Frequently asked questions

How do you digitize vinyl, and how do you make the sound quality so good?
First and foremost, I look for well-taken care of records; I generally avoid scratched and noisy ones. I use a Stanton turntable, connected to a Mac. I record using Sound Studio and then clean/tweak using that combined with ClickRepair. Look around the Internet for other software options, and possibly alternative ways of digitizing.

That said, couldn't you make the MP3 bit rate higher?
There are several reasons for keeping MP3s at a comparatively low bit rate, one being that I don't want MFT3F to even vaguely resemble (or compete or get in trouble with) any commercially driven enterprise. That isn't what this blog is. Additionally, everything is ripped from 30-50 year old second hand vinyl records of varying quality both in terms of pressing and condition – the sound is more often than not low quality to begin with and ripping above 192 kbps really won't make it that much better. I've tried. Complaining won't make me change my mind. If you're not happy with that, don't download.

Where do you get your records?
Many have been obtained from other enthusiasts. Some I've found on eBay; when I won an auction I used to ask sellers if they had other titles they wanted to sell (cheaply), and often they did. Resulting in me acquiring large batches at a time. A few I've found in second hand shops. None have been bought in India as I've never actually been there.

Can you please post [soundtrack] by [composer]?
I don't really do requests, it's not that sort of blog. I can only post what I have, and I only obtain soundtracks that I think I'll like myself, not what others might require or want to hear. MFT3F isn't a library. It seems some are under the impression that I can somehow access and post whatever record that strikes their fancy; that has never been the case. Any pre-planned post can often be previewed on the MFT3F Flickr; other than that it's anyone's guess what will be forthcoming.

Why don't you post any recent soundtracks?
One of the initial purposes of the blog was to draw attention to vintage soundtracks that weren't properly or satisfactorily available elsewhere. Recent soundtracks usually are. Despite my misgivings about the established record industry, I don't really want to compete with them. Also, I haven't actually heard any recent Bollywood soundtracks that I like, so I don't have any to post. I prefer the older stuff.

I've linked to your page, will you link back?
I appreciate being linked to; I hope and trust it's because you find this blog worthwhile. If I like your blog/page/web site, if I'm liable to read it myself, if I find it related or relevant to this one, then yes I'd be happy to link back. If I don't then I probably won't, sorry. I don't really go in for blind link exchanges; despite you linking to here I'll only reciprocate if I feel I can endorse your site.

The download link is dead, can you please re-upload?
Sorry, but no. All download links will inevitably expire after a certain period, the length of which usually being dependent on traffic. I can't and won't forever continue to maintain hundreds of links. It's the nature of blogs like this that links die; MFT3F was never intended as a permanent archive of any record posted, simply something made available to whoever came across them at the time. This is not a public service website. Additionally, as the copyright to most of the music posted lies elsewhere, the limited availability may hopefully mean that owners will object less. More and more vintage Bollywood soundtracks are now becoming available via conventional outlets, so chances are that what is no longer available here can still be obtained elsewhere.

I wrote a comment, but I can't see it on the blog.
What was in it? I do love getting feedback; commenting was initially unmoderated but spending an entire evening deleting the same porn link from every post on the blog brought an end to that, unfortunately. I prefer comments to be somehow related to the post at hand, but with a few notable exceptions (unsolicited links from strangers, anything resembling spam, repeat questions already answered on this page), almost all get posted.

We have a product/service that we think is ideal for you/your readers; would you be interested in hearing about our business proposition/monetizing solutions?
No.

I have a different question.
Cool, get in touch then. And don't forget you can also find, follow and contact MFT3F on Facebook and Twitter.