Archive for the 'iTunes' Category

iTunes Library Sync Tools

nerkles April 11th, 2008

Here is my “comprehensive” review. (and by “comprehensive,” I mean “cursory”, conducted in less than an hour.)

  • SuperSync: Ugly, but it’ll get the job done. The interface design wreaks of Windows and Java, by which I mean: it’s tastelessly done, but tolerable. I’m reluctantly throwing my lot in with this one, because I couldn’t find anything better, and need our libraries synced this week, and without too much fuss.
  • TuneRanger: AWFUL. Ugly, slow, poorly designed. Run away! I can only hope that more thought was put into the underlying sync process than what went into the “design” of this steaming turd. I stopped it before it had a chance to ugly up our computers. It was so miserable that I did not trust it enough to allow it to even attempt to sync any songs.
  • Syncopation: Might work OK for casual users, but it totally choked under the enormity of my music library. The interface needs a radical re-design. It really makes you jump through too many hoops if you want to be selective about what you sync.

That is all. Good day.

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Coincidence, homage, or knock-off?

nerkles September 18th, 2007

I was listening to previews of music on iTunes last night and came across the new album Asleep at Heaven’s Gate by Rogue Wave. On that album is a song called Christians in Black, which contains a little guitar bit that sounds exactly like one in the song Sacrificial Bonfire by XTC from their 1986 album Skylarking.

I suppose it’s possible they came up with it independently, but that seems unlikely. That leaves the other possibilities… it was a deliberate nod, an homage, a tip of the hat or … just a plain old rip off. Time will tell.

(Note: the links on the song titles go directly to each song in the iTunes store. Listen for yourself.)

Underappreciated Music Revealed

nerkles May 28th, 2007

Here’s a hack to help you to appreciate good music you’ve been neglecting.

Prerequisite: this won’t work unless you have most or all of your music in iTunes, you’ve rated most of your collection, and you use iTunes and/or an iPod to listen to it most of the time. Otherwise move along, nothing to see here.

Create a Smart Playlist (option-command-N).

Here’s what mine looks like:

Underappreciated Smart Playlist

(click the image to see it full size)

You’ll need to make some adjustments to Play Count and Skip Count, since your counts are surely different from mine. Depending on how you use star ratings, you might want to adjust that part, too.

The Skip Count is a fascinating way to study your own taste. It helps you find those songs that you aren’t ready to admit you dislike, and the songs that you only like when you’re in the mood for them. My favorite use of Skip Count is for uncovering songs you feel compelled to like for some reason (such as their popularity), but you don’t. Deleting them is fun.

I have a regular (not “Smart”) playlist called “Worn out for now” where I put songs that I don’t want to overplay and ruin (I have lots of music that I loved and now can’t bear to hear because I overplayed it back in the day, so this is my weird way to prolong my ability to enjoy great music). I exclude any song on that list, because it’s already overappreciated.

It’s a good idea to exclude non-music Genres, or ones you don’t really want popping up randomly.

So once you’ve done that, go to Party Shuffle and select the list. Go back and tweak the numbers until you find the sweet spot.

Enjoy the songs you’ve forgotten!