automatic mp3 file merging?

[Birmingham]

Hi peeps,

I need some way to merge mp3 files online, at the click of a button, so a user can upload two mp3 files to my site and click a button which merges the two files and makes an mp3 download available which has the sound of one file overlaid onto the second file, so that the two original files play similtaneously within one file.

any ideas?

so far i'm able to merge two mp3 files manually using flash, and the end product is one swf file, but i'd like the end product to be an mp3 file and also i'd like the whole process to take place automatically online

can anyone help?

[djr33]

Interesting.

You could probably do this with a server side language if you were able to figure out how mp3 files work. Look for an mp3 extension for PHP, or for ASP, etc.

The easier route, though, would be to create a shell holding the two files, sorta like a playlist.

With quicktime pro, you can put two files together (either one after the other, or at the same time) just by pasting then saving. It generates a .mov which is basically a playlist, telling the computer what to play and when.

You can do the same with .rm (real media) and perhaps other formats, too.

So, that would allow you to output a playlist type file. However, that would not create a standalone with the media included. This is possible with quicktime files (choosing "save as self contained"), but I'm not sure how it would apply to you.

I'd suggest searching for similar projects on google, or looking at the source of such files. I'm not sure if it's even possible to read, though, so you might also need to know how to decrypt the code, etc.

This isn't easy, so be prepared for a big task.

But it could be cool.

If you really want to output a single track (or stereo) mp3 file, that would be difficult. That would involve actually merging the waveforms. You'd need some sort of extension for a server side language in that case.

[Birmingham]

thanks djr33, some nice tips there... i'm now doing google searches like 'php mp3' which are sending me in a better direction than i was in before.

any other tips from anyone would be much appreciated