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Update: if you’re looking for splitting mp3 files without reencoding and by using only mplayer and mencoder command line tools, read this post instead.

I have a Sony mznh600 which uses the brilliant SonicStage bloatware to upload music to the equipment. This shit put little glitches into the tracks I upload in case those are mp3 files. With wavs this isn’t an issue. Therefore I always have to convert my files to wav first and upload then. I tend to listen kinda electronic music (I prefer files published as mixes) instead of popular crap, so I feel the need to split them into smaller pieces. SonicStage runs only on windowns, so I set up an environment to perform previous steps.

First of all I installed Vim as a useful tool long ago. As a preparation step change your _vimrc as follows.

C:\Program Files\Vim>diff _vimrc _vimrc-orig
3c3
< " source $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim
---
> source $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim

C:\Program Files\Vim>

This change allows to use Ctrl-A as incremental operator. Download and unzip mplayer e.g. from here then create an initial command file like this:

D:\z\split>type split.cmd
d:\z\mplayer\mplayer.exe -ss 0 -endpos 300 Beatman_and_Ludmilla-Breakout_Breeze-
_-The_Breakbeat_Show_at_Radio_Tilos-LINE-22_12_2007.mp3 -ao pcm:file=tr01.wav

D:\z\split>

Change file names as convenient for you. Open it in Vim and start with a “:set nrformats=” command. This last one enables the behavior when you press Ctrl-A on a number like 07 it becomes 08 (and on 09 it will be 10). Then do the followings:

qayyp/-ss<enter>4l300<Ctrl-a>/=tr<enter>3l<Ctrl-a>0q12@a

This will create command line statements for the track sequence (300 sec (5 min) for every track). You should change the 12 before @ to cover the full length. A bigger number is good as well because then the wavs out of scope won’t contain data and you can delete those afterwards. Finally just run the command file and enjoy the results.

Of course some changes should be made to suit your needs, but these are the basics.

I always have ideas when listening music. E.g. things should be changed to make it more enjoyable for me. I often feel the need to express my thoughts on this which materialize itself in forms like hacking CM and in searching for composers’ work. I’d like to be able to create compositions like Christopher Burns did with his Kepler’s Monsters. Direct links are 1, 2, 3.

I happened to participate on a contemporary organ & quire concert. The performer was Iveta Apkalna who played fantasies from Thierry Escaich, Saint-Saëns, etc. I didn’t manage to find any useful sites about ‘em. It was really really good.