ArsGeek

Grip and Lame are two useful tools to make backup copies of your music CDs. We’re going to look at how to install them and then configure them to ‘just work’ for you on your Ubuntu or Debian based computer using Grip as a graphical front end.

First, you’ll need to make sure you have the right tools installed. For Synaptic users (System-> Administration-> Synaptic Package Manager) search for lame, grip and cdparanoia.

In a terminal session type:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install lame grip cdparanoia

You’ll be using Grip as your GUI front end for this task. Go to Applications-> Sound and Video-> Grip to launch it.

Now go to the Config tab. In the Config tab, select the Rip tab. Change the Ripper drop-down to cdparanoia. The command line and file format lines should be as follows:

Command: -d %c %t:[.%s]-%t:[.%e] %w
File Format: ~/mp3/%A/%d/%n.wav

Now go to the Encode tab. The Encoder drop-down should be set to lame. The encoder command line should be as follows:

-V 2 –vbr-new –add-id3v2 –pad-id3v2 –ta “%a” –tt “%n” –tl “%d” –ty “%y” –tn “%t” %w %m

Everything else can stay as a default.

To rip tracks from a CD and encode them as MP3’s, Go to the Tracks tab at the top and select the tracks you want to rip. Click the Rip button (track/length/rip) to select them all.

Go to the Rip tab at the very top. Click the Rip+Encode button and you’re on your way.

With these settings, Grip will store the tracks in /home/username/mp3. In the /mp3 directory they’ll be organized by Musician name and the Album (if known).

Disclaimer: It is illegal to pirate music. Arsgeek and it’s authors will not be held responsible if any of the information contained on this site is used in the pursuit of illegal activities such as piracy or copyright infringement. This information is provided to make legal copies of music CD’s in the legal possession of an individual.