Difference between revisions of "MythMusic"

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MythMusic is a simple mythtv plugin that allows the system to play Audio files .i.e mp3, ogg, flac, wav etc using the mythtv GUI and remote.
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{{UpToDate|34}}
  
  
== MythMusic Install ==
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MythMusic is a sophisticated MythTV plugin that allows you to play and manage music and audio files .i.e MP3, Ogg, FLAC, wav etc and play radio streams from the likes of Icecast, Sky FM, Digitally Imported and Radionomy.
 +
It is specifically designed to be operated by a normal remote control.
  
Here we will go through the install proccess for myth music
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This page describes the regular music files features of MythMusic. For the radio streaming part see [[MythMusic Radio Streaming]].
 +
 +
== Supported Formats and Containers ==
  
=== Prerequisites ===
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=== Playback ===
 +
* Audio CDs
 +
* MP2
 +
* MP3
 +
* MP4
 +
* FLAC
 +
* Vorbis Audio (OGG + OGA)
 +
* AAC (iTunes)
 +
* AC3
 +
* Wav + WavPack (WV)
 +
* Windows Media Audio (WMA)
 +
* Sony OpenMG (OMA + OMG)
 +
* Sony ATRAC (ATP, AA3)
 +
* Real Audio (RA)
 +
* Matroska Audio
 +
* Audio Interchange Format (AIFF)
 +
* True Audio (TTA)
 +
* Shockwave Audio (SWA)
 +
* And more
  
The prerequisites for MythMusic are:
+
===Encoding===
* MAD
+
* MP3
* id3tag
 
* libvorbis-devel
 
 
* FLAC
 
* FLAC
* libcdaudio
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* OGG Vorbis Audio
* CDParanoia
+
 
 +
== Installing MythMusic ==
 +
The best approach is to follow the installation guides for MythTV and MythMusic that have been developed for your [[Operating System]] and distribution.
 +
 
 +
==  Configuring MythMusic ==
 +
 
 +
For global MythMusic configuration, go to the Utilities/Setup->Setup->Media Settings->Music Settings->General Settings.
 +
MythTV before [[Release_Notes_-_0.28|0.28]] required you to specify a single directory for your music, on this General Settings page.
 +
 
 +
Recent MythTV versions use [[Setup_Storage_Directories|Storage Groups]] to specify where your music is stored, which must be configured with [[Configuring_MythTV|mythtv-setup]].
 +
 
 +
There is also a set of music Tools at Utilties/Setup->Music Tools. Here you can rescan your music library, etc.
 +
 
 +
{{Note box|The location of menu items depends on the Menu Theme you have chosen. In the classic menu theme all the menu items are available in the Music menu. In the default menu theme the menu items are scattered thoughout the menus. The menu locations given on this page are for the default layout.}}
 +
 
 +
== Using MythMusic ==
 +
Because MythMusic has been designed to work with a remote control, people often struggle with it, especially when building and editing playlists. Once you become familiar with how it works, which does not take long, you will be amazed at how much more accessible and enjoyable it makes listening to your music collection.  If you already have music in your Music storage group, you can skip ahead to [[#Playing Music]].  Otherwise, first build your music collection.
 +
 
 +
===Building your music collection ===
 +
 
 +
There are three ways to add music to MythMusic. You can rip existing CD's, copy your tracks to the existing music directory and do a rescan or you can also import tracks from another location into your music directory. Each method will be explained below.
 +
 
 +
====Ripping CDs====
 +
 
 +
{{Note box|Since 2020, no metadata lookup is done.  You may want to rip CDs using other desktop software and then move along to [[#Scanning_the_music_directory|the next section]] }}
 +
 
 +
Before you start to rip a CD into MythMusic there are a few things you should check.
 +
*Make sure your CD device is set correctly - Setup->Media Settings->Music Settings->General Settings. 
 +
*Make sure that your system is not set up to mount the CD and begin playing it automatically.
 +
**Gnome: System→Preferences → Removable Drives and Media Preferences.
 +
**KDE: There are two ways to do this (the first is easier):
 +
***Insert an audio CD, which will trigger a pop-up window.  Select "X Do Nothing", tick the "Always do this for this type of media" checkbox and press OK.
 +
*** Go to System Settings → Notifications → Storage Media Notifications → (Notifications tab) Medium types, select: Audio CD. "X Do Nothing" should have "(Auto Action) after it.  If not, press the "Toggle as Auto Action" button.
 +
*It helps to have your system connected to the Internet, so that MythMusic can locate the information about your CD
 +
 
 +
*Set up how you want your CDs to be ripped, including default quality settings. See the section on [[CD Ripper Settings]]
 +
 
 +
To import (rip) a CD, you need to select the "Import CD" menu item.  This can be found in two places
 +
*Optical Disks → Import CD
 +
*Utilities/Setup → Music Tools → Import CD
 +
 
 +
Insert the disk you want to rip, after a few seconds the Import CD screen will show, with the Artist, Album and tracks information. Prior to 2020 MythTV would query the Internet [[freedb]] database for your CD information.  Until a new database connection is developed, you will need to manually enter your information or user other ripping/tagging tools.  Make sure at least Artist and Album are correct to save the tracks to a unique directory.
 +
 
 +
[[Image:MythMusic1.png|450px]]
 +
 
 +
Check that the Quality setting is what you need. The options are :-
 +
 
 +
*Low    - Low bit rate, low quality, very small file sizes .ogg or .mp3
 +
 
 +
*Medium  - Medium bit rate, medium quality .ogg or .mp3
 +
 
 +
*High    - High bit rate, high quality  .ogg or .mp3
 +
 
 +
*Perfect - Rips to Lossless FLAC file format. This is CD quality but compressed by about 50%
 +
 
 +
You can make changes to any of the items on the screen at this point before you finally select the "Rip CD" button. To edit an individual track, use the 'edit' key ([[#Useful keys to know|see below]]).
 +
 
 +
You now see the progress screen showing each track as it is ripped and encoded, as well as the overall progress on the whole album. Once import has finished you can configure your CD to be ejected.
 +
 
 +
[[Image:MythMusic2.png|450px]]
 +
 
 +
MythTV stores your ripped music on your hard drive in a structured manner. See the page on [[MythMusic File Organization]]. All your music files will also be tagged using the [[ID3]] standard
 +
 
 +
====Scanning the music directory====
 +
 
 +
If you have copied some new music to your music directory or if you want to scan an existing music collection then you can have MythMusic scan for this. Point MythMusic at the directory in which your music collection is, by changing the location of your music library:
 +
* Utilities/Setup → Setup →Media Settings-> Music Settings → General settings.
 +
Then:
 +
* Utilities/Setup → Music tools → Scan for New Music.
 +
 
 +
MythTV will then scan for music and add the information into the MythTV database.
 +
 
 +
You should also do a rescan if you changed the tag information using a tool outside of MythMusic so it will pick up any changes. Note: for MythMusic to notice the changes the modification time of the files needs to have changed.
 +
 
 +
Alternatively of course, you can copy your existing collection across to the folder that MythMusic has already begun building your collection to.
 +
 
 +
If you have files that have been ripped to Apple's AAC format this should be no problem. Either copy these files into the MythMusic directory and then scan for new music, or mount your collection onto the systems file system and point your MythMusic directory to it as above.
 +
 
 +
====Importing music to the music directory====
  
=== Manual Install of Prerequisites ===
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If you have some tracks you want to add to your music directory then one easy way to do it is to import the tracks using MythMusic. It will copy the tracks to your music directory for you creating the necessary directory structure and renaming the files based on the preferences you have told MythMusic to use.
These instructions are for distributions which don't have pre-compiled versions of the software necessary to run MythTV.
 
