[mythtv-users] 0.25 Music

Steven Adeff adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com
Thu Mar 8 17:04:35 UTC 2012


On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:44 PM, Nasa <nasa01 at comcast.net> wrote:
> ----- Original Message -----
>> --- On Wed, 2/29/12, Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > From: Steven Adeff <adeffs.mythtv at gmail.com>
>> > one man's playlist is another man's queue. and vice-versa.
>> I think the issue here isn't whether something is called a queue or a
>> playlist, but rather: It seems mostly everyone here wants to be able
>> to select a track and have it play, rather than have to go through the
>> hassle of having to build a playlist then as a separate action, go
>> play the playlist, even just for a single track. Thay also want to
>> arrange and browse their music as files/folders already on the drive,
>> not an artificial list order made by the player.
>
> Speak for yourself,

I rest my case... (friendly jab, I'll buy you a beer)

context for my thinking on how MythMusic should work as I sent
previously: I've been thinking about the interface for MythMusic for
about 4years, during which time I've lived with 9 different people (we
have a 5 bedroom apt), and our friends, who have all used our apt-wide
MythTV setup. during that time I've been able to follow the music
listening habits of all these people, including what they are used to
using on their laptops, and how they all interface with MythMusic, as
well as how they have asked me to help organize their music on our
fileserver for their use in MythMusic. My point is, I haven't read
anything on this list as far as preferred use is concerned that I have
not encountered from my sample group. There are a few distinct methods
people have for how they listen and mentally organize their music.
What I posted previously in this thread is what I've found to be the
method that would cover the essential way people think in terms of
music playback given a fixed database and screen. Granted, this method
works best for those with an HDTV, and does require some "fancy" GUI
effects, but it can be done, and I think would provide an excellent
interface for music playback overall.


> I never select a single track to play -- I have
> no interest in selecting song after song after song.  While I have
> an extensive (over 150 Gigs) of music in a somewhat order folder format
> - I don't listen to my music that way.  I tend to select a genre (yes,
> a total pain to organize) and listen to it.  I may create unique playlist
> for future listening.  I don't tend to listen to a full album and I
> don't tend to listen to a single artist, only.  You shouldn't assume
> that the vocal members of the group represent the majority of the group.

I'd be interested to know how you organize your music currently in MythMusic.

Did you read my post earlier in this thread as to my interface idea?


<snip>

>> As to the a) or b) scenario: Personally I'd feel that if you select an
>> album (i.e. folder containing mp3s) you should get to hear all the
>> tracks in it. If you select a single mp3 file then it should only play
>> that one.

I agree with this, but I would also say that if I am viewing an album
I may want to start half way through and play the rest.
I think a better option would be a "single track" mode to playback.
Right now there is a Repeat None/Repeat All mode, just add "Single
Track" to this playback mode list.


>> If you select an existing playlist file then you get to hear the
>> playlist. Obviously this implies building a playlist should therefore
>> save a file (ideally in a portable format like .m3u), so you can do it
>> once and re-use the same playlist later, even if you make/use another
>> playlist meantime.
>
> While I have long wanted a means to play .m3u files -- I am totally down
> with a means to import the playlist into the database and playing it
> from there.  While exporting a playlist maybe a nice feature, if the developers
> don't see fit to add that feature -- a table dump is pretty straight forward.
> You could probably do that today.

the problem I see with m3u files directly is that they would have to
be created in such a fashion as to work with how the database finds
the files. This would obviously then be best created through MythMusic
or a compatible system for creating them (such as through MythWeb in
some fashion).

I think the ability to export and import playlists in m3u format would
be neat to have eventually but not essential. I would much prefer to
see the general frame work for static playlists properly implemented
initially though.


>> Playing an album, track or playlist should always be as easy as a
>> single action.
>>
>> The player should support a loop on/off toggle button. In loop mode,
>> you would hear whatever you have selected re-played ad infinitum.
>> Although I personally never use shuffle mode, I guess that would also
>> be a nice option for others that do.

Shuffle and Play mode are separate concepts though, as they can be
used in conjunction. So Shuffle should be its own mode along side
playback (as mentioned above).


>> Its not rocket science, but for some reason big companies like
>> Microsoft and Apple have totally lost the plot. They have made their
>> players so "user-friendly" it takes hours to learn and setup, the
>> music library never ends up right, and it takes a million operations
>> to find/play anything when it should be one click.

I disagree in some ways, at least in regards to iTunes, I have not
used the latest Windows Media Player so I can't speak to that.
I think the latest iTunes, and WinAmp as well since they both use
essentially the same model (with iTunes being less powerful), it is
very easy to do all the basic media playback the user could want. Yes,
there exists the ability to more finely tune how you interface with
the software, but I think of this as an advantage not a curse.
As for the library and the requirement for "a million operations", I
don't quite follow what you mean, I've never found this to be the
case, if anything, depending on how I wish to play back my music it is
either the same amount of work as going directly through my directory
hierarchy, or easier for playback methods that do not fall in line
with that hierarchy.
Follow up, I don't see how you could ever have a one click system to
find/play anything.
Again, it could just be I don't follow what your thinking exactly in
your brief writeup of your concerns.


>> No-one wants a music player in mythtv like that, but from earlier
>> posts it sounds like you're close to copying a lot of their ideas.

I've lost the context of this comment?


>> Not that I think mythmusic will ever get this bad, but I especially
>> detest media players that scan the drive for file types it recognises
>> to build/store a "My Media" list. I also detest media players that
>> have store frontends.

MythMusic is already this way, even if you have it display your music
media in "directory" mode.

While I don't quite understand why you feel this way, I'm more than
fine with your viewpoint on it, and why I feel regardless of what
other sort methods are available, a "directory" mode should always be
one of them, right now I use the directory mode in MythMusic, so at
some level I do get it.
That said, I would like to understand better why you feel this way,
and what it is about the iTunes/WinAmp form of a media library that
you detest?

-- 
Steve
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/User:Steveadeff
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