[mythtv-users] 0.25 Music

[Steven Adeff]

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 1:17 PM, Nasa <nasa01 at comcast.net> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
>> On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:44 PM, Nasa <nasa01 at comcast.net> wrote:
>> > ----- Original Message -----
>> >> --- On Wed, 2/29/12, Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> > From: Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com>
>> >> > one man's playlist is another man's queue. and vice-versa.
>> >> I think the issue here isn't whether something is called a queue or
>> >> a
>> >> playlist, but rather: It seems mostly everyone here wants to be
>> >> able
>> >> to select a track and have it play, rather than have to go through
>> >> the
>> >> hassle of having to build a playlist then as a separate action, go
>> >> play the playlist, even just for a single track. Thay also want to
>> >> arrange and browse their music as files/folders already on the
>> >> drive,
>> >> not an artificial list order made by the player.
>> >
>> > Speak for yourself,
>>
>> I rest my case... (friendly jab, I'll buy you a beer)
>>
>> context for my thinking on how MythMusic should work as I sent
>> previously: I've been thinking about the interface for MythMusic for
>> about 4years, during which time I've lived with 9 different people (we
>> have a 5 bedroom apt), and our friends, who have all used our apt-wide
>> MythTV setup. during that time I've been able to follow the music
>> listening habits of all these people, including what they are used to
>> using on their laptops, and how they all interface with MythMusic, as
>> well as how they have asked me to help organize their music on our
>> fileserver for their use in MythMusic. My point is, I haven't read
>> anything on this list as far as preferred use is concerned that I have
>> not encountered from my sample group. There are a few distinct methods
>> people have for how they listen and mentally organize their music.
>> What I posted previously in this thread is what I've found to be the
>> method that would cover the essential way people think in terms of
>> music playback given a fixed database and screen. Granted, this method
>> works best for those with an HDTV, and does require some "fancy" GUI
>> effects, but it can be done, and I think would provide an excellent
>> interface for music playback overall.
>>
>>
>> > I never select a single track to play -- I have
>> > no interest in selecting song after song after song. While I have
>> > an extensive (over 150 Gigs) of music in a somewhat order folder
>> > format
>> > - I don't listen to my music that way. I tend to select a genre
>> > (yes,
>> > a total pain to organize) and listen to it. I may create unique
>> > playlist
>> > for future listening. I don't tend to listen to a full album and I
>> > don't tend to listen to a single artist, only. You shouldn't assume
>> > that the vocal members of the group represent the majority of the
>> > group.
>>
>> I'd be interested to know how you organize your music currently in
>> MythMusic.
>
> I don't actually organize my music using mythmusic... The only thing I
> do for customizing my listening options is to create "smart playlist".
> BTW: smart playlist don't have to be based on local media --
> they just have to be access to the media (contrary to your suggestion
> -- "Smart Playlists" - smart playlists(for only local media)).

Sorry, yes, I worded my question incorrectly (at least for the
information I'm looking for from you)...
I'd be interested to know how you organize your music currently FOR
USE IN MythMusic?
I agree, organizing *in* MythMusic would make me rip my hair out.

Does MythMusic currently have "smart" playlists? (I've never really
used that feature so I don't know)
If it does, my comments about it in my previous email would not
reference in any way how they are currently done, mostly because I
don't know that so I don't want to tie myself to the current paradigm.



> In fact,
> I don't even really doing that.  If I was programming it - which I'm not,
> I don't want to do any organizing of my media on my TV/HDTV.  I wouldn't be
> ripping media from that interface and I wouldn't be tagging my music from
> that interface (with one exception -- ratings).  I expect to use my remote
> for all my interfacing when I am sitting vegging out on my
> couch.

I completely agree. I could see how, in the future, abilities to let
me do some of that could exist, it would be very specifically tailored
to one method of doing so and so not necessarily universal. Also much
more labor intensive than just doing it on a separate desktop
application.

If a form of accurate lossless ripping (ie EAC, RubyRipper, XLD) were
available I wouldn't be opposed to using it for that, but I'd still
end up tagging and such on a desktop.