  
Download MAD and libid3tag from http://www.underbit.com/products/mad/ Follow the link to download via FTP and save the files to a directory you can find later.
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[[Image:MythMusic_Import.png|450px]]
  
    $ tar -xzf mad-0.15.1b.tar.gz
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====Removing music from the music directory====
    $ cd mad-0.15.1b
 
    $ ./configure
 
    $ make
 
    $ su
 
    # make install
 
    # exit
 
    $ cd ..
 
    $ tar -xzf libid3tag-0.15.1b.tar.gz
 
    $ cd libid3tag-0.15.1b
 
    $ ./configure
 
    $ make
 
    $ su
 
    # make install
 
    # exit
 
    $ cd ..
 
  
Download FLAC from http://flac.sourceforge.net and install:
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If you wish to remove some music from MythMusic, remove the files on disk and [[#Scanning the music directory|re-scan]].
  
    $ tar -xzf flac-1.1.2.tar.gz
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====Using Album Art====
    $ cd flac-1.1.2
 
    $ ./configure
 
    $ make
 
    $ su
 
    # make install
 
    # exit
 
    $
 
  
Download libcdaudio from http://libcdaudio.sourceforge.net and install:
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MythMusic supports the display of album art with the name 'cover.jpg' found in the same directory as a music file or embedded in MP3 files with ID3V2.3 or ID3V2.4 tags.
  
    $ tar -xzf libcdaudio-0.99.12p2.tar.gz
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The metadata editor also allows you to search Google images for any suitable cover art, artist and genre images. It's up to the user to determine if they are allowed to use any of the images they find.
    $ cd libcdaudio-0.99.12p2
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    $ ./configure
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{{Note box|If you add album art onto an existing collection using software such as "EasyTag" which preserves file modification time by default, you will need to make sure the timestamp of the files is updated (use 'touch') so that Mythmusic rescans the files properly. Otherwise the album art won't appear.}}
    $ make
 
    $ su
 
    # make install
 
    # exit
 
    $
 
  
Download cdparanoia from http://www.xiph.org/paranoia/down.html.
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===Playing Music===
 +
MythMusic works on the principle that any tracks you wish to play must first be added to a current (working) playlist. If you don't care about this list and just want to play music, don't miss the new [[#Play Now]] feature.
  
    $ tar -xzf cdparanoia-III-alpha9.8.src.tgz
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There are several ways to add tracks to this playlist like browsing for them in your music library, searching for individual tracks or using the quick playlists on the popup menu.
    $ cd cdparanoia-III-alpha9.8
 
    $ ./configure
 
    $ make
 
    $ su
 
    # make install
 
    # cd /usr/lib
 
    # ln -sf libcdda_interface.so.0.9.8 libcdda_interface.so
 
    # ln -sf libcdda_paranoia.so.0.9.8 libcdda_paranoia.so
 
    # exit
 
    $
 
  
=== Distro Specific  ===
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===MythMusic's Views===
 +
There are several views in MythMusic that can have overlapping features depending on what the themer wants to show. Most widgets are optional so it is up to the themer what you get on any view. The following images and descriptions apply to the default and MythCenter themes and most others.
  
==== Debian (or derivative) ====
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From the MythTV main menu you get started at Media Library->Listen To Music. This will show the Current Playlist view.  From there, simply MENU->Browse Music Library.  The music browser is also available at Setup->Media Settings->Music Tools->Select Music. Escape will return to the previous view.  You can also switch to other views by pressing the MENU key.
  
As root run:
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====The Current Playlist View====
 +
[[Image:MythMusic3.png|450px]]
  
    # apt-get update
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This view is the main playback screen and shows the current (working) playlist at the top and the current track's metadata below. It also shows some playback controls and the active visualizer along with the current volume status.
    # apt-get install libmad0 libmad0-devel libflac4 libflac4-devel libcdaudio1 cdparanoia
 
    # apt-get install libcdda0 libcdda0-devel libvorbis0 libvorbis0-devel libcdaudio1-devel libid3tag0 libid3tag0-devel
 
  
==== Gentoo ====
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To add tracks to the list you will MENU->'''Browse Music Library''', described in the next section.  Once you have some tracks, you can select any song to play it now. Basic editing is also available:
  
As root:
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* hitting I for INFO will show the metadata for that song
 +
* hitting the DELETE key on a line will remove it from the list
 +
* reorder the list at MENU->More Options->Playlist Options->Switch to Move Mode
 +
** then selecting a line will move it up/down and select again will place it
 +
** exit reordering with MENU->Playlist Options->Switch to Select Mode
  
  # emerge sync
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To add more tracks to the list, MENU->Browse Music Library:
  # emerge libmad0 libmad0 libflac4 libflac4-devel libcdaudio1 cdparanoia  libcdda0 libcdda0 libvorbis0 libvorbis0 
 
  # libcdaudio1 libid3tag0 libid3tag0
 
  
 +
====Browse Music Library - Tree View====
 +
[[Image:MythMusic4.png|450px]]
  
==== Mandriva ====
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====Browse Music Library - Gallery View====
Mandriva has a number of the prerequisites available on the installation CD. Some of the software you're going to need will have to be obtained from the "contrib" or "cooker" development repositories. Applications downloaded from "cooker" come from the development branch, so there may be issues with some software. It isn't recommended that you mix cooker and release-level software.
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[[Image:MythMusic5.png|450px]]
  
urpmi is the simplest tool for installation of packages from the command line. The difficult part is the configuration, but this has been made easier at the following website: http://addmedia.linuxfornewbies.org/ The website will allow you to choose a mirror site and then present the command-line configuration text for that mirror. You will most likely need to add a "Contrib" mirror to your setup. Once you have done that, you can proceed. If urpmi prompts you about other modules that need to be installed to satisfy dependencies, say "Yes".
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{{Note box|prior to MythTV 34, "Browse Music Library" was called "Playlist Editor" so these terms are interchangable.}}
  
    # urpmi libmad0 libmad0-devel libflac4 libflac4-devel libcdaudio1 cdparanoia
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The Browse Music Library view (formerly Playlist Editor) shows the music library tree at the top, the current playlist in the middle and the currently playing track below.  Use tab or Left/Right navigation to move to these sections.  Switch from tree to gallery and vice versa at MENU->Switch To (Other) View.
    # urpmi libcdda0 libcdda0-devel libvorbis0 libvorbis0-devel
 
    # urpmi libcdaudio1-devel libid3tag0 libid3tag0-devel
 
  
Additional options with MythMusic
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These views allow you to browse your music collection looking for tracks you would like to play. Pressing SELECT (MARK in the gallery view) on any node in the tree will allow you to play, add or replace any tracks below the current node to the working playlist.  A couple of examples will hopefully make things a little clearer (both the tree and gallery views work in the same way though it's easier to see what is happening in the tree view until you get used to it). Lets say you want to play all your Christmas tracks, in the tree on the far left move to 'Genres' then move right to the list of genres, find 'Christmas' in the list then press SELECT/MARK. You will be given the choice to play, add or replace the tracks on the working playlist.
  
Additional visualizations have been added to MythMusic. If you wish to use these, there are some prerequisites you must install prior to compiling.
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Lets try a more complex example, say you want to play all you favourite tracks from Dire Straits, in the far left of the tree select Artist and move right, find Dire Straits in the artist list and move right, select 'Ratings' and move right, in the list of ratings press SELECT/MARK on the highest rating to play/add/replace the tracks on the working playlist.
  
