Sorting classical & composers

[Mr. Trev]

Reading this topic (https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=18940.0) got me thinking about something I've been meaning to brain out.

I would like to have my Classical music sorted by composer as opposed to album artist like it is now. I remember reading a bit back where this was done so I did some searching and found a topic using a virtual tag to do this for the AZ bar -AZ = $If(<Genre>="Classical",$Group($Sort(<Composer>),1),$Group($Sort(<Artist>),1)).
I plugged this (slightly modded) into my sort and while it did work, I found one problem. Any album that has works from multiple composers gets split. Since my reg-ex skills are non-existent, I'll need some help. What's the best way to keep the albums together?

[redwing]

I don't think virtual tags can tell multi-composer album or not.

[psychoadept]

So you only want it grouped by Composer if there is a single Composer on the album, otherwise you want it grouped by Album?  This is possible, but I want to be sure I understand, first.

[Mr. Trev]

If the album is Classical, I'd like to have it sorted by composer. I just don't know what to do when there's more than one composer - I don't want the album to get split. Maybe just have it sorted by the title composer (whomever the album is named for. that's probably not auto-possible though)? Just use the composer of the first track?

How do you guys deal with this situation?

[vincent kars]

Exactly the opposite of what you are trying to obtain.
I did my level best to split albums.
Who cares about albums?
If a record company puts both the 2th violin concert of Shostakovich and Prokofiev on 1 album how do I get the compositions by composer?
Yep, by splitting the album
Your needs are obvious different.
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MusicBee/MusicBee_Classical.htm

[redwing]

If the album is Classical, I'd like to have it sorted by composer. I just don't know what to do when there's more than one composer - I don't want the album to get split. Maybe just have it sorted by the title composer (whomever the album is named for. that's probably not auto-possible though)? Just use the composer of the first track?

How do you guys deal with this situation?

For browsing compilation albums, I sort by album artist with thumbnail browser and select various artists.
For multi-composer albums by a single album artist (like Karajan's Adagio), I'm just browsing the album artist's albums in album view or album & tracks view.
BTW you can always find the playing album by right-clicking on player bar> Search > Find album.

[Mr. Trev]

Exactly the opposite of what you are trying to obtain.
I did my level best to split albums.
Who cares about albums?
If a record company puts both the 2th violin concert of Shostakovich and Prokofiev on 1 album how do I get the compositions by composer?
Yep, by splitting the album
Your needs are obvious different.
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MusicBee/MusicBee_Classical.htm

Egads, that's pretty thorough. Way more so than I need for my smallish amount of Classical.

If the album is Classical, I'd like to have it sorted by composer. I just don't know what to do when there's more than one composer - I don't want the album to get split. Maybe just have it sorted by the title composer (whomever the album is named for. that's probably not auto-possible though)? Just use the composer of the first track?

How do you guys deal with this situation?

For browsing compilation albums, I sort by album artist with thumbnail browser and select various artists.
For multi-composer albums by a single album artist (like Karajan's Adagio), I'm just browsing the album artist's albums in album view or album & tracks view.
BTW you can always find the playing album by right-clicking on player bar> Search > Find album.

I have the same setup for my non-classical albums (various artists). Works well, but not sure I want to go "various composers" though. I guess I'll just keep the setup I use now (sort album artist) where the performer is the album artist.
Maybe Steven will follow through with better multi database support for v3.2. That way it might be worth having a separate db for Classical