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Messages - stewlewis

Pages: 12
1
You beauty thanks very much, I've tried with one comment and it's working a treat. Will assign more and add to Touch Portal.

2
I want to be able to trigger something via Touch Portal to add a comment or genre if there is none, and to append another comment or genre if one already exists.

Reason: I have Musicbee playing while I work and I have setup an old phone with Touch Portal to control it, when a track is playing I'll give it a star rating from the phone, I also like to be able to have a page of comments, and a page of genre tags that I can touch and it'll add to the playing file tags.

I then export these tracks to my laptop for use in Serato which organises 'Smart Crates' based on my tags.

EG. a whole page of Comment buttons in Touch Portal, vocal; female; male; slow; repetitive; banger; peak; hard; soft etc.

3
Dear knowledgeable MB users can I achieve the following?
(I've tried drivers and plugins and workaround with intermediary apps, but nothing works like MediaMonkey)

3 things:

1. MM can send to Iphone as long as the iTunes/Copytrans drivers are installed. How do they achieve itunes folder access on the iPhone? Why can't MB do the same?

b. MM can do a 2 way sync from a USB drive or USB external HDD, what's getting in the way with MB? I only want to be able to update tags on the file and have it sync'd back.

and D: Not found a way to do this is MB or MM. If a file differs on the external device (USB/HDD) can I compare the two and update only the changed tags of the file in my library? To save doing the file copy.

I was trying to find an intermediate program between MB and my iPhone, to SEND TO: the tune and it would 'drag-dro'p it to the phone, such as the program Waltr, but I could never get that to work.



4
General Discussions / Re: Contacting SOMEONE about MusicBee!
« on: April 21, 2020, 12:14:04 PM »
Number 1: Here's how I do it, a write up I did for a Reddit user:

MusicBee – My Setup

I have my music stored on my home server, it could as well be on a NAS or on a portable drive.

I run the portable installation of MusicBee, downloaded from here : https://getmusicbee.com/downloads/

The portable version can be installed as a stand-alone installation and run from any drive.



My MusicBee program is installed in \\server\tunes\$_Musicbee

I have my MusicBee library stored in \\server\tunes\$_musicbee library

I have a folder for libarary backup stored in \\server\$_musicbee library backup

(The $ is just to keep it at the top of the folder list when sorted by name)



My Music, also stored on my server.

I store my music in the following format:

\\server\tunes\Artist\Album\Filename

Single tracks are stored in:

\\server\tunes\Artist\filename

My files are named as such:

Artist_Album_discnumber_tracknumber_Trackname

This way if a file goes rogue, moved or copied, tags lost etc. I know where it belongs.



MusicBee has an Inbox folder. I use this folder to import all my tunes into which is where they stay until I’ve corrected the MP3 tags. The inbox can be selected and pinned to the top bar in MusicBee, click the + on the top bar and select Inbox on the left. Right click Inbox on the top bar and Pin Tab [Icon and Text].



Let’s add some music to MusicBee, adding it to the library, tagging it correctly and copying it to the folder where I’ve chosen to store my tunes:

With the Inbox tab selected press INS, to insert some files.

MusicBee will open the ‘Scan folders for new files’ box.

Click choose folders and select a folder where you have some music files stored, in my case c:\downloads, select the option ‘destination for new files – add to inbox’ and then click proceed.

You now have some music files in your inbox, these may or not be tagged correctly, here’s where you correct any mistakes.

Here you can right click on a music track in your inbox and use MusicBee’s tagging tools; auto tag by track, auto tag by album etc. Or, right click (or shift + return) and edit. Or edit the track details right on the music track line in the inbox by pressing F2 or slow 2 clicking each field. Either way, get your music tags correct here.



Now we have a correctly tagged music file we want to put it into our final destination music folder where we will store all our music files.

We highlight/select the tracks that we want to move in the Inbox, then ‘right click – Send to – Folder (move) – Move files to organised folder’ or CTRL + ALT + M.

In the new file Organiser window:

Make sure ‘to folder:’ box is checked.

Under that click the … and select the path to your chosen music files destination folder, in my case \\server\Tunes.

Next to that make sure ‘naming template:’ box is checked.