I would also like to be able to create playlists and such for
MythMusic from either a MythWeb interface or a standalone app that
interfaces correctly.

> But I do want options on how I play my music...  So, I would
> do all those types of things sitting at my desk via a website.  But
> that's just me.  Presently the web interface isn't up to that type of
> thing, so I do most of my managing of my media via MediaMonkey (yes,
> I have to start a VM with WinXP so I can fix up my media).

Have you tried Jaikoz? for how I do my music organizing and tagging
I've found it fits my needs perfectly. It has some powerful features
too beyond being Java so cross platform. It's not free though, but
updates are and I've found it has been worth every penny.



>>
>> Did you read my post earlier in this thread as to my interface idea?
> Sorry,
>
> No I hadn't.  So I went back and took a look at what you suggested...
> This screen
>
> http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9ynZ1LviUi0/S1RV-OGG-MI/AAAAAAAAB5w/O9NGKiUW5ns/s1600/winamp+media+fixed.JPG
>
> is (in my opinion) way, way too busy.  To get all that stuff on the screen - smaller fonts are going to be
> needed, which means it's going to be hard to read and/or all the info I would be looking for will be cut off.
> For example, the present themes (all that I have tried) cut off the total time for a song, specially recordings
> that last over an hour.
>
> All the options you suggested are cool -- just not on a single screen.  A pop up menu with ability to select
> which mode you want to find your music by is the way I would go (if I was coding it).

I agree in that the screenshot is too busy for MythMusic directly,
what I am aiming for is the workflow concept of how that works. I also
think it may be too much for a standard definition TV regardless, that
said, I've never used MythTV on a standard tv and I can't imagine the
current interface would work well on it either.

I have ideas for how to make that workflow work in MythMusic on an
HDTV by using some "fancy" GUI features while still being easy to read
and easily managed using the minimum standard MythTV remote buttons.

What I'm interested in is if, using that workflow concept, it would
work for your preferences in how you "search"/find/look for your music
(ie real-time filtering by genre/artist/album/year/etc)? imagine that
within each filter section the ability to choose one filter or
multiple is easily possible (since I know that will come up as an
issue).


>> <snip>
>>
>> >> As to the a) or b) scenario: Personally I'd feel that if you select
>> >> an
>> >> album (i.e. folder containing mp3s) you should get to hear all the
>> >> tracks in it. If you select a single mp3 file then it should only
>> >> play
>> >> that one.
>>
>> I agree with this, but I would also say that if I am viewing an album
>> I may want to start half way through and play the rest.
>> I think a better option would be a "single track" mode to playback.
>> Right now there is a Repeat None/Repeat All mode, just add "Single
>> Track" to this playback mode list.
>>
>>
>> >> If you select an existing playlist file then you get to hear the
>> >> playlist. Obviously this implies building a playlist should
>> >> therefore
>> >> save a file (ideally in a portable format like .m3u), so you can do
>> >> it
>> >> once and re-use the same playlist later, even if you make/use
>> >> another
>> >> playlist meantime.
>> >
>> > While I have long wanted a means to play .m3u files -- I am totally
>> > down
>> > with a means to import the playlist into the database and playing it
>> > from there. While exporting a playlist maybe a nice feature, if the
>> > developers
>> > don't see fit to add that feature -- a table dump is pretty straight
>> > forward.
>> > You could probably do that today.
>>
>> the problem I see with m3u files directly is that they would have to
>> be created in such a fashion as to work with how the database finds
>> the files. This would obviously then be best created through MythMusic
>> or a compatible system for creating them (such as through MythWeb in
>> some fashion).
>
> Actually, creating a unique playlist (that would be difficult via a
> smart playlist) would simply be a list of songs.  Then mythmusic would
> search it's database for those songs and create a new playlist.  Options
> for tweaking mismatches would be needed.  But it should be simple in
> concept.  The software is designed around the database -- and things
> that take away from that focus should really be low on the priority
> totem pole.

ah, I see, so not necessarily a direct import, but sort of a search
and match import with user correction!
I could definitely see that as a neat feature to have eventually.

<snip>


-- 
Steve
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/User:Steveadeff
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