* fftw
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{{Note box|Some lists can be quite long, like the Artist list. A quick way to find what you are looking for is to use the button list search feature available in MythTV. You access it by pressing CTRL-S or MENU then 'Search List...'. Entering text in the search box will scroll the list to the first item that matches the search text, you can also find the next/previous matches using the buttons in the search popup dialog.}}
* OpenGL
 
* SDL
 
  
fftw may be obtained from http://www.fftw.org/. In Mandriva it may be installed by typing:
+
{{Note box|The popup menu that is shown when you press MENU is context sensitive so the options shown will depend on what widget has the focus and even what node in the tree has the focus. For example if the tree has the focus and a playlist node is selected you will see options to play/add/replace as well as an option to remove that playlist. The 'More Options' menu item will always open the standard menu with the usual menu options.}}
  
    # urpmi libfftw2 libfftw2-devel
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====The Search View====
 +
[[Image:MythMusic_Search.png|450px]]
 +
 +
The Search view shows a list of fields to search, the search text, the number of matches and a list of matching tracks at the top, the current playlist in the middle, and the currently playing track below.  Use Left/Right navigation to move to these sections.
  
OpenGL should be installed on practically all distributions. However, you will need the devel module. In Mandriva it may be installed by typing:
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The search view allows you to do a quick search for a track you want to add to the working playlist. You can search the Artist, Album, Title, Genre or all of them for some text you enter. For example say you are looking for a track that you know has 'cars' in the title but can't remember who it is by or what album it is on you would select 'Title' in the fields to search and enter 'cars' in the search text which would give you a list of matching tracks you can then individually add to the working playlist.
  
    # urpmi libMesaGLU1-devel
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====Lyrics View====
 +
{{VersionNote|0.28|Lyrics support was added in 0.28}}
 +
[[Image:MythMusic_Lyrics.png|450px]]
 +
 +
The Lyrics view shows the lyrics for the currently playing track. See [[MythMusic Lyrics]]
  
SDL may be obtained from http://www.libsdl.org. In Mandriva it may be installed by typing:
+
=== Play Now ===
  
    # urpmi libSDL1.2 libSDL1.2-devel
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{{VersionNote|34|Play Now was added in MythTV 34}}
  
==== Redhat 9 ====
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Sometimes you care less about play lists and just want to play music now.  The new '''Menu -> "Play Now"''' option of the [[#Browse Music Library - Tree View|music browser]] is for you.  Simply browse your collection by Album, Artist, whatever and select a song.  It plays now!  But wait, you wanted the whole album now?  With the album name selected, hit MENU -> Play Now.  All tracks below the selected node are queued and played in order.
  
Red Hat provides packages for several of the prerequisites, making installation very simple. Of the prerequisites, Red Hat provides packages for Vorbis, cdparanoia, SDL, and OpenGL (which you probably already have installed). To install these all at once, simply type (all on the same line):
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You may leave your music browser open in Gallery View or Tree View to play any tracks at any time in this way. The Play Now menu option is also available in Search for Music.
  
    $ up2date --solvedeps libvorbis libvorbis-devel vorbis-tools cdparanoia-devel cdparanoia-libs cdparanoia SDL-devel SDL
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Play Now still uses the working playlist (displayed below the browser in most themes), giving you an automated history of songs played.  In fact, Play Now is identical to "Add Tracks" except that it immediately plays the added tracks.  And "Replace Tracks" is identical to Play Now except that it removes all prior tracks.  Therefore when the play history gets too long, simply Replace Tracks.
  
If you get the following message: "None of the packages you requested were found, or they are already updated" it probably means you already have all of those packages installed.
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There is also a new "Prefer" toggle on the menu.  This preference decides what happens when a single track is selected and which option appears first on the menu.
  
You must install the remaining packages, (MAD, FLAC, libcdaudio and optionally fftw) manually following the installation directions above. When installing fftw do not use the rpm package offered on the website because it will cause an error, so use the source package instead.
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==== Play Now vs. Add Tracks Preference ====
  
=== Compiling MythMusic ===
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The new '''Play Now''' adds tracks to the end of the list just like '''Add Tracks''' except that it immediately begins playing the new additions.  Since checking a single track with the SELECT key can take only one of these actions, this "preference" can be toggled on the menu.  The chosen preference for SELECTing single tracks also appears as the first option on the menu.
  
Once all the prerequisites have been installed, you can proceed with compiling MythMusic.
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{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" style="border-collapse:collapse; border-color:silver; background:whitesmoke"
 +
|- style="background: gainsboro"
 +
!|Prefer:
 +
!|Play Now
 +
!|Add Tracks
 +
|-
 +
|Optimized for:
 +
|Playing tracks now
 +
|Queuing more tracks for later
 +
|-
 +
|Menu options in order:
 +
|Play Now, Add Tracks, Replace Tracks, Prefer Add Tracks
 +
|Add Tracks, Play Now, Replace Tracks, Prefer Play Now
 +
|-
 +
|Checking one track:
 +
|Adds track to the list and plays it now
 +
|Adds track to the list
 +
|-
 +
|Shuffle Mode
 +
|OFF
 +
|unchanged
 +
|-
 +
|Repeat Mode
 +
|OFF
 +
|unchanged
 +
|}
  
    $ cd ~/mythplugins-0.19
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Shuffle and Repeat modes are canceled for Play Now so that you get only your selections played in order. You can reset your shuffle mode after Play Now or use Add Tracks to add to a shuffle.
    $ ./configure --disable-all --enable-mythmusic --enable-fftw --enable-sdl --enable-aac
 
    $ qmake mythplugins.pro
 
    $ make
 
    $ su
 
    # make install
 
    # exit
 
  
 +
===Quick Playlists===
  
*taken from mythtv.org documentation.
+
MythMusic's Quick Playlists allow you to create playlists automatically. From any view showing the current playlist press the Menu/m button and select 'Quick Playlists'. A pop up menu will show the following options
  
==  Configuring MythMusic ==
+
[[Image:MythMusic_Menu1.png|450px]]
Configuration of MythMusic occurs in two places. The main mythfrontend Setup is for global MythMusic configuration. Go to the Setup/MythMusic/General Setup screen and adjust it for your particular configuration.
 
  
The second configuration screen is within the MythMusic program and will allow you rescan your music library, etc.
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*All Tracks
 +
*Tracks by current Artist
 +
*Tracks from current Album
 +
*Tracks from current Genre
 +
*Tracks from current Year
 +
*Tracks with Same Title
  
Here's some explanation about the Ignore_ID3 and The NonID3FileNameFormat:
+
Selecting one of the options will allow you to either replace or append any matching tracks to the working playlist based on the currently playing track. So for example if a track is playing that you would like to hear the rest of the album you would choose 'Tracks from current Album' which would either replace or append all matching tracks to the working playlist.
  
If Ignore_ID3 is set to TRUE, MythMusic will try to determine the Genre, Artist, Album, Track Number, and Title from the filename of the mp3 file. The NonID3FileNameFormat variable should be set to the directory/file format where the mp3 files are stored. For instance, I store mine in the above shown Genre/Artist/Album/Track format. MythMusic will then use this information to fill in the proper fields when it populates the musicmetadata table rather than searching for an ID3 tag in the mp3 file.
+
===Saving a playlist===
 +
Lets say you have added many tracks to the working playlist and you would like to save it so you can add the same tracks again in the future. On any view that shows the current playlist press MENU then 'Playlist Options' then 'Save to New playlist' and when prompted enter a name for the playlist. Alternatively you can choose 'Save to Existing Playlist' which will prompt you to choose from a list of existing playlists to save to.
  
