Author Topic: i don't understand, how Musicbee works  (Read 4700 times)

boroda

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4609
It's not fair to blame a new user.
no blaming, just first read the wiki, then try to fiddle with mb yourself, then ask some precise questions describing what you are doing and providing screenshots.

boroda

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4609
Regarding "educate yourself", a player should be simple to understand right from the start. If i have to "study" an application designed for simple purposes as just playing music, it is a bad design.
if it was just a player... but it's very mighty music/audiobooks/podcasts/internet radio/video manager and organization/tagging tool. if you need just a player you better try potplayer, it's very simple and it's good audio/video player.

Zak

  • Global Moderator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2459
Nevertheless i will try to stick to Musicbee, leaving out that whole library thing.

You won't get much joy from MusicBee without creating a library.

File > Scan Folders for New Files > Select your music folder. Simples.

-edit-
Should have included the caveat that you should not do this with Auto-organise media files checked in the Library preferences. Unless you want to cry.
As you've surmised yourself, that will rename and move your files.
Last Edit: February 06, 2020, 07:10:16 AM by Zak
Bee excellent to each other...

please55

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Posts: 65
Honestly, I have to give a shout out to the community here. Yall are heroes for how you handled this.


urfausto

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 167
my two cents: i too find musicb very difficult to use and translation can be an issue too since there are many specific terms which if not accurately translated lead to different outcomes to what you are imaging because i'm a noob, but on the other hand there is no software comparing to it, musicb has all the possible features you can ask of and all the possible fashions to arrange your music. of course it takes time to get used and learn all the different aspects of the features. it is not 1 day software and it couldn't be otherwise.

andbr01

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 14
Thanks to all of your guys, i do understand your criticism. I will try to find out more about this player, which has so many good properties, as i found out already. But sometimes it is hard to grasp all the features right, and, as the user urfausto stated, it might be because of (some) poor translations (i'm using the german version) or very short or missing descriptions. One example, i had ticked the "auto organise" button, thinking, Musicbee would do stuff just internally. I have my music folders organised into ten style categories, like "Reggae", "Jazz", "Electro" etc.

Last night i found dozens of new folders in that same directory, which MB has put there randomly, or through some kind of system, i don't understand yet. First i was shocked to find my whole music drive changed, but luckily MB didn't alter my ten main categories, so i only had to move those maybe 30-40 new folders elsewhere (until i am sure, they weren't moved from those original folders, what would make deleting them a big mistake. But as it seems, those are only copies). Anyway, i like the fact, that i can mix MP3 and MP4 and export playlists, which my previous player couldn't handle, and to have the information and in many cases even the lyrics at hand, the look, and some other small details. So bottom line, i plan to stick to Musicbee as my main music player, and to read more in the wiki about its capabilities.

phred

  • Global Moderator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9353
i had ticked the "auto organise" button, thinking, Musicbee would do stuff just internally. I have my music folders organised into ten style categories, like "Reggae", "Jazz", "Electro" etc.
I'm glad to hear that you're going to stick with it. While MB may have a higher learning curve than some similar applications, it's worth the time to learn what it can do. As urfausto said, it's not one day software. And don't feel you have to learn it all at once.

This forum is the friendliest and most helpful of all the forums I've been on in the past million years. When you hit a road block (and I'm sure you will) ask questions and be specific. What are you trying to accomplish? What are the steps you've taken so far? What results are you getting and did you want to get? You may not get an instant answer or you may be asked specific questions, but we'll all here to help each other and to learn from others. Usually Steven, the sole developer is here many times during the course of the day, but right now he is in the process of moving to another country and starting a new job.

I'll finish with three bits of advice:
1- Make backups before you do anything that is going to change files
2- Start with one or two files/albums before changing everything all at once
3- Make backups before you do anything that is going to change files
Last Edit: February 07, 2020, 03:47:08 PM by phred
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7880
Another general advice to any new user that is interested in learning the more advanced features of MusicBee:

Do not just start experimenting with the more advanced settings, and do not change them from default if you do not fully understand what they do.
Certainly don't do that on your main MusicBee installation, and not on your main library and music files.

My advice:
Install a separate portable installation in it's own location.
Create a library for it pointing to a folder that only contains some copies of your music files.

Use that portable installation to test and try out everything to your heart's content without the risk of ruining anything.
Then after you found and understand setting that you like, copy them to your main installation.

blu scoot

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Another general advice to any new user that is interested in learning the more advanced features of MusicBee: Do not just start experimenting with the more advanced settings, and do not change them from default if you do not fully understand what they do. Certainly don't do that on your main MusicBee installation, and not on your main library and music files. My advice: Install a separate portable installation in it's own location. Create a library for it pointing to a folder that only contains some copies of your music files. Use that portable installation to test and try out everything to your heart's content without the risk of ruining anything. Then after you found and understand setting that you like, copy them to your main installation.

I too have had confusion/not understanding/and over all wonderment of Music Bee  So your good advise has given me a "safe" starting place,  So it will be smooth sailing from here --I'm such a starry eyed optimist-----SIGH
Blu Scoot 8)

hiccup

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 7880
So your good advise has given me a "safe" starting place,  So it will be smooth sailing from here

Great, welcome to the forum, and enjoy the journey...

If some forum member ever gets motivated to write a brief and clear "Welcome to MusicBee; Do's and Don'ts" tutorial for completely new users; this specific advice would probably deserve a spot there.

Also an explanation on if you should install either a Portable (yes), Full (o.k.), or Store (hmm) version would probably be useful, and could help in preventing some issues for new users.

wobbly

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 318
i will say it again when trying any new software  test on a copy of files  that way if something goes  wrong ... you have not lost anything until you have a better understanding of what's going on .. stick with MUSICBEE its very powerful  once you understand how it works

phred

  • Global Moderator
  • Sr. Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9353
i will say it again when trying any new software  test on a copy of files  that way if something goes  wrong ... you have not lost anything until you have a better understanding of what's going on .. stick with MUSICBEE its very powerful  once you understand how it works
This. A thousand times. This.
Backups, backups, backups.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here