Scottish music?
- Is RareTunes concerned only with sound?
- What are your future plans for RareTunes?
What is RareTunes?
Ratetunes is an online archive of recordings of mainly Scottish traditional and popular music and sound from private collections where the owners wish to preserve their material in a digital format while sharing it over the internet. The archive can also hold and give access to documents in other formats including images, video and written documents.
How do I listen to music in RareTunes, and what format do you have?
There are a number of ways- you can usually just click the ‘play’ button underneath each track. If this doesn’t show up (it needs javascript enabled), you should see a link to an MP3 file which you can play in your browser or download.
For more serious listening and downloading, you might like to try the Songbird browser which lets you browse any site on the web with music files and play or donwload them very easily.
We are working on a RareTunes player, which will let you select tracks and keep them playing as you browse the archive.
Failing all that, most of our tracks are archived on The Internet Archive and clicking the ‘Info’ button on a track will take you to the archive page there, where you can play or download the file in various formats.
How do I download tracks from RareTunes, get them on my iPod, MP3 player, PC etc?
See above.
Can I buy tracks from RareTunes?
No. The tracks are offered at no cost for personal or non_commercial use. Please contact us if you wish to use any material in a commercial context.
Why was RareTunes developed?
The RareTunes archive was developed by players and collectors of Scottish music seeking a means of archiving, organising and sharing recordings in their private collections. The project was motivated by a belief that there is much recorded music which is unhoused and unheard but can make a major contribution to our understanding of Scottish music. Such material has a strong educational value and can provide much interest and enjoyment to all listeners.
Who is behind Ratetunes?
RareTunes is developed and maintained by two highly experienced Scottish musicians Derek Hoy and Stuart Eydmann. The project draws on their distinguished backgrounds in database development and management, heritage interpretation and conservation, ethnomusicology, field recording, historical research and teaching in higher education.
I have some interesting material in my own collection which I would like to preserve and share. Would it be possible to add it to RareTunes?
Yes. Please contact us.
My organisation would like to establish and maintain a similar facility for preserving and sharing its own material. Can you help?
Yes. We would be pleased to discuss how the RareTunes team might be able to assist. Rarteunes has been developed in a manner which is both portable and scalable and might be adaptable to suit your needs.
Does RareTunes involve social networking? Can I become a friend? Can I use RareTunes to promote my music?
RareTunes is primarily an archive and therefore you may wish to consider alternative sites such as Facebook, SoundLantern etc to meet your needs.
Can I leave comments and opinions on each track?
While we don’t include comments on the pages here, we do regularly hear from people using RareTunes, and we’d be delighted if you were to share any information you might have on any track or performer. Where appropriate we’ll add this information to the database and web pages.
Is the material in the archive safe?
All audio files are stored in a number of formats and locations. The first generation digital file (WAV) is held, and backed up, by the RareTunes team. A copy of the WAV file is held on the Internet Archive servers which are also mirrored. The Internet Archive store also holds copies of the files generated from the WAV in MP3 and Ogg Vorbis formats. In addition, a separate MP3 version of each track is held in a remote storage facility.
Where individuals have offered their private material to RareTunes, digital copies are provided to the owners. The original source material (78 rpm disks, vinyl, reel to reel tapes etc…) remains with the owners. Where these present long-term conservation challenges, it is intended that the material will be offered to appropriate national or regional archives by arrangement.
How does RareTunes work?
- recordings are uploaded to the RareTunes system in the highest quality format available
- the media file and metadata are deposited on the Internet Archive, which generates and holds files in a variety of formats
- MP3 file versions are downloaded from the Internet Archive, tagged, and hosted on Amazon Web Services (S3)
- this process is managed using Amazon Web Services Simple Queue System
The digital media is thus stored in various formats by the Internet Archive, the content of which is mirrored at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, and as MP3 files, on the Amazon servers. Original security copies of the source material are also held by the RareTunes team.