The files can be laid out in any format, such as:
+
When you later want to add the tracks to the working playlist on any of the Playlist Editor views choose 'Playlists' in the tree then move right to choose one of the saved playlists you can then add/replace the tracks as usual.
  
Genre/Artist/Album/Title Artist/Genre/Album/Title Artist/Album/Title (with Genre left as Unknown)
+
===Smart Playlists===
  
The track number is optional but can be specified with the title by using the TRACK_TITLE keyword instead of TITLE. If TRACK_TITLE is used, then the filename can have a space, hyphen, or underscore separating the track number from the track title. Keywords are case insensitive, so if you specify GENRE it's the same as Genre in the format field.
+
Smart Playlists are dynamic playlists that are only created when they are used so they will include any new tracks added to your music collection since the last time the playlist was used. The playlists are created by querying the database with the criteria you have entered and optionally the sort order you have choosen to find any matching tracks. There are a few example smart playlists created for you when you first install MythMusic 
  
The Ignore_ID3 option does not disable the code that determines the track length, just the portion that tries to read ID3 info.
+
*Decades - 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 2000's - these create playlists based on the year of release of the tracks
 +
*Favorite Tracks - selects tracks with a rating  greater than 7
 +
*100 Most Played Tracks - selects the 100 tracks with the highest playcount
 +
*Never Played Tracks - selects tracks with a playcount of 0
  
== Using MythMusic ==
+
[[Image:MythMusic8.png|450px]]
MythMusic is fairly simple to use. It is recommended that you insert the CD before selecting "Import CD". You should also ensure that your system doesn't try to automount the CD and begin playing it automatically.
+
 
 +
You can add/edit Smart Playlists on both of the Playlist Editor views by selecting the 'Smart Playlist' node in the tree and then depending on what node is selected you can add/edit/delete a smart playlist by pressing EDIT/DELETE or choose an option from the popup menu.
 +
 
 +
Once you have created your Smart Playlists you can use them by going to the Playlist Edit view and in the tree select 'Smart Playlists' then move right and choose the category, then move right and chose the name of the smart playlist you want to use. Select it and you will be able to add/replace the tracks to the working playlist as normal.  
  
=== Playlist Management ===
+
=== Visualizations ===
 +
Nothing beats listening to your music collection and having an accompanying visualization on your large flat panel TV.
  
* '''Create a playlist.''' Using the MythMusic "Select Music" menu option, setup the playlist as you normally would by adding songs or other playlists as needed. When you are ready to save the new playlist, highlight "Active Play Queue" at the bottom of the selection tree and hit the "i" key. This will pop up a menu allowing you to name and save the new playlist. You can also hit Enter to bring up the popup on the Active Play Queue. This does not work on the playlists above, as Enter is obviously bound to checking/unchecking the boxes. Any number (i.e. keypad on remote) will also bring up the menu in both cases.
+
There are a number of visualizations for MythMusic that will be displayed in a small window on some views (only the Current Playlist view in the default theme but it depends on the theme), but will be displayed full-screen at MENU->Fullscreen Visualizer.
* '''Edit a playlist.''' Highlight the playlist in the selection tree and hit the "i" key then select "Move to Active Play Queue" in the popup. You can now modify the "Active Play Queue" like normal, adding songs and playlists by selecting them from the song tree. When you are done, highlight the "Active Play Queue" in the selection tree and hit the "i" key then select "Save Back to Playlist Tree". And whatever you were editing as your Active Queue before you moved an existing playlist "on top" of Active reappears. Think of Active has having a push on, pop off capability, but with a depth of only 1.
 
** '''Rearrange the songs in a playlist.''' Highlight a song and hit the "space" bar, the song will now have pair of red arrows in front of it. Use the up and down arrow keys to move it around in the playlist. When you have it where you want it, hit the "space" bar again.
 
** '''Delete an item from a playlist.''' Highlight the item in the selection tree and hit the "d" key.
 
** '''Edit a text field without a keyboard.''' (This applies to all of MythTV's UI and is not specific to MythMusic.)
 
*** Use the keypad number keys (bound to your remote) to select letters quasi-cell phone style. Keys 2-9 work pretty much like any cell phone text entry. 1 cycles through a few special characters, delete, and space. 0 is like a CAPS LOCK. Hard to describe, fairly easy to use. You will soon be able to specify the cycle timing in a Setup screen. You can type fairly quickly through a combination of jumping around the number keys AND hitting a non-number key (right arrow is particularly good for this) to force the current character.
 
*** Press ENTER in the empty line edit control. A keyboard will pop up; you can use this keyboard to enter characters.
 
* '''Delete a playlist.''' Highlight the playlist in the selection tree and hit the "i" key then select "Delete this Playlist" from the popup.
 
  
=== Useful keys to know ===
+
==== Track Info ====
* some keyboard commands that might come in handy..
 
** Change visualisation mode - 6
 
** Blank Screen - 5
 
**Increase track rating - 9
 
** Decrease track rating - 7
 
** Refresh music tree - 8
 
** Filter all my music - F
 
**Show incremental search dialog - CTRL + S
 
**Incremental search find next match - CTRL + N
 
**(note these are based on the default key mappings)
 
  
== TroubleShooting ==
+
In full screen visualizer view, track Info is automatically displayed at track change and can be seen any time by hitting the I/INFO key.  As of MythTV 34 music can be controlled from the full screen visualizer and this also pops the track info.  Themes should show the progressbar, time and ratingstate so you can see the results of REW/FFWD, SPEEDUP/DOWN or THUMBUP/DOWN.  When track Info is displayed:
  
You may run into errors when running MythMusic.
+
* '''SELECT''' will "stick" the Info box to the screen, like the miniplayer
When I run MythMusic and try and look up a CD, I get an error message
+
* '''INFO''' again will show the full track metadata
 +
* '''ESCAPE''' will close the Info, needed to get to the menu or visual options:
  
The full text of the message will say:
+
==== Visual Options ====
  
databasebox.o: Couldn't find your CD. It may not be in the freedb database. More likely, however, is that you need to delete  /.cddb and /.cdserverrc and restart mythmusic. Have a nice day.
+
As of MythTV 34 the visuals themselves can have remote key options. Where available, these are listed below the description in the following tableGenerally:
  
If you get this message, you should go to the home directory of whatever user MythMusic is running as and type:
+
* '''SELECT''' toggles or cycles the primary option
 +
* '''2''' toggles any text overlay
  
    rm .cdserverrc
+
The visuals are available on the menu in alphabetical order:
    rm -rf .cddb/
 
