Bachpod: Classical Music on the Go
December 16th, 2008
Classical music store Passionato has packed the complete works of Johann Sebastian Bach into an equally classic 120 Gb iPod classic. Classic classic classic. From the pictures on the site it doesn’t seem like the iPod has any Bachmarks on it, unlike the U2 iPod, but even at £499 ($748) this thing is still quite a steal for all Bach fans.
Why would a $750 iPod still count as a good deal? Because if you buy the complete works of the Bachman separately, it’ll run you close to $1,500. And that’s without the iPod. Passionato sweetens the deal by including a copy of all of the Bachmusic in the form of 3 DVDs, so even if you lose the Bachpod, you’ll still have your Bachup. Pada-bish!
Also, even with the complete works stuffed in it the iPod still has 63 Gb of disk space left. Just add Skid Row and the Bachpod is truly complete. As for the music, Passionato says, “Renowned Bach conductor Helmuth Rilling is joined by Thomas Quasthoff, Christoph Prégardien, Christine Schäfer and many other fantastic soloists, ensembles, choirs and orchestras on this truly outstanding set of award-winning recordings from prestigious German label Hänssler.”
It’s a bit disappointing however that the songs are only encoded in 128 kb AAC. Also, Passionato says that the box set includes “headphones”, but does not mention the brand or the model. But still, the savings alone is enough if you’re planning on collecting the Bachman’s music anyway. If you’re already sold on this and you want to get it by Christmas, make sure to place your order before December 15.
What I really want, not that anyone cares, is a Bachmobile. But if that’s just a horse-drawn carriage then never mind.
[Passionato via tech digest]
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or maybe, the music is copyright free and isn’t illegal to copy and use, so you’d be an idiot to buy this.
Really? ALL of his works are copyright-free? Hmmm. Still, since Bach is a composer, there are surely multiple versions of his pieces. So even if the pieces themselves are copyright-free, their renditions won’t necessarily be free, especially if world class musicians are involved in the production. They’ll still be entitled to a fee for their skills and effort.
Also, I don’t think that Passionato would offer this if it was illegal to do so.
Bach’s music is copyright free (the official title is “Public Domain”. The recorded performances are not, so you are paying the royalties on the recordings, not the actual music. That being said, the concept is cool, though the performances have all be chosen for you rather than allowing you to from among many possibilities, particularly in the more-frequently performed repertoire. Unless, that is, they give you comparative performances of the same work…now how many iPods can you fill with the complete Brandenburg concerto’s, Passions, or Art of the Fugue?