iPod and iTunes: The Missing Manual, Third Edition

Playing Music

To turn your computer into a jukebox, click the triangular Play button in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window, or press the Space bar. The computer immediately begins to play the songs whose names have checkmarks in the main list.

The central display at the top of the window shows not only the name of the song and album, but also where you are in the song, as represented by the diamond in the horizontal strip. Drag this diamond, or click elsewhere in the strip, to jump around in the song.

Or, just click the tiny triangle at the left side of this display to see a pulsing VU meter, indicating the current music’s sound levels at various frequencies.

Tip

You can also control CD playback from the Mac’s Dock. Just Control-click the iTunes icon (or click and hold on it) to produce a pop-up menu offering playback commands—like Pause, Next Song, and Previous Song—along with a display that identifies the song currently being played.

As music plays, you can control and manipulate the music and the visuals of your Mac or PC in all kinds of interesting ways. As a result, some people don’t move from their machines for months at a time.

Visuals

Visuals is the iTunes term for an onscreen laser-light show that pulses, beats, and dances in perfect sync to the music you’re listening to. The effect is hypnotic and wild. (For real party fun, invite some people who grew up in the 1960s to your house to watch.)

To summon this psychedelic display, click the flower-power icon in the lower-right ...