  
These files aren't automatically deleted because of a conscious design decision by the author that programs that automatically delete things are bad.
+
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" style="border-collapse:collapse; border-color:silver; background:whitesmoke"
 +
|- style="background: gainsboro"
 +
!| Visualization
 +
!| Name
 +
!| Description
 +
|-
 +
|
 +
|align="center"|  Random
 +
|Switches to a different visualization for each song.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz9.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| AlbumArt
 +
|This displays the album art for the currently playing music.  Basically, any image found for the music file currently playing is treated as if it might be album art including any Artist image if available, and each found image will be displayed in sequence.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz11.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Blank
 +
|Useful if all you want to do is listen to music, saves potential screen burn, as well as putting less stress on your CPU (shown with the track info popup visible, the screen is normally all black)
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz4.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| BumpScope
 +
|The audio signal is drawn as a "raised relief" on a flat surface (3D visualization).
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz5.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Goom
 +
|The classic visualization of crazy lines and patterns.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz2.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| MonoScope
 +
|Standard oscilloscope, as found on many MP3 players such as XMMS and WinAmp.  Shows just a few milliseconds of the sound wave.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz10.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Piano
 +
|This one tries to highlight the correct keys on a piano keyboard
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz15.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Spectrogram (v34+)
 +
|The frequency spectrum over time.  The Y axis is frequency on a Mel Scale while the colored line length and resulting gray pixel intensity is amplitude.  This is a good "picture" of the music history as it plays over time on the X axis.<br>'''SELECT''' cycles color on one or both channels<br>'''2''' toggles frequency labels
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz16.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Spectrum (v34+)
 +
|A high resolution color spectrum analyzer. The X axis is frequency on a Mel Scale while the Y axis is amplitude in dB.  This is the color section of Spectrogram turned sideways to fill the screen.<br>'''SELECT''' or '''2''' toggles note and frequency labels
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz7.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| SpectrumBars<br>(Spectrum v33-)
 +
|A classic spectrum analyzer.  The sound amplitude is displayed in the frequency domain on a Mel Scale: lower frequency to the left and higher to the right in quickly decaying bars.  This was called "Spectrum" prior to v34.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz8.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Squares
 +
|The frequency spectrum bars above are collapsed into just a few colored squares.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz3.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| StereoScope
 +
|Stereo oscilloscope.  Left and right channels are drawn separately. Shows just a few milliseconds of the sound wave.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz6.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| Synaesthesia
 +
|A more amorphous visualization similar to plasma clouds displays.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center"| [[Image:Viz14.png|center|100px]]
 +
|align="center"| WaveForm (v33+)
 +
|An amplitude "picture" of the whole track from start to finish is displayed behind StereoScope above.  Includes peak-to-peak and Root Mean Square amplitude and left/right difference.<br>'''SELECT''' or '''2''' toggles timing text<br>'''DELETE''' clears the waveform, in case you would like to see it redrawn
 +
|}
  
The files are used to locally cache CD lookups. If you are re-inserting CDs, your machine will not actually have to go out to the Internet to determine what is on them. However, the URL used to access the freedb database has recently changed, so the stale information in the files from previous runs of MythMusic would cause the error above. Once the files have been deleted the stale information will be gone and your local database will be rebuilt as you use CDs.
+
=== Shuffle Modes ===
 +
* None - plays songs in sequential order
 +
* Rand - plays songs in random order
 +
* Smart - plays songs in smart order. Smart order is calculated using following components, each component weight can be configured in MythMusic Player settings:
 +
** Rating - songs with ''greater rating'' are played more
 +
** Play Count - songs with ''smaller'' play count are player more
 +
** Last Play - songs ''not heard recently'' are played more
 +
** Random - random component
 +
* Album - plays songs from the current album in random order
 +
* Artist - plays songs from the current artist in random order
  
The default cddb server in .cdserverrc doesn't seem to be working very well all the time, here's a list of servers you can add:
+
=== Useful keys to know ===
  
<nowiki>
+
(note these are based on the default key mappings, you can re-assign these in MythTV's Edit Keys setup screen).
SERVER=cddbp://freedb.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://freedb.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
SERVER=cddbp://at.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://at.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
SERVER=cddbp://ca.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://ca.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
SERVER=cddbp://cz.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://cz.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
SERVER=cddbp://no.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://no.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
SERVER=cddbp://uk.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://uk.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
SERVER=cddbp://us.freedb.org:8880/ CDDB
 
SERVER=http://us.freedb.org:80/~cddb/cddb.cgi CDDB
 
</nowiki>
 
  
 +
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" align="center" style="border-collapse:collapse; border-color:silver; background:whitesmoke"
 +
|- style="background: gainsboro"
 +
!| Keybinding
 +
!| Default Keyboard Key
 +
!| Function
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |PLAY
 +
|align="center" | No Default
 +
|Start playback
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |PAUSE
 +
|align="center" |P
 +
|Toggle Play/Pause
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |STOP
 +
|align="center" |O
 +
|Stop Playback
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |NEXTTRACK
 +
|align="center" |>,.,Z,End
 +
|Move to the next track
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |PREVTRACK
 +
|align="center" |,,<,Q,Home
 +
|Move to the previous track
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |FFWD
 +
|align="center" |PgDown
 +
|Fast Forward
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |RWND
 +
|align="center" |PgUp
 +
|Rewind
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |VOLUMEDOWN
 +
|align="center" |[,{,F10,Volume Down
 +
|Volume Down
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |VOLUMEUP
 +
|align="center" |],},F11,Volume Up
 +
|Volume Up
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |MUTE
 +
|align="center" |\,F9,Volume Mute
 +
|Mute
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |TOGGLEUPMIX
 +
|align="center" |CTRL+U
 +
|Toggle audio upmixer
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |THMBUP
 +
|align="center" | 9
 +
|Increase rating of the currently playing track
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |THMBDOWN
 +
|align="center" |7
 +
|Decrease rating of the currently playing track
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |CYCLEVIS
 +
|align="center" |6
 +
|Cycle visualizer mode
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |TOGGLESHUFFLE
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Toggle shuffle mode
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |TOGGLEREPEAT
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Toggle repeat mode
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SPEEDUP
 +
|align="center" |W,3
 +
|Increase playback speed
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SPEEDDOWN
 +
|align="center" |X,1
 +
|Decrease playback speed
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SEARCH
 +
|align="center" | CTRL+S
 +
|Show button list search dialog (Global context). This will only work when a button list has the focus.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |EDIT
 +
|align="center" |E
 +
|Edit a track's metadata (Global context). This is context sensitive so the metadata shown will depend on where the focus is.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |INFO
 +
|align="center" |I
 +
|Show a tracks metadata (Global context). This is context sensitive so the metadata shown will depend on where the focus is.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |DELETE
 +
|align="center" |D
 +
|Delete (Global context). This is context sensitive. In the current playlist it will remove the selected track, on the edit playlist tree it will delete a playlist/smart playlist etc.
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |MARK
 +
|align="center" |T
 +
|Toggle track selection. This has the same effect as pressing SELECT on a node on the playlist editor tree (mostly useful on the gallery view where SELECT has another function).
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SWITCHTOPLAYLIST
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Switch to the current playlist view
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SWITCHTOPLAYLISTEDITORTREE
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Switch to the playlist editor tree view
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SWITCHTOPLAYLISTEDITORGALLERY
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Switch to the playlist editor gallery view
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SWITCHTOSEARCH
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Switch to the search view
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SWITCHTOVISUALISER
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Switch to the fullscreen visualiser view
 +
|-
 +
|align="center" |SWITCHTORADIO
 +
|align="center" |No default
 +
|Switch to the radio stream view
 +
|}
  
 +
==MythMusic Development==
 +
As with all MythTV development work, modifications are worked on as "tickets" on the [http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/ MythTV Trac Server].  To have a look at the latest developments on the active tickets for the MythMusic module, scroll down to the Plugin - MythMusic section of the [http://svn.mythtv.org/trac/report/11 Active Tickets by Component] page.
 +
===Wishlist===
 +
The wishlist for MythMusic development ideas is part of the [[Feature Wishlist (Plugin Addons)]] page of this wiki.  Before editing this page however, please read the guidelines on the [[Feature Wishlist]] page.
 
[[Category:Plugins]]
 
[[Category:Plugins]]
 +
===MySQL Database Tables===
 +
MythTV's information, including MythMusic, is organised using MySQL [[database]] tables.  These tables are not accessed directly by the user, but it can be useful to know where the information is stored when administering a MythMusic setup.  See [[Database Schema]] for more information.
 +
 +
The following tables are used exclusively by MythMusic:
 +
 +
*Playlist tables
 +
**[[Musicplaylist table|musicplaylist table]]
 +
**[[Music playlists table|music_playlists table]]
 +
**[[Music smartplaylists table|music_smartplaylists table]]
 +
**[[Music smartplaylist categories table|music_smartplaylist_categories table]]
 +
**[[Music smartplaylist items table|music_smartplaylist_items table]]
 +
*[[Music artists table|music_artists table]]
 +
*[[Music albums table|music_albums table]]
 +
*[[Music genres table|music_genres table]]
 +
*[[Music stats table|music_stats table]]
 +
*[[Music songs table|music_songs table]], which replaces [[Musicmetadata table|musicmetadata table]] as of 0.20
 +
 +
The following tables are used by MythMusic, alongside other parts of MythTV:
 +
 +
*[[Keybindings table|keybindings table]]
 +
*[[Settings table|settings table]]
 +
 +
== Extra Topics ==
 +
 +
Extra topics not directly about MythMusic itself were here but are moved to [[MythMusic Extra Topics]] as of v34.

Latest revision as of 04:25, 26 January 2024

Software-update-available.png This page is up-to-date as of MythTV version 34, the current release is 34.0


MythMusic is a sophisticated MythTV plugin that allows you to play and manage music and audio files .i.e MP3, Ogg, FLAC, wav etc and play radio streams from the likes of Icecast, Sky FM, Digitally Imported and Radionomy. It is specifically designed to be operated by a normal remote control.

This page describes the regular music files features of MythMusic. For the radio streaming part see MythMusic Radio Streaming.

Supported Formats and Containers

Playback

  • Audio CDs
  • MP2
  • MP3
  • MP4
  • FLAC
  • Vorbis Audio (OGG + OGA)
  • AAC (iTunes)
  • AC3
  • Wav + WavPack (WV)
  • Windows Media Audio (WMA)
  • Sony OpenMG (OMA + OMG)
  • Sony ATRAC (ATP, AA3)
  • Real Audio (RA)
  • Matroska Audio
  • Audio Interchange Format (AIFF)
  • True Audio (TTA)
  • Shockwave Audio (SWA)
  • And more

Encoding

  • MP3
  • FLAC
  • OGG Vorbis Audio

Installing MythMusic

The best approach is to follow the installation guides for MythTV and MythMusic that have been developed for your Operating System and distribution.

Configuring MythMusic

For global MythMusic configuration, go to the Utilities/Setup->Setup->Media Settings->Music Settings->General Settings. MythTV before 0.28 required you to specify a single directory for your music, on this General Settings page.

Recent MythTV versions use Storage Groups to specify where your music is stored, which must be configured with mythtv-setup.

There is also a set of music Tools at Utilties/Setup->Music Tools. Here you can rescan your music library, etc.


Important.png Note: The location of menu items depends on the Menu Theme you have chosen. In the classic menu theme all the menu items are available in the Music menu. In the default menu theme the menu items are scattered thoughout the menus. The menu locations given on this page are for the default layout.

Using MythMusic

Because MythMusic has been designed to work with a remote control, people often struggle with it, especially when building and editing playlists. Once you become familiar with how it works, which does not take long, you will be amazed at how much more accessible and enjoyable it makes listening to your music collection. If you already have music in your Music storage group, you can skip ahead to #Playing Music. Otherwise, first build your music collection.

Building your music collection

There are three ways to add music to MythMusic. You can rip existing CD's, copy your tracks to the existing music directory and do a rescan or you can also import tracks from another location into your music directory. Each method will be explained below.

Ripping CDs

Important.png Note: Since 2020, no metadata lookup is done. You may want to rip CDs using other desktop software and then move along to the next section

Before you start to rip a CD into MythMusic there are a few things you should check.

  • Make sure your CD device is set correctly - Setup->Media Settings->Music Settings->General Settings.
  • Make sure that your system is not set up to mount the CD and begin playing it automatically.
    • Gnome: System→Preferences → Removable Drives and Media Preferences.
    • KDE: There are two ways to do this (the first is easier):
      • Insert an audio CD, which will trigger a pop-up window. Select "X Do Nothing", tick the "Always do this for this type of media" checkbox and press OK.
      • Go to System Settings → Notifications → Storage Media Notifications → (Notifications tab) Medium types, select: Audio CD. "X Do Nothing" should have "(Auto Action) after it. If not, press the "Toggle as Auto Action" button.
  • It helps to have your system connected to the Internet, so that MythMusic can locate the information about your CD
  • Set up how you want your CDs to be ripped, including default quality settings. See the section on CD Ripper Settings

To import (rip) a CD, you need to select the "Import CD" menu item. This can be found in two places

  • Optical Disks → Import CD
  • Utilities/Setup → Music Tools → Import CD

Insert the disk you want to rip, after a few seconds the Import CD screen will show, with the Artist, Album and tracks information. Prior to 2020 MythTV would query the Internet freedb database for your CD information. Until a new database connection is developed, you will need to manually enter your information or user other ripping/tagging tools. Make sure at least Artist and Album are correct to save the tracks to a unique directory.

MythMusic1.png

Check that the Quality setting is what you need. The options are :-

  • Low - Low bit rate, low quality, very small file sizes .ogg or .mp3
  • Medium - Medium bit rate, medium quality .ogg or .mp3
  • High - High bit rate, high quality .ogg or .mp3
  • Perfect - Rips to Lossless FLAC file format. This is CD quality but compressed by about 50%

You can make changes to any of the items on the screen at this point before you finally select the "Rip CD" button. To edit an individual track, use the 'edit' key (see below).

You now see the progress screen showing each track as it is ripped and encoded, as well as the overall progress on the whole album. Once import has finished you can configure your CD to be ejected.

MythMusic2.png

MythTV stores your ripped music on your hard drive in a structured manner. See the page on MythMusic File Organization. All your music files will also be tagged using the ID3 standard

Scanning the music directory

If you have copied some new music to your music directory or if you want to scan an existing music collection then you can have MythMusic scan for this. Point MythMusic at the directory in which your music collection is, by changing the location of your music library:

  • Utilities/Setup → Setup →Media Settings-> Music Settings → General settings.

Then:

  • Utilities/Setup → Music tools → Scan for New Music.

MythTV will then scan for music and add the information into the MythTV database.

You should also do a rescan if you changed the tag information using a tool outside of MythMusic so it will pick up any changes. Note: for MythMusic to notice the changes the modification time of the files needs to have changed.

Alternatively of course, you can copy your existing collection across to the folder that MythMusic has already begun building your collection to.

If you have files that have been ripped to Apple's AAC format this should be no problem. Either copy these files into the MythMusic directory and then scan for new music, or mount your collection onto the systems file system and point your MythMusic directory to it as above.

Importing music to the music directory

If you have some tracks you want to add to your music directory then one easy way to do it is to import the tracks using MythMusic. It will copy the tracks to your music directory for you creating the necessary directory structure and renaming the files based on the preferences you have told MythMusic to use.

MythMusic Import.png

Removing music from the music directory

If you wish to remove some music from MythMusic, remove the files on disk and re-scan.

Using Album Art

MythMusic supports the display of album art with the name 'cover.jpg' found in the same directory as a music file or embedded in MP3 files with ID3V2.3 or ID3V2.4 tags.

The metadata editor also allows you to search Google images for any suitable cover art, artist and genre images. It's up to the user to determine if they are allowed to use any of the images they find.


Important.png Note: If you add album art onto an existing collection using software such as "EasyTag" which preserves file modification time by default, you will need to make sure the timestamp of the files is updated (use 'touch') so that Mythmusic rescans the files properly. Otherwise the album art won't appear.

Playing Music

MythMusic works on the principle that any tracks you wish to play must first be added to a current (working) playlist. If you don't care about this list and just want to play music, don't miss the new #Play Now feature.

There are several ways to add tracks to this playlist like browsing for them in your music library, searching for individual tracks or using the quick playlists on the popup menu.

MythMusic's Views

There are several views in MythMusic that can have overlapping features depending on what the themer wants to show. Most widgets are optional so it is up to the themer what you get on any view. The following images and descriptions apply to the default and MythCenter themes and most others.

From the MythTV main menu you get started at Media Library->Listen To Music. This will show the Current Playlist view. From there, simply MENU->Browse Music Library. The music browser is also available at Setup->Media Settings->Music Tools->Select Music. Escape will return to the previous view. You can also switch to other views by pressing the MENU key.

The Current Playlist View

MythMusic3.png

This view is the main playback screen and shows the current (working) playlist at the top and the current track's metadata below. It also shows some playback controls and the active visualizer along with the current volume status.

To add tracks to the list you will MENU->Browse Music Library, described in the next section. Once you have some tracks, you can select any song to play it now. Basic editing is also available:

  • hitting I for INFO will show the metadata for that song
  • hitting the DELETE key on a line will remove it from the list
  • reorder the list at MENU->More Options->Playlist Options->Switch to Move Mode
    • then selecting a line will move it up/down and select again will place it
    • exit reordering with MENU->Playlist Options->Switch to Select Mode

To add more tracks to the list, MENU->Browse Music Library:

Browse Music Library - Tree View

MythMusic4.png

Browse Music Library - Gallery View

MythMusic5.png


Important.png Note: prior to MythTV 34, "Browse Music Library" was called "Playlist Editor" so these terms are interchangable.

The Browse Music Library view (formerly Playlist Editor) shows the music library tree at the top, the current playlist in the middle and the currently playing track below. Use tab or Left/Right navigation to move to these sections. Switch from tree to gallery and vice versa at MENU->Switch To (Other) View.

These views allow you to browse your music collection looking for tracks you would like to play. Pressing SELECT (MARK in the gallery view) on any node in the tree will allow you to play, add or replace any tracks below the current node to the working playlist. A couple of examples will hopefully make things a little clearer (both the tree and gallery views work in the same way though it's easier to see what is happening in the tree view until you get used to it). Lets say you want to play all your Christmas tracks, in the tree on the far left move to 'Genres' then move right to the list of genres, find 'Christmas' in the list then press SELECT/MARK. You will be given the choice to play, add or replace the tracks on the working playlist.

Lets try a more complex example, say you want to play all you favourite tracks from Dire Straits, in the far left of the tree select Artist and move right, find Dire Straits in the artist list and move right, select 'Ratings' and move right, in the list of ratings press SELECT/MARK on the highest rating to play/add/replace the tracks on the working playlist.


Important.png Note: Some lists can be quite long, like the Artist list. A quick way to find what you are looking for is to use the button list search feature available in MythTV. You access it by pressing CTRL-S or MENU then 'Search List...'. Entering text in the search box will scroll the list to the first item that matches the search text, you can also find the next/previous matches using the buttons in the search popup dialog.


Important.png Note: The popup menu that is shown when you press MENU is context sensitive so the options shown will depend on what widget has the focus and even what node in the tree has the focus. For example if the tree has the focus and a playlist node is selected you will see options to play/add/replace as well as an option to remove that playlist. The 'More Options' menu item will always open the standard menu with the usual menu options.

The Search View

MythMusic Search.png

The Search view shows a list of fields to search, the search text, the number of matches and a list of matching tracks at the top, the current playlist in the middle, and the currently playing track below. Use Left/Right navigation to move to these sections.

The search view allows you to do a quick search for a track you want to add to the working playlist. You can search the Artist, Album, Title, Genre or all of them for some text you enter. For example say you are looking for a track that you know has 'cars' in the title but can't remember who it is by or what album it is on you would select 'Title' in the fields to search and enter 'cars' in the search text which would give you a list of matching tracks you can then individually add to the working playlist.

Lyrics View

Version:
0.28
Lyrics support was added in 0.28

MythMusic Lyrics.png

The Lyrics view shows the lyrics for the currently playing track. See MythMusic Lyrics

Play Now

Version:
34
Play Now was added in MythTV 34

Sometimes you care less about play lists and just want to play music now. The new Menu -> "Play Now" option of the music browser is for you. Simply browse your collection by Album, Artist, whatever and select a song. It plays now! But wait, you wanted the whole album now? With the album name selected, hit MENU -> Play Now. All tracks below the selected node are queued and played in order.

You may leave your music browser open in Gallery View or Tree View to play any tracks at any time in this way. The Play Now menu option is also available in Search for Music.

Play Now still uses the working playlist (displayed below the browser in most themes), giving you an automated history of songs played. In fact, Play Now is identical to "Add Tracks" except that it immediately plays the added tracks. And "Replace Tracks" is identical to Play Now except that it removes all prior tracks. Therefore when the play history gets too long, simply Replace Tracks.

There is also a new "Prefer" toggle on the menu. This preference decides what happens when a single track is selected and which option appears first on the menu.

Play Now vs. Add Tracks Preference

The new Play Now adds tracks to the end of the list just like Add Tracks except that it immediately begins playing the new additions. Since checking a single track with the SELECT key can take only one of these actions, this "preference" can be toggled on the menu. The chosen preference for SELECTing single tracks also appears as the first option on the menu.

Prefer: Play Now Add Tracks
Optimized for: Playing tracks now Queuing more tracks for later
Menu options in order: Play Now, Add Tracks, Replace Tracks, Prefer Add Tracks Add Tracks, Play Now, Replace Tracks, Prefer Play Now
Checking one track: Adds track to the list and plays it now Adds track to the list
Shuffle Mode OFF unchanged
Repeat Mode OFF unchanged

Shuffle and Repeat modes are canceled for Play Now so that you get only your selections played in order. You can reset your shuffle mode after Play Now or use Add Tracks to add to a shuffle.

Quick Playlists

MythMusic's Quick Playlists allow you to create playlists automatically. From any view showing the current playlist press the Menu/m button and select 'Quick Playlists'. A pop up menu will show the following options

MythMusic Menu1.png

  • All Tracks
  • Tracks by current Artist
  • Tracks from current Album
  • Tracks from current Genre
  • Tracks from current Year
  • Tracks with Same Title

Selecting one of the options will allow you to either replace or append any matching tracks to the working playlist based on the currently playing track. So for example if a track is playing that you would like to hear the rest of the album you would choose 'Tracks from current Album' which would either replace or append all matching tracks to the working playlist.

Saving a playlist

Lets say you have added many tracks to the working playlist and you would like to save it so you can add the same tracks again in the future. On any view that shows the current playlist press MENU then 'Playlist Options' then 'Save to New playlist' and when prompted enter a name for the playlist. Alternatively you can choose 'Save to Existing Playlist' which will prompt you to choose from a list of existing playlists to save to.

When you later want to add the tracks to the working playlist on any of the Playlist Editor views choose 'Playlists' in the tree then move right to choose one of the saved playlists you can then add/replace the tracks as usual.

Smart Playlists

Smart Playlists are dynamic playlists that are only created when they are used so they will include any new tracks added to your music collection since the last time the playlist was used. The playlists are created by querying the database with the criteria you have entered and optionally the sort order you have choosen to find any matching tracks. There are a few example smart playlists created for you when you first install MythMusic

  • Decades - 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 2000's - these create playlists based on the year of release of the tracks
  • Favorite Tracks - selects tracks with a rating greater than 7
  • 100 Most Played Tracks - selects the 100 tracks with the highest playcount
  • Never Played Tracks - selects tracks with a playcount of 0

MythMusic8.png

You can add/edit Smart Playlists on both of the Playlist Editor views by selecting the 'Smart Playlist' node in the tree and then depending on what node is selected you can add/edit/delete a smart playlist by pressing EDIT/DELETE or choose an option from the popup menu.

Once you have created your Smart Playlists you can use them by going to the Playlist Edit view and in the tree select 'Smart Playlists' then move right and choose the category, then move right and chose the name of the smart playlist you want to use. Select it and you will be able to add/replace the tracks to the working playlist as normal.

Visualizations

Nothing beats listening to your music collection and having an accompanying visualization on your large flat panel TV.

There are a number of visualizations for MythMusic that will be displayed in a small window on some views (only the Current Playlist view in the default theme but it depends on the theme), but will be displayed full-screen at MENU->Fullscreen Visualizer.

Track Info

In full screen visualizer view, track Info is automatically displayed at track change and can be seen any time by hitting the I/INFO key. As of MythTV 34 music can be controlled from the full screen visualizer and this also pops the track info. Themes should show the progressbar, time and ratingstate so you can see the results of REW/FFWD, SPEEDUP/DOWN or THUMBUP/DOWN. When track Info is displayed:

  • SELECT will "stick" the Info box to the screen, like the miniplayer
  • INFO again will show the full track metadata
  • ESCAPE will close the Info, needed to get to the menu or visual options:

Visual Options

As of MythTV 34 the visuals themselves can have remote key options. Where available, these are listed below the description in the following table. Generally:

  • SELECT toggles or cycles the primary option
  • 2 toggles any text overlay

The visuals are available on the menu in alphabetical order:

Visualization Name Description
Random Switches to a different visualization for each song.
Viz9.png
AlbumArt This displays the album art for the currently playing music. Basically, any image found for the music file currently playing is treated as if it might be album art including any Artist image if available, and each found image will be displayed in sequence.
Viz11.png
Blank Useful if all you want to do is listen to music, saves potential screen burn, as well as putting less stress on your CPU (shown with the track info popup visible, the screen is normally all black)
Viz4.png
BumpScope The audio signal is drawn as a "raised relief" on a flat surface (3D visualization).
Viz5.png
Goom The classic visualization of crazy lines and patterns.
Viz2.png
MonoScope Standard oscilloscope, as found on many MP3 players such as XMMS and WinAmp. Shows just a few milliseconds of the sound wave.
Viz10.png
Piano This one tries to highlight the correct keys on a piano keyboard
Viz15.png
Spectrogram (v34+) The frequency spectrum over time. The Y axis is frequency on a Mel Scale while the colored line length and resulting gray pixel intensity is amplitude. This is a good "picture" of the music history as it plays over time on the X axis.
SELECT cycles color on one or both channels
2 toggles frequency labels
Viz16.png
Spectrum (v34+) A high resolution color spectrum analyzer. The X axis is frequency on a Mel Scale while the Y axis is amplitude in dB. This is the color section of Spectrogram turned sideways to fill the screen.
SELECT or 2 toggles note and frequency labels
Viz7.png
SpectrumBars
(Spectrum v33-)
A classic spectrum analyzer. The sound amplitude is displayed in the frequency domain on a Mel Scale: lower frequency to the left and higher to the right in quickly decaying bars. This was called "Spectrum" prior to v34.
Viz8.png
Squares The frequency spectrum bars above are collapsed into just a few colored squares.
Viz3.png
StereoScope Stereo oscilloscope. Left and right channels are drawn separately. Shows just a few milliseconds of the sound wave.
Viz6.png
Synaesthesia A more amorphous visualization similar to plasma clouds displays.
Viz14.png
WaveForm (v33+) An amplitude "picture" of the whole track from start to finish is displayed behind StereoScope above. Includes peak-to-peak and Root Mean Square amplitude and left/right difference.
SELECT or 2 toggles timing text
DELETE clears the waveform, in case you would like to see it redrawn

Shuffle Modes

  • None - plays songs in sequential order
  • Rand - plays songs in random order
  • Smart - plays songs in smart order. Smart order is calculated using following components, each component weight can be configured in MythMusic Player settings:
    • Rating - songs with greater rating are played more
    • Play Count - songs with smaller play count are player more
    • Last Play - songs not heard recently are played more
    • Random - random component
  • Album - plays songs from the current album in random order
  • Artist - plays songs from the current artist in random order

Useful keys to know

(note these are based on the default key mappings, you can re-assign these in MythTV's Edit Keys setup screen).

Keybinding Default Keyboard Key Function
PLAY No Default Start playback
PAUSE P Toggle Play/Pause
STOP O Stop Playback
NEXTTRACK >,.,Z,End Move to the next track
PREVTRACK ,,<,Q,Home Move to the previous track
FFWD PgDown Fast Forward
RWND PgUp Rewind
VOLUMEDOWN [,{,F10,Volume Down Volume Down
VOLUMEUP ],},F11,Volume Up Volume Up
MUTE \,F9,Volume Mute Mute
TOGGLEUPMIX CTRL+U Toggle audio upmixer
THMBUP 9 Increase rating of the currently playing track
THMBDOWN 7 Decrease rating of the currently playing track
CYCLEVIS 6 Cycle visualizer mode
TOGGLESHUFFLE No default Toggle shuffle mode
TOGGLEREPEAT No default Toggle repeat mode
SPEEDUP W,3 Increase playback speed
SPEEDDOWN X,1 Decrease playback speed
SEARCH CTRL+S Show button list search dialog (Global context). This will only work when a button list has the focus.
EDIT E Edit a track's metadata (Global context). This is context sensitive so the metadata shown will depend on where the focus is.
INFO I Show a tracks metadata (Global context). This is context sensitive so the metadata shown will depend on where the focus is.
DELETE D Delete (Global context). This is context sensitive. In the current playlist it will remove the selected track, on the edit playlist tree it will delete a playlist/smart playlist etc.
MARK T Toggle track selection. This has the same effect as pressing SELECT on a node on the playlist editor tree (mostly useful on the gallery view where SELECT has another function).
SWITCHTOPLAYLIST No default Switch to the current playlist view
SWITCHTOPLAYLISTEDITORTREE No default Switch to the playlist editor tree view
SWITCHTOPLAYLISTEDITORGALLERY No default Switch to the playlist editor gallery view
SWITCHTOSEARCH No default Switch to the search view
SWITCHTOVISUALISER No default Switch to the fullscreen visualiser view
SWITCHTORADIO No default Switch to the radio stream view

MythMusic Development

As with all MythTV development work, modifications are worked on as "tickets" on the MythTV Trac Server. To have a look at the latest developments on the active tickets for the MythMusic module, scroll down to the Plugin - MythMusic section of the Active Tickets by Component page.

Wishlist

The wishlist for MythMusic development ideas is part of the Feature Wishlist (Plugin Addons) page of this wiki. Before editing this page however, please read the guidelines on the Feature Wishlist page.

MySQL Database Tables

MythTV's information, including MythMusic, is organised using MySQL database tables. These tables are not accessed directly by the user, but it can be useful to know where the information is stored when administering a MythMusic setup. See Database Schema for more information.

The following tables are used exclusively by MythMusic:

The following tables are used by MythMusic, alongside other parts of MythTV:

Extra Topics

Extra topics not directly about MythMusic itself were here but are moved to MythMusic Extra Topics as of v34.