Qwertyuiopia

How to build a media library

This is the fourth article of the series. In the previous ones we ‘ve covered how information is stored in digital audio files, as well as what tagging software can do to manipulate that information.

In this chapter we will examine the decisions involved in making a media library, such as what file and folder structure to use, how the information contained in tags will be formatted and which tags will have to be complete to consider files ready for the library.

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Things taggers do

In the previous article of the series we discussed the structure and limitations of digital music formats, and the media they’re usually stored in.

In this part we will look at the basic capabilities of tagging software such as group tagging, internet database lookup and file/folder stucture manipulation, and 10 things to watch for when choosing a tagger. This should establish a good guideline for choosing the tagger that works for you, as well as give you a clear idea on how to use any tagger efficiently.
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A brief overview of where and how things are stored

In the previous article in this series we have explored why having a digital music library with a consistent structure could be something you like. In this one we examine some technical aspects of storing digital music, namely a few of the file formats it can be stored in, how meta-information is stored and some basics on text encodings and file systems.

This should be able to help you decide which formats and options are best suited for you, as well as avoid a few common pitfalls when deciding on your tagger’s configuration. (more…)

Why: An introduction to the benefits of organizing your digital music into a media library

Maintaining a library of hand-sorted categories (such as “Alternative” or “Jazz”) may be applicable to a small, 20GB collection (of 300 albums or so), but when things go up in volume (as in a 200GB hard-disk-ful of music) you just realize that browsing your music through the folder structure, let alone categorizing by hand, would just be too time consuming and inefficient. After all, you’re probably using a computer to browse through your music and those devices are made to help out with such things :).

This is the first of a series of articles on building a music library that is suitable for browsing through various library-capable audio players (Such as Winamp, Quod Libet, Rhythmbox, iTunes and a lot more) and consistent, thus capable of having its stucture manipulated with scripts. In this introductory part we cover some of the reasons to want a music library and the work involved. (more…)

I am passing through a brief infatuation period with the 2007 album of Of Montreal “Hissing Fauna, are you the Destroyer?“, which (well, personally) I find to be one of the year’s most interesting releases.

The album was released in January 23, 2007, written, performed, and recorded by Kevin Barnes, with assistance from friends and family: James Huggins, Heather McIntosh and Nina Twin and Alabee Blonde (Barnes’ wife and daughter respectively). It could be generally considered indie-pop or indie-rock, with a lot of psychedelic influences, which kinda make sense if you listen to Of Montreal’s previous work.
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This is a radio show I had to make for a class. It’s focused on the first half of 2007 and loosely around indie rock. I’m not completely satisfied with the volume level of the voice, but hey, lessons are over and that’s it. Apart from that, the song selection and the (perhaps-a-bit-too-) mild narrative (in Greek) do have the necessary bits of research in them to make the thing worth listening to.

On Tuesday, June 5, I will be performing live in café Dionysos, in Lixouri, Kefalonia.

It’s been about 4 or 5 years I haven’t done that, and I’m quite looking forward to it. It’ll probably be just me with a classical and a borrowed 12-string guitar (being thus fully prepared for the case someone will like to jam in at some point). The show should start at 11:00.

This is the poster I made for the occasion

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23, the 2007 album of Blonde Redhead, was released by 4AD in the middle of April.

The trio from New York has come a long way since their first album’s production by Sonic Youth’s drummer Steve Shelley in 1995, and this one is probably their most long-waited release - Japanese lead singer Kazu Makino and the Italian twins Simone and Amedeo Pace are one of the big bands now.

This is the first album that the band has produced themselves, and, as they told nme.com, they are satisfied with both the experience and the result, as it gave them more control over their ideas. The sound of the album reflects this fact, as the music concentrates more on fullness and richness of texture and less on progression and form, at least in comparison to their other albums.
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Old stuff time again! This article presents five albums from the US at the end of the sixties. Hippie masterpieces, intrascenal irony, prog snobishness and Punk Rock’s toddler steps, all here!

This selection of albums is intended to give a clear idea about the end of the 60’s hippie scene in the US and a few new musical styles that emerged.
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It’s old stuff time: Five albums that, well, you should have. This time’s selection features albums with lots of electronic elements.

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