Getting opera tracks in the right order in iTunes

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I could try it on the Mega Bus from Leeds to London. I reckon I'd get to Xenakis.

[Dave2002]

Thinking about it, I haven't created a playlist for my iPod in nearly a year. Maybe this is due to a recent update to the system?

I thought you'd given up on iPods and moved on to more exotic hardware.

I thought I'd almost cracked this a year or two back, when I got fed up of hearing movement 1 of a symphony 10 times, then movement 2 and so on. I disambiguated each recording by conductor, but then (you guessed...) I had some symphonies in different recordings by the same orchestra and conductor so the problem reappeared until I knocked that on its head too.

On a desktop iMac it's not too difficult to copy and paste the relevant fields into iTunes - use the Info feature, and edit to get the job done fairly quickly. Doing each track individually by manual typing ... no way! Try to get global fields set up first, e.g the album label.

For symphonies it's not too difficult or too tedious, but operas are a different matter. I have some downloaded iTunes or mp3s where the tracks were scrambled by the distributors ... real pain.

Actually Beethoven's 9th might present a slight problem, as using faIrly standard tags from online databases the first three movements would typically have the same artists, e.g. Bernstein, NYPO - but the last movement might have a choir and other soloists set up in tags, so would confuse iTunes. In operas this change of artist for each section can be really disruptive. This can depend on how the tags from online DBs have been set up. Sometimes less informative tags might give better results otherwise every time an extra singer appears (solo, duet, trio, quartet ...) more informative tags would cause the order to go awry again.

Stan Brown's pages here http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/itunes.htm might help some people.

Good luck to fhg and others who have this kind of problem.

PS: I have a friend who struggled to put his collection in order, and succeeded. Fine until recently. Now I hear that some sort of systems failure (backup, server error?) has screwed things up yet again. These issues keep coming back to bite one.

[Beef Oven!]

Ah! Could be - I've stopped updating i-Tunes because it caused other problems. Mebbe I should accept the latest updates in the hope that they've solved this glitch?

What I found helped, is that when I ripped CDs to iTunes, I would ensure the album name was clear and simple, often reentering something sensible, and making sure I'd ticked the box that states that the album contains multiple artist.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

What I found helped, is that when I ripped CDs to iTunes, I would ensure the album name was clear and simple, often reentering something sensible, and making sure I'd ticked the box that states that the album contains multiple artist.

Ripping/Importing CDs isn't a problem - it puts them in my Library with tracks appearing in the order of the original CD*. It's when I then highlight items from the library order (for example, if I want to make an individual CD of a Symphony that is split between two imported discs - or just want a particular multi-movement work, such as a Bach Cantata, on an individual CD) and then "Make a New Playlist from Selection" - it's then that the tracks appear in the new playlist in alphabetical order! Sometimes.

* - And I'm discouraged from updating i-Tunes, in case one of the "improvements" is that of importing tracks in alphabetical order in the newer versions!

[Beef Oven!]

Ripping/Importing CDs isn't a problem - it puts them in my Library with tracks appearing in the order of the original CD*. It's when I then highlight items from the library order (for example, if I want to make an individual CD of a Symphony that is split between two imported discs - or just want a particular multi-movement work, such as a Bach Cantata, on an individual CD) and then "Make a New Playlist from Selection" - it's then that the tracks appear in the new playlist in alphabetical order! Sometimes.

* - And I'm discouraged from updating i-Tunes, in case one of the "improvements" is that of importing tracks in alphabetical order in the newer versions!

I see. Maybe it's time to consider less exotic hardware, as I have done. With the latest breed of Hi-Res players, SD card approach is dead simple.

[Stunsworth]

Select the playlist so that you can see the tracks (in the wrong order).

On the top right hand side of the screen you'll see a drop down list (it probably says Playlist)

Click on that and select "Songs"

You should then be able to click on the top of the track number column to put the tracks in the correct sequence

[Dave2002]

I see. Maybe it's time to consider less exotic hardware, as I have done. With the latest breed of Hi-Res players, SD card approach is dead simple.

So was I right in msg 17?

I thought you'd given up on iPods and moved on to more exotic hardware.

What's your current recommendation for hardware?

What do you use for software and keeping things in order?

A few years ago I did quite a lot of ripping, and got it down to a fine "art". I could rip through loads of CDs in a short while, and work at the same time. I thought I'd got it all under control, and the theory was that I could stream to a player, such as a Logitech Touch or similar. More recently I've tended simply to just play the CDs.

People who use portable devices, such as iPhones, Androids etc. have different requirements, and patterns of use. I simply want to play the music, preferably in the best quality possible commensurate with my equipment and budget.

Incidentally - while I'm here - you mentioned iTunes Match recently. I'm not absolutely sure how that works, but personally I'd be very wary of that. I would hate to spend time ripping a high quality source (CD or better) say to FLAC or ALAC or AIFF then to have iTunes Match downgrade my library to aac at 256 kbps. I can understand the benefits for mobile users, who are less bothered about quality, but if there was the slightest danger of iTunes replacing a good rip with a poor one, I'd take great care. Wouldn't be worth downloading any Hi-Res (possibly expensive) albums if that were going to happen now, would it? ***

In case my worse fears are correct, it should nevertheless be possible to protect hi-res tracks by keeping them well away from iTunes and iTunes Match on a separate machine or disk drive.

***Conversely though - anyone who has a low copy quality track might find it useful to use iTunes Match to get better quality.

[Dave2002]

Select the playlist so that you can see the tracks (in the wrong order).

On the top right hand side of the screen you'll see a drop down list (it probably says Playlist)

Click on that and select "Songs"

You should then be able to click on the top of the track number column to put the tracks in the correct sequence

Thanks for reminding us all.
I was fairly sure that there is a simple way - which at least should sort out most of the major discrepancies. It's been a little while since I used this - see other recent post.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Select the playlist so that you can see the tracks (in the wrong order).
On the top right hand side of the screen you'll see a drop down list (it probably says Playlist)
Click on that and select "Songs"
You should then be able to click on the top of the track number column to put the tracks in the correct sequence

You've done it, Steve! Thanks ever so much - the "Drop Down List" on my version says "Songs"; when I clicked it was set to "Manual" with an option for "Album", which I duly chose and - BINGO! Sorted

[Stunsworth]

Glad to have helped.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

[Anastasius]

Why use it then?

Helpful as ever. Thanks for posting. Please don't bother next time. It makes you look a bit of a fool.

[Anastasius]

Select the playlist so that you can see the tracks (in the wrong order).

On the top right hand side of the screen you'll see a drop down list (it probably says Playlist)

Click on that and select "Songs"

You should then be able to click on the top of the track number column to put the tracks in the correct sequence

Many thanks, Steve.

[Beef Oven!]

Many thanks, Steve.

Now say sorry to Apple for your rude OP.

[Beef Oven!]

Helpful as ever. Thanks for posting. Please don't bother next time. It makes you look a bit of a fool.

Why use it then?

I think Flossie is quite correct to ask why you are using it. Perhaps you should follow his implied advice. You often post, or start threads throwing your hands up and criticising Apple for being whatever. Several postings down the line, and we find out the problem is caused by something you have done, or something you are ignorant of. Instead of coming on here jabbering on neurotically about some 'issue' with Apple, why don't you quit using their products? I know I would if I were as angry and agitated about it as you are.