Author Topic: playing two or more bundled tracks in sequence - even in random mode  (Read 19933 times)

Rachmaninoff

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Hi, I switched some days ago from iTunes to MB and I am really impressed to find many things here I ever searched for - it makes real fun to work with Musicbee.
Nevertheless one topic seems to be still open for me - the bundling of two or more sequential tracks. I didn't found something comparable in the Search-Function - the nearest hit might be around the checkmark "Keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling" - but I tried it, and it seems to be something else ... - at least this function doesn't do I am asking for.
However - everyone knows several pairs of tracks on CDs, which are linked together seemlessly - quite often in classical music. In random mode it is often annoying, when the following song is cut off and another track is chosen. I think there should be a solution for those pairs to bind them together, even when the random mode is chosen. For instance the randomizer choose track 1 of a pair, then MB should recognize with an activated checkmark , that the following track 2 has also to be played directly after it - and when both tracks are played, the randomized selection will continue.
I think, this checkmark "Track only in combination with the following track even in random mode" should be added in the tagging section - what do you think about that.

Greetings from Germany and many thanks for your work here
Rachmaninoff





psychoadept

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There's been discussion about this in the past.  I agree, we need a version of "keep tracks in order while shuffling" that doesn't apply to whole albums. There are ways you can fake it with the current options, but they're convoluted and will mess up your album grouping.
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ma_t14

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As scampbll said, there had been various discussions about this in the past and there actually was considerable interest.

Relevant threads:

http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=2052.0
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=4437.0
http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=4753

I'm still all out for this feature to be implemented and it might, if enough people show interest.

Rachmaninoff

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Thx for all your replies !!
This topic with the associated tracks seems to be on desire since several years now - however I do not have any clue how complicated it might be to develop ... - I read all the old threads for that (thx to ma_t14), and for me some thoughts about the discussed functionality are a little bit "over-perfect".
I think, two simple checkmarks in the tagging zone will cover most of the requirements:

1. following track (= title number +1 of the same album) will be played always in sequence (Y/N)
2. previous track (= title number -1 of the same album) will be played always in sequence (Y/N) 

If 1 = YES and 2 = NO, then track A and B are linked together, only when shuffle mode is choosing track A
If 2 = YES, and 1 = NO, then track A and B are linked together, only when shuffle mode is choosing track B
If 1+2 = YES, then track A und B are linked together, regardless if the shuffle mode is choosing A or B
If 1+2 = NO (= default), then is it like today - nothing changes


Nick

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+1

I've wanted this for a while. For me, using something like Audacity to combine the files is not acceptable and introduces more problems than it solves. I don't have any good ideas on how you'd go about it though. Does anybody know how radio does it? Like how I'll always hear Journey's "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime" or Van Halen's "Eruption" and "You Really Got Me" played together in sequence.
Last Edit: July 20, 2014, 10:23:20 PM by Nick

ma_t14

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+1

I've wanted this for a while. For me, using something like Audacity to combine the files is not acceptable and introduces more problems than it solves. I don't have any good ideas on how you'd go about it though. Does anybody know how radio does it? Like how I'll always hear Journey's "Feeling That Way" and "Anytime" or Van Halen's "Eruption" and "You Really Got Me" played together in sequence.

I doubt radio playlists are random, they are probably preselected manually.

redwing

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Here's my idea.

To make things simple, (1) linking is only allowed to tracks in the same album (as defined by grouping setting) and (2) its play order follows original track order of the album. I think this would cover most cases. (If you want to link tracks scattered in multiple albums, then you could create a pseudo album with those tracks)

Then it only needs a new field that will be saved in MB database only. If you select multiple tracks in the same album, then there's "Link tracks" context menu command.  It would be also possible to create multiple links within the same album.

Now MB treats each group of linked tracks as a single track for Auto-DJ and shuffle mode playback even if only part of the group was included in the list.

Rachmaninoff

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+100 !!!

Thx Redwing - I really would appreciate this approach - it will be a big step forward in regards to my wish to have associated tracks for Auto DJ or any other shuffle mode play - and I am totally agreeing with your suggestions a) only within the same album and b) only in the original track order.

This feature would be another "unique selling point" for MB - I never detected this kind of playing mode in any other media player so far !

Best wishes from Germany
Rachmaninoff

Steven

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in the tag editor settings tab, there is "keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling". You might need to have all the album files selected for this setting to work correctly.
I think it should already do what is being suggested

Rachmaninoff

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No, Steven, it's not - the checkmark for "keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling" refers only to the complete album (= all tracks will be played in sequence then) - you can't select e.g. only the first two tracks of an album to be associated in shuffle mode.
Otherwise I wouldn't understand all posts so far for this topic ... - but please correct me if I am wrong.

Pingaware

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No, Steven, it's not - the checkmark for "keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling" refers only to the complete album (= all tracks will be played in sequence then) - you can't select e.g. only the first two tracks of an album to be associated in shuffle mode.
Otherwise I wouldn't understand all posts so far for this topic ... - but please correct me if I am wrong.

That's what I've always found yes - it works fine for full albums, but has trouble with just one or two individual tracks on an album.
Bold words in my posts are links unless expressly stated otherwise.

redwing

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in the tag editor settings tab, there is "keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling". You might need to have all the album files selected for this setting to work correctly.
I think it should already do what is being suggested

As people have mentioned in this and other threads, we are dealing here with some special cases where multiple tracks were originally written as a single track or have been customarily played together in sequence as if they were a single track. The Beatles's "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End" and Queen's "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions" are the prime examples. In the normal playback mode, it won't matter in whatever order people want to listen to them as it's their choices. What matters is Auto-DJ and shuffle playback mode where those tracks are jumbled against the user's will. My suggestion is if "We Will Rock You" is on the list MB should play it along with "We Are the Champions" that is not on the list as if they are a single track. Don't say we have to listen the entire album just to hear the two linked tracks in sequence.
Last Edit: July 29, 2014, 01:23:07 AM by redwing

Diederik

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in the tag editor settings tab, there is "keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling". You might need to have all the album files selected for this setting to work correctly.
I think it should already do what is being suggested

As people have mentioned in this and other threads, we are dealing here with some special cases where multiple tracks were originally written as a single track or have been customarily played together in sequence as if they were a single track. The Beatles's "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End" and Queen's "We Will Rock You"/"We Are the Champions" are the prime examples. In the normal playback mode, it won't matter in whatever order people want to listen to them as it's their choices. What matters is Auto-DJ and shuffle playback mode where those tracks are jumbled against the user's will. My suggestion is if "We Will Rock You" is on the list MB should play it along with "We Are the Champions" that is not on the list as if they are a single track. Don't say we have to listen the entire album just to hear the two linked tracks in sequence.

+1

It would be nice if MusicBee featured this ability. On some albums in my library certain tracks segue into the next, which results in these tracks starting or ending abruptly when playing them shuffled. Having an option to keep specific tracks in sequence would therefore enhance the shuffle functionality.

Steven

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i have changed the meaning slightly on the existing tag editor setting
"keep album tracks in sequence when shuffling"
its now:
"keep tracks in sequence when shuffling"
and only applies the setting to the tracks in an album where this flag is set, not the entire album as before. Of course you can still set this flag for the entire album to keep the original functionality.
So to keep tracks 3 & 4 together, select both files, edit tags and then tick this flag

unzip and replace the existing files
http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_5/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip

Last Edit: November 30, 2014, 02:04:32 PM by Steven

psychoadept

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Yay! Thanks, Steven. This will make it possible to include classical albums in shuffle so much more easily.
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