IN THIS CHAPTER:
Now that you've got your iTunes Library packed full of the music you love, it's time to sit back and enjoy itand to explore some of the ways iTunes takes advantage of the inherent versatility of the digital music medium to let you do more things with your music than you'd ever thought possible. Finding a favorite album and playing it from beginning to end, as you're accustomed to doing with your CD collection, is a matter of two or three clicks to navigate to the album's location and start it playing. However, that's where the limitations of CDs start to kick inand where iTunes starts to break free of them. Even with an expensive multi-disc changer, organizing lists of songs from various physical discs is a laborious and non-intuitive process. But with iTunes, creating a playlist of favorite tunes in a themed mix or carefully engineered progression is as simple as clicking and dragging. Randomizing (or "shuffling") tracks, something you can do in CD players, is something you can do in iTunes, too. One thing no CD-player engineer ever dared dream, however, is the ability to generate a dynamically updated list of songs selected from your entire Library on the basis of certain specified criteria, such as the genre , release date, or a personal "star" rating you assign to each track. With Smart Playlists , iTunes gives you this ability, making it not just possible to sift through your music to find exactly the right tunes for the right occasion, but automatic as wellas though you had your own private DJ. Because of the versatility of software, several more features are available in iTunes to enhance the satisfaction you get from playing your music. You can crossfade songs, having one start playing while the previous one is fading out, like they do on the radio. You can have iTunes examine all your music with the Sound Check feature, ensuring that each album plays at the same relative volume level. And with the built-in Visualizer , iTunes turns your music enjoyment from a purely auditory pastime into a treat for the eyes as well. |