RareTunes can also be used to access files hosted in other locations, where licences permit, such as public domain content. These files are not processed and are left in their original location.
We are working on having ‘collections’ in RareTunes -these are collections of recordings that are kept together, according to theme, source, etc. A collection can have its own web page design, logo, etc. if required and might be used by organisations, societies, educational institutions or libraries for their own archival purposes.
It is also possible to produce similar, but self-contained, private archives where access is limited to members, designated user groups or subscribers.
What software does RareTunes use?
RareTunes is built on the work of these excellent (mostly) Open Source products:
* Django – the python-based web framework ‘for perfectionists with deadlines’
* various third party Django addons
* boto for working with Amazon Web Services
* BeautifulSoup for working with Internet Archive
* Lighttpd web server
* MySQL database server
We have written our own library to interface with the Internet Archive (archive.org) because it has no published API. The code is in Python and once it is more complete we may release it as open source. If you are interested in this code get in touch.
Hosting is with the excellent RimuHosting at their London datacentre- highly recommended for their excellent support.
What is the situation regarding copyright?
We only include audio material where we are confident that there are no copyright infringements. The remastered digital recordings are all either in the public domain or are subject to a Creative Commons Licence which governs their use.
Is RareTunes associated with any academic institution, library or archive?
No. RareTunes is a privately developed and maintained facility. However, RareTunes does work with the Internet Archive (www.archive.org) initiative and would wish to complement the work of national, regional and academic and other archives, which are similarly committed to spreading knowledge of, and access to Scottish music. Links are provided to other complementary online archives.
Does Rareunes receive any public funding or subsidy?
No. The archive has been developed and is maintained independently.
Is RareTunes associated with any commercial organisation or company?
No. RareTunes does not endorse or seek to promote the sale of any commercial products.
What information does the database hold?
The RareTunes database has been developed to meet established quality standards for audio archives and can accommodate extensive data relating to each track. The public pages on the RareTunes web site give a selection of what may be held in the database.
Can I provide links to RareTunes, and individual tracks, from my own web site?
Yes. We encourage this and suggest that you employ the referencing and citation methods described below. However, you should not present RareTunes content as your own, charge for the links to our material or use any tracks in commercial site without permission. RareTunes should always be acknowledged as the source.
Can I use tracks from RareTunes in my CD, video, film, TV, radio, animation or multimedia project?
Yes, but only if it is a non-commercial project. If your work is to be broadcast, offered for sale or otherwise part of a commercial initiative, for most tracks, you will require to obtain the permission of the owners who may apply terms and conditions on agreed arrangements for their use.
How can I cite material in RareTunes in my dissertation, essay or published writing?
We suggest that you employ the following example:
Prince, Alexander “Woodland Flowers”. www.raretunes.org Accessed on 1 May 2008
What should I do if I am unhappy about material in RareTunes?
In such a case, for whatever reason, please get in touch in the first instance to discuss the matter and how it might be resolved.
Can you answer specific questions on Scottish music?
We do not offer to undertake research or answer general questions on Scottish music.
Is RareTunes concerned only with sound?
No. In time we will be adding other related media including articles, sheet music and versions of tunes in ABC format. Our sister collection at Flickr, Rarebits, is a large and growing archive of photographs relating to Scottish music and musicians. In time we hope to include themed playlists and multimedia essays on specific aspects of Scottish music.
What are your future plans for RareTunes?
The RareTunes’ team is patiently working to digitise, archive and share their extensive collection of material and this work will take years to complete. Other material for inclusion is continually coming forward for inclusion too.
As a private archive there are no time scales and deadlines dictated by funding conditions and therefore the collection will grow slowly. Individuals or organisations who wish to have their material included can be easily trained to prepare and upload their tracks and it is likely that any major expansion will be undertaken in this way. The RareTunes team is already in discussions with a number of organisations seeking to put their own audio archives on line.