Under that click the … and use the Template Editor to select your chosen file and path naming convention, in my case : <Album Artist>\<Album>\<Artist>_<Album>_<Disc-Track#>-<Title>

On the next line you can add an exception, I use this for single tracks:

Tick the ‘Except when:’ box.

Next to that click the … and setup and exception, in my case:

match ALL of the following rules: Album has no value (I use this for SINGLE TRACKS)

Next to that exception I use another naming convention, click the … and add:

<Artist>\<Artist>-<Title>

Then below that I click the button to Add Exception:

Match ALL of the following rules: Album Artist is Various Artists (I use this for COMPILATION ALBUMS)

Next to that exception I use another naming convention, click the … and add:

<Album Artist>\<Album>\<Album>_<Disc-Track#>_<Artist>-<Title>



In the File Organiser window you can now see a preview of how the file will be stored and renamed.

At the bottom of the window select the ‘add to library’ box.



When you now click the Reorganise button the file will be renamed and copied to as we’ve setup above and will be removed from the Inbox.



Well that’s handy, we’ll use that a lot, lets pin a Command Button:

Right click on the top panel to right of the tabs and select ‘Configure Toolbar’

Add a toolbar button, number 1, and enter the Button Text ‘Move to Org’ or whatever you like or even click the … and add an icon if you have one.

In the command line click the drop down arrow and find the command ‘Send To: Move to Organised Folder’

You now have a button to click once you’ve tagged those inbox files.



We’re getting there now.

I use a playlist to send files to an external drive or laptop via my network.

To create a playlist for this purpose:

Right click on a music track in your library, under the music tab in the top panel.

Select ‘add to playlist’ and create a new playlist, in my case Serato.



I’d also like to be able to send files to my Laptop that I use for Serato DJ. (Or a portable drive, or another PC, or anywhere etc).

We can do this by adding a virtual device:

Select MusicBee menu – Edit – Edit Preferences (or CTRL + O)

Click ‘Devices’ and click the button ‘Add Virtual Device’

Select the folder you would like as a virtual device, in my case \\laptop\Serato Music

I use a playlist to send the music I want to DJ with to the Serato laptop:

I check the ‘synchronise playlists’ box and the ‘selected playlists only’ option.

I check the box next to ‘Serato’



Under the Settings menu in this window you can change naming conventions for the files and folder locations, much the same as we did for our inbox. In my case:

I select ‘use naming template’ and for music files I add ‘Music\<Artist>-<Title>-(<Bitrate>)’ this copys the files to my laptop into the Music folder and renames them to something more simple, I don’t need album info but I do need Bitrate info.



Great, when I play tunes in MusicBee that I’d like to use to DJ with I audition them and right click on them and add them to the Serato playlist.

I want a quick way to throw these files to the Serato laptop:

On the top panel click the + icon to add a folder to this panel.

MusicBee will show it’s folder, to the bottom of the list under ‘devices’ you should see your new created virtual device. Click it.

On the top panel, right click the new virtual device tab and ‘Pin Tab [icon and text]

When you now click this button MusicBee will show you your virtual device window, and clicking the ‘synchronise’ button MusicBee will proceed to copy the files to your virtual device as we’ve set up above.



Using virtual devices in the same way I also have a USB stick I use for the car, same deal as above just choose the path to your stick.



Change any of these options to suit you, that’s just how I do mine. There’s tons of configurable settings in MusicBee, have fun.



And back up your library, MusicBee – File – Library – Backup Library, send it to your chosen backup folder. And backup that folder to another drive.

5
Got home and tried my plans, added Serato in tools as a 'send to' option. Serato starts up but doesn't open the file, I'll check with the Serato side of things to see if this is possible.

Also added Spek with tools as a 'send to' option, very handy for checking actual bitrate, works well unless I send it a file from a network share, it opens multiple instances of Spek, I'll research this too.

Always surprised how great Musicbee is with all its configurable options.

6
Ooo excellent, will have a play when I get home. I've found the constant monitor option, tested with external app MP3tag and that's working a treat.

Hoping to "identify same track as X in library and it's file location and copy tags from Y to it"

I can do it now by re-importing the files I've used on the external DJ/Serato drive to their original location, using my renaming and sorting rules, but it just seems like an excessive file copy.




