Classical music App for I-Pod?

[Guest]

I've got a touch I-pod and I've loaded my favourite tracks, however it seems to me that I-Tunes isn't really geared up for classical music. In particular, it doesn't really seem to be able to handle multi-movement works or multiple performers (i.e. conductor, orchestra, soloist).

You can make it work tolerably by setting up play lists and manually adding items to them. However, I do wonder if maybe some enterprising whizz kid has set up an app a little more comfortable with the formats of classical music?

Anyone know of anything out there?

[Resurrection Man]

I'm afraid not. You have found the Achilles Heel. It all stemmed from the first iPods which had a teensy-weensy display. And because the market was pop, the database schema was oriented around album and pop group (aka artist name). The concept of classical music was alien.

Then along came Gracenotes and/or CDDB which was an online database of CDs but it also only pandered to Pop. It is this database that populates your entries in iTunes when you stik in a CD. But the data fields simply are not there for classical music and which also explains why when iTunes reports back to you with data, it might seem a little strange.

And don't even consider getting a Brennan to store your classical CDs as its database schema is even more limited than that of iTunes. And Gramophone gave it a rave review ????? The cynic in me might start to wonder about paid editorial.

[Gordon]

I've got a touch I-pod and I've loaded my favourite tracks, however it seems to me that I-Tunes isn't really geared up for classical music. In particular, it doesn't really seem to be able to handle multi-movement works or multiple performers (i.e. conductor, orchestra, soloist).

You can make it work tolerably by setting up play lists and manually adding items to them. However, I do wonder if maybe some enterprising whizz kid has set up an app a little more comfortable with the formats of classical music?

Anyone know of anything out there?

'Fraid I agree with RM, Apple haven't a clue about classical music for all their geeky "expertise". How could anyone be so disorganised, all about pop "songs". I was persuaded against my better judgement to acquire an iPod and it has been a great trial of my prodigious patience. You have to do everything through iTunes which is also a pain in the nether regions - Apple = control freaks'r'us. I much prefer my earlier player but its disc was too small.

iPod = price of being trendy.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Even a track of a Linguaphone language course is thought by Apple to be a "song".

[Flay]

I put the Alpensinfonie on my ipod - it recorded it as 22 movements!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I put the Alpensinfonie on my ipod - it recorded it as 22 movements!

But the important thing is - did it play back all 22 movements with a gap inbetween?

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

But the important thing is - did it play back all 22 movements with a gap inbetween?

Even worse: has anyone had the experience of downloading a work (an Opera, say, or the individual "songs" of the Alpensinfonie) only to discover the different "tracks" have been put into i-Tunes in alphabetical order?

[Angle]

iTunes is the prime curse of the iPod.

The second is that record companies do not follow a common data format for contents of CDs, not even within their own companies. Hence disc 1 of a CD set is often listed in entirely different format from disc 2. Composers are sometimes entered as artistes. Anything can appear anywhere.

It is a nightmare keeping an iPod of classical music in order. It requires a huge amount time to be spent on re-entering the details shown in the principal playlist.
Setting up gapless playback for something like the Alpensinfonie can, if you're not careful, result in the gapless playback of works which should have a moment of silence between movements.

Unfortunately, with things as they have been ever since the iPod first appeared, it is still each for him/herself as far as non-pop music is concerned.

I am amazed that someone hasn't made a fortune by sorting it all out. (Or published an expensive monthly magazine on how to organise your collection!)

Don, sweltering in Liverpool.

[tsuji-giri]

Thanks for your replies everyone. Apple's lack of acquaintance with serious music doesn't stop them attempting to sell it, under whatever description.
I'm reasonably happy with sorting things into playlists, although there isn't really space to describe the individual movements properly.
Something that does annoy me quite a lot is the 'shuffle'. I don't want it, and if I ever use it it's an accident and I have the job of sorting it out. They could start by disabling that not very useful attachment!
As pointed out, there's a problem with the original database lacking sufficient fields. I suppose one could create a separate database with fields for work title, linked subsidiary items (e.g. movements, arias, recitatives, etc.), and a linked table for artists - it would be a one to many relationship as with something like an opera there would be a requirement for all the artists, chorus, orchestra, conductor, and maybe director as well. That sounds like quite a lot of work to enter every time you get a new work to load, although there are probably people who do something like that on Excel spreadsheets, or maybe indeed Access databases.
That would at least give you the capability to look for all works with the Berlin Philarmonic, or Simon Rattle, or indeed that violinist fellow, Kennedy.
That's if you're sufficiently bothered to keep up with the database; not everyone is that obsessive I suppose, and some of us reckon we can remember all our recordings anyway!
However, maybe some amateur programmer might like to think about a try at creating a 'serious music app', if it cost only 69p it wouldn't be the end of the World if it didn't work would it?!

[Jonathan]

Even worse: has anyone had the experience of downloading a work (an Opera, say, or the individual "songs" of the Alpensinfonie) only to discover the different "tracks" have been put into i-Tunes in alphabetical order?

Agreed, this is a major drawback. No points to Apple for this - the other problem I had was when I updated my iPod and iTunes from my old laptop to this one, it lost 7000 tracks from my library - by this I mean that it was no longer able to follow the link to actually play the tracks! One and a half years later, there are still 4000 waiting to be "reconnected". I did email them and tell tham their software was bobbins but never had a response to explain why the system works in this way. Very annoying indeed...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

- the other problem I had was when I updated my iPod and iTunes from my old laptop to this one, it lost 7000 tracks from my library - by this I mean that it was no longer able to follow the link to actually play the tracks!

I've had similar problems. That's why I shall continue to buy CDs, whatever propaganda is put about - i.e. wish-fulfilment about their demise.

[Frances_iom]

Thanks for your replies everyone. Apple's lack of acquaintance with serious music doesn't stop them attempting to sell it, under whatever description.

Apple are control freaks - the punters merely paid over the odds to obtain a device they realy have little control over.

The big problem with classical CDs is building the database - the free version of Gracenote (which was a ripoff of a community project once it was sufficiently well populated to be sold) has many classical CDs but each using a very different kludge to fit performer, composer etc into the small number of fields - the usual trick for multitrack works is to number tracks sequentially 01,02 etc followed by name of work,movement etc which also sort alphabetically. A non-Apple device will usually give you much more freedom once freed from iTunes - but then most consumers are sheeple.

[Flay]

But the important thing is - did it play back all 22 movements with a gap inbetween?

No, the main problem is that sometimes I do like to use "shuffle songs" so I keep getting little chunks.

There is a way around this in the copying of the CD, I believe.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Apple are control freaks - the punters merely paid over the odds to obtain a device they realy have little control over.

It's odd really. It's not very long since every man and his dog felt sorry for Apple because of the dominance of Windows.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No, the main problem is that sometimes I do like to use "shuffle songs" so I keep getting little chunks.

There is a way around this in the copying of the CD, I believe.

The "Waterfall" sequence must be annoyingly disruptive, in that case.