[mb-users] Software reccomendations for this workflow?

[Adam Golding]

On 06/01/07, Andrew Conkling <andrew.conkling at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 1/6/07, Adam Golding <adamgolding at adamgolding.com> wrote:
> > Hi, i've never really used musicbrainz or local music database
> > software, because i never got past the state of deciding what software
> > programs i would use for different stages of the process.  I do,
> > however, have a clear idea of the workflow i need.  Hopefully there
> > are a few programs that will do multiple steps of the workflow i
> > describe below, but i'll use a different program for every step if
> > necessary.  Please give me reccomendations for the best program to use
> > for each step.
>
> First, it would help if you told us which OS you're using. And, as it
> happens, which file format.

whoopsee--i'm on Windows XP.  and mostly mp3 although i have some
random apes, flacs, and whatnot (not to mention .nsf's .spc's and so
on but no program will handle those i reckon.. )

>
> > 1.  Input metadata
> >    - here i'd use the musicbrainz website--iiuc this is the only way
>
> Yes, I think so too. Keep in mind that it's important to submit your
> disc IDs to MBz via your ripping utility or Picard.

most of this is tagging stuff i don't have the original cd for.  my
ripper is EAC and i don't think it can submit IDs in any fashion

>
> > 2. Map metadata from musicbrainz to id3 tags on the files
> >    - i need support for all the weird fields (i.e. everything helium supports:
> >     http://www.helium-music-manager.com/tag_compatibility.php?from=helium_help
> >    - i need to be able to map metadata to any field i choose
>
> Good link!

heh, yeah i rather enjoy that link :p

> Unfortunately, I don't know of any program that supports
> some of the "extra" fields that are so incredibly useful in classical
> music. I know that the performer tag is supported by EasyTag, but that
> doesn't help because I don't have a player to display them. :( I'd
> love to hear of anything you know of that supports this.
>

interesting, this 'performer' tag doesnt' appear to be an id3 tag?  or
which tag do you mean?

> > 3. generate directory structure and filenames
> >    - i can do this from the tags or from the metadata, doesn't matter
>
> Is there a difference (between tags and metadata)? Pretty much any
> tagging utitily that I know of (Picard included) can do this.

sorry, by metadata i mean the data in the MB database, my tags i mean
whats in the tags.  for isntance i might choose to map the MB 'artist'
field to the 'compsoer' id3 tag in some cases.

>
> > 4. grab album art from online sources
> >    - i know helium does this somewhat well, but it doesn't seem to be
> > the app of choice for any of my other steps
>
> > 5. browse/sort/search/listen to my music
> >    - this is the hard one, i need:
> >       - very fast
> >       - support for all the weird fields, must be able to sort by them etc.
> >       - display of album art
> >       - ideally would allow some distinction between pieces and
> > various recordings of the the same pieces, but this probably insn't
> > possible
>
> Again, your OS makes all the difference in the world as to what I
> could recommend.
>
> Are you talking about classical here?

definitely. jazz, world, and everything else too.

> That wouldn't surprise me
> because a lot of these would be my ideal goals too. Distinction
> between recordings is currently something MBz does, but only at the
> release level. So instead of having pieces, you have the (sometimes
> incredibly arbitrary) grouping that record labels choose.

are you talking about different releases of the same album?

>
> > ideally the program in 5 and in 2 would be the same so that i can
> > easily update tags when changes are made in mb....
>
> I know there are a lot of programs that do both, but generally, you'll
> find a dedicated tagger to be much more powerful.

well, otoh, there's not much point in adding info to a tag if i can't
sort and search by in in my player/music browser... eh?


>
> I hope this helps!
> Andrew
>
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