7
I can't find a way to do this, would you know if it's possible:

Copy tags only from x:\artist_title.mp3 to y:\artist\album\artist_album_title.mp3

I use another player, Serato, that analyses a file and adds/updates tags. I'm wondering if there is a way that MB could find the same file (though with a different name) through the standard, artist/title/etc tags, in the x:\ location and copy the tags only from that file into the file in the y:\ location.

Found this info on Serato forum :
General Encapsulated Object (GEOB) tag. This isn't a typical tag and most (if any?) programs cannot show/display this info.
Cue points, loops and overview info is stored in the (GEOB) party of the ID3 tag. You cannot physically see it change it manually, so clearing basic fields (artist, comments etc) is safe.
I don't know if Searto uses the default BPM tag too.




Also, while I'm asking:

Can MB 'send to/play with' another app, Serato, where I can listen to, audition, analyse and update the file. Then, I close the file in Serato and MB will immediately show the tag changes in it's library.


Scratch this, just found the 'Tools' menu option, will see if this works with Serato.
And, the option to constantly monitor my music folder.

8
Questions / Re: checking BPM tags against BPM database
« on: January 09, 2018, 02:04:51 PM »
You could try analysing your files with Serato.
Free to use offline of a DJ controller I believe.

https://serato.com/dj


9
I use Musicbee portable installation on the NAS too, and create a shortcut to it on my PCs.

Run Musicbee from the NAS, it's library and music files in the same place, you just don't want to have 2 PCs running it at the same time and accessing the same library.

10
General Discussions / Re: MusicBee has finally come to Windows Store
« on: November 09, 2017, 09:03:04 PM »
Downloaded and rated, 5 stars of course.

Does the UWP differ functionally in any way?

I run from all my home PCs using a shortcut to a portable MB on my home server, in the same location as my music, is it worth it or possible to install the UWP version on the PCs accessing library on the server and sharing settings to keep all installations consistent?


11
General Discussions / Re: ipod and musicbee
« on: October 15, 2017, 10:35:05 PM »
I use Musicbee to my iPhone4:

In MB, Send To Playlist.
I use MB to copy the playlist files to another folder, and use MB to export a playlist .m3u to that folder.

I use 3utools to import that folder and sync it to the iPhone.



Its a long winded way around but here's hoping someone more knowledgeable than me could write a plug in for MB to directly access an IOS device, there are many iPhone transfer programs that do it.
If there was an iPhone transfer sync app that could import a playlist file and grab the music files from their original location to save the copying........

12
http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php

I've used this before on Serato, don't know ifnit helped, or if it does the same as you described easily.

13
Questions / Re: Inbox Indicator is completely wrong
« on: September 02, 2017, 08:09:23 PM »
Maybe I just need a 'from scratch' reinstall of the latest version. I tend to just drop the latest patch and overwrite whenever I see there's one available.


14
Questions / Re: Inbox Indicator is completely wrong
« on: August 31, 2017, 06:19:51 PM »
I'm on ver 3.1.6451, my InBox shows 43 files, when there's only 1 in there. Once I've moved that one my empty Inbox always shows 42.

I think though 42 is the answer to life, the universe, and everything so maybe it's working just fine :)

15
Questions / Update tags on original file when updated on external drive.
« on: August 21, 2017, 05:28:15 PM »
Tagging experts, is this possible?:


C:\music\the orb\little fluffy clouds\the_orb-little_fluffy_clouds.mp3

Added to Serato playlist which auto copies the file to;

d:\the_orb-little_fluffy_clouds.mp3


I then play the file in Serato from the external stick, in Serato it will analyse the BPM, the Key and add it to tags. I might rate or comment on the file in Serato for my own notes.


Can I in MB use a formula to analyse the files on the stick, D:, and then update the tags of the original files in C:\music for any tags that  are new or have changed, without having to copy the files back again to C: ?


It's like a 2-way sync from a USB stick or network share or external HDD, could be a virtual device, but only sync tags, not copy files, on the 'return' from the external.


I use MB to audition my tunes, and auto copy them to a stick to create a DJ set list. Copying to the stick is fine, but there's no point in copying files back to the PC. There are files in my home library that I'd never put into a DJ set so no point in letting Serato analyse the whole library (it'd probably wouldn't be successful anyway) and I don't want anything else possibly messing up my tagged, renamed, organised files from MB.

Pages: 12