SwingDJs

This is one of the best things about iTunes, which I use as my library. I've recently started making Smart Playlists by track name, using the option:

Name contains xxxx xxx

It's great way to compare different versions of the same song. For example, 'Blue Lou' by Benny Carter, Benny Goodman (Metronome Allstars?), Chick Webb, Count Basie and Fletcher Henderson, or 'The Gal From Joe's' by Nina Simone, Johnny Hodges, Charlie Barnet , and Duke Ellington.

I find that the search is also simple and effective for these kind of comparisons.

Yeah, I would use a playlist to save a search that I actually liked...

You can do the same thing with WinAmp and any number of other Music players.

If you keep good tags, you can write all sorts of wonderful saved queries/searches/smart playists/whatever your prefer to call them. Throw in ANDs, NOTs, ORs, etc... really make the Smart Playlists hum...

I have extensive tags within my MP3s, so I just go from playlist to playlist when I DJ. (Ex: Jump Blues Songs with BPMs between 150 and 159)

Greg Avakian wrote:Yeah, I would use a playlist to save a search that I actually liked...

Changed my mind on this; I now search within smartlists and enjoy the automatic updating.

Greg Avakian wrote:Changed my mind on this; I now search within smartlists and enjoy the automatic updating.

The automatic updates is the killer feature of smartlists. This is one feature that I wish was included in any software that can do a search.

I have some smartlists that are setup to search by dance and by rating. As I update the ratings, the songs move from one list to another. It's awesome.

--Stan Graves

Actually, I think smart playlists sort of blow, compared to what they could be. For instance, I know of no way to include OR or NOT connectors in smart playlists.

I-Tunes just isn't designed to be a versatile database. If it were, you'd be able to do multiple filters on any field, not just hierarchically by genre, then artist, then title.

zipthebird wrote:Actually, I think smart playlists sort of blow, compared to what they could be. For instance, I know of no way to include OR or NOT connectors in smart playlists.

Granted.

I'd go even further - I'd like to be able to write my queries in SQL...just because I already use that in my "day job." But, for most people smartlists are better for searching than any of the other manual options.

Then again, what I'd really like is the ability to add fields to a song, and then be able to search on those - using SQL.

--Stan Graves

zipthebird wrote:Actually, I think smart playlists sort of blow, compared to what they could be. For instance, I know of no way to include OR or NOT connectors in smart playlists.

I-Tunes just isn't designed to be a versatile database. If it were, you'd be able to do multiple filters on any field, not just hierarchically by genre, then artist, then title.

True. Sadly, you have to create multiple smarlists if you want to do beyond the basic filtering.

zipthebird wrote:I-Tunes just isn't designed to be a versatile database. If it were, you'd be able to do multiple filters on any field, not just hierarchically by genre, then artist, then title.

You can do multiple filters, by clicking the '+' key and adding a second filter on the same field.

I discovered there's a lot of info about smart playlists out there -

http://www.smartplaylists.com/

http://www.workingwith.me.uk/blog/apple ... ists_in_it

http://www.andybudd.com/archives/2005/0 ... /index.php

http://log.hugoschotman.com/hugo/2004/1 ... lists.html

Haydn wrote:

zipthebird wrote:I-Tunes just isn't designed to be a versatile database. If it were, you'd be able to do multiple filters on any field, not just hierarchically by genre, then artist, then title.

You can do multiple filters, by clicking the '+' key and adding a second filter on the same field.

I meant in the music browser, not using a Smart Playlist. For Smart Playlists, I just wish that you could use OR conjunctions.

zipthebird wrote:For Smart Playlists, I just wish that you could use OR conjunctions.

You can do this by selecting: 'Match ANY of the following rules', and if necessary linking one playlist to another

Example:

To select all Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller tracks with a rating of *** or above:

1. Create 'Goodman/Miller' Smart Playlist:

Match ANY of the following rules:

Artist contains Miller
Artist contains Goodman

2. Create 'Goodman/Miller Good Stuff' Smart Playlist:

Match ALL of the following rules:

Playlist is Goodman/Miller
My Rating is greater than **


See the links I posted above for more information.

Haydn wrote:

zipthebird wrote:For Smart Playlists, I just wish that you could use OR conjunctions.

You can do this by selecting: 'Match ANY of the following rules', and if necessary linking one playlist to another

Yes, but I can't do BOTH, right? I'd love it if I for example could state that "Genre" contains "Jazz" OR "Blues" BUT NOT "Groove" AND "Year" is "1954".

Is that possible?

/Jonas

Jonas wrote: Yes, but I can't do BOTH, right? I'd love it if I for example could state that "Genre" contains "Jazz" OR "Blues" BUT NOT "Groove" AND "Year" is "1954".

Is that possible?

/Jonas

Yes. The trick (as stated above) is to do a preliminary filter on another playlist. You have to do this on any field that you want to include an "and / or" on. Here's how you would do the example you listed above.

1. Create a smart playlist with two GENRE fields, one containing Jazz, the other containing Blues. Choose "Match Any" in the rules. This is your palette essentially for doing more specific smart playlists.

2. Create a new smart playlist where you "match all" rules. Create a field where you choose the playlist "Jazz / Blues" that you had just created. Create another field where the GROUPING (or wherever you have the groove field) is NOT "Groove". I'm assuming you didn't put groove into the Genre label. If you did it shouldn't be. Move it to somewhere else. Add the last field for Year containing "1954".

Bam, you're done.

Jonas wrote:

Haydn wrote:

zipthebird wrote:For Smart Playlists, I just wish that you could use OR conjunctions.

You can do this by selecting: 'Match ANY of the following rules', and if necessary linking one playlist to another

Yes, but I can't do BOTH, right? I'd love it if I for example could state that "Genre" contains "Jazz" OR "Blues" BUT NOT "Groove" AND "Year" is "1954".

Is that possible?

/Jonas

Yes - similar to what Ryan said.

This is the way I thought of:


1. Create Jazz/Blues smart playlist:

Match ANY of the following:

Genre contains Jazz
Genre contains Blues

(This automatically screens out tracks where Genre contains Groove)


2. Create Jazz/Blues 1954 smart playlist:

Match ALL of the following:

Playlist is Jazz/Blues
Year is 1954