Lesson 1. Making a Custom CD From Your Music Collection

Lesson Files	A couple of CDs from your personal CD collection
Tools	iTunes, Internet connection (optional)
Time	Approximately 55 minutes
Goals	Play CDs in iTunes
	Import all or a portion of a CD into the iTunes Library
	Add or adjust CD information about albums or songs
	Browse and search efficiently through your music library
	Create and customize personal playlists of your favorite music
	Make custom CDs
	Move music from iTunes to an iPod
	Play iPod music from a stereo

Imagine having instant access to songs you have always loved but haven't played in eons (because they were buried on albums you generally didn't like). Imagine setting up what amounts to your own private radio stationplaying all your favorite tunes for hours on end (days, even). iTunes makes this possible. CDs, those silvery discs that have become the center of your musical world, are about to become archaic. It's time to start thinking of a CD as an archive, a safe backup. To really enjoy your media, you want it readily accessible and malleable as only a digital creation can be.

Although this lesson demonstrates a fundamental aspect of iTunesthat is, getting your CDs into your computer, organizing them, and burning a custom CD of your favorite songsit has a broader goal. Somewhere near where you're sitting right now are probably dozens, perhaps hundreds of CDs that you've been purchasing for many years. The idea of this lesson is to initiate the ambitious project of moving that entire collection from discrete CDs into a single, massive jukeboxan enormous body of acoustic joy!

As discussed in the "Getting Ready" chapter, you're going to follow three characters through their adventures with iLife. In this lesson, let's begin by seeing what Christopher, the father of the birthday girl, is up to. He's working with his daughter to make a special birthday party CD. You'll start by working with just a few CDs to get into the groove.