So here’s the deal…YouTube is massive. Seriously massive. When I’m puttering in my workshop I’ll search for a musician or band or musical genre followed by the word “concert” and get a zillion things to listen to via my bluetooth-enabled little boom box. Very cool. There are also audio books and recordings of pretty much everything that we’re going to sing in any given semester.

There are a couple of irritating things though. First, you have to have enough of a connection to the interweb to allow the thing to stream (both the tunnel and the town-side canyon on H3 make things come to a screeching halt). Second, there are now commercials DURING the stream. Ugh.

Being a nerd of the first order, I went on the hunt for a solution and found it. Here’s what you do:

1. On the PC you use for synching your smart phone, go to the YouTube video you just can’t live without (yes it can be in a channel or a playlist).
2. Copy the link from either the top of your browser or the “share” box.
3. Go to either http://www.listentoyoutube.com/ or http://www.theyoump3.com/, paste the link into the window provided and click either “go” or “convert” (depending on the site you’re using). The site will download and convert the video to an MP3 audio. (Safety note: they pay for the site with all sorts of ads, click thee not on them.)
4. Once it’s done, click the “download” link that’s provided.
5. Add that file to the “Music” list in iTunes and synch the phone.

I know that sounds a little complicated but once you’ve done it a couple times it’s pretty straightforward AND it gets rid of the two irritating things about streaming: you’re playing a file so you don’t need an internet connection and the ads are all gone. Sweet.