Technology kills the radio star - Part 3 of 3

Part 3 - Reconnecting with the collection

To re-cap, the process was

o Identify a file storage location
o Determine media storage type
o Determine filename format
o Transfer CD’s using EAC
o Download albums and tapes using PirateBay and LimeWire

Now the good part after all the effort. MediaMonkey is a great tool for organizing and listening to the music. It can be downloaded, free, from http://www.mediamonkey.com. I’ve been using the tool for a month and barely grasp all the features and functions.

MediaMonkey was recommended by a friend for two important functions: the ability to generate random playlists and the ability to download the playlist to my Blackberry. In order to use my Blackberry I needed to upgrade to MediaMonkey Gold (about $50). The advantage is that it also provides an audio leveling feature to ensure all music in the collection plays at the same volume. This prevents the transition from a really loud song to a really quiet song.

To start, go to the File Menu and select “Add\Rescan Tracks to the Library”. You need to specify the directory where the files are stored. Scanning takes a while.

Album artwork can be added with MediaMonkey to the songs and albums. Here again most album-covers are available online. I used Google image search to find the cover art for my collection. I then copied the artwork to the filename of the album. In MediaMonkey, select a song from each album. Using the right-mouse button, select Properties. In the properties tab there is an album art tab. Add the album art as a tag to the song and apply to all songs on the album. Now when a song is playing, the album cover is displayed.

MediaMonkey provides a function that converts songs from FLAC to mp3 on-the-fly as it transfers music to a Blackberry or other portable player. The music stored on the server maximizes fidelity while the music on the player maximizes convenience, allowing more songs in the same memory space. My Blackberry will store and play about 60 FLAC songs (who knew?) or 160 mp3 songs.

To setup transfers in mp3 format, go to the tools menu and select SYNC DEVICE, then Configure Device. Click on your portable player and select CONFIGURE. In the Auto-Conversion options tab, Select any format above 160kbps to format on device as MP3.

In the ideal, MediaMonkey would generate a random songlist every morning then convert (on the fly) the FLAC songs to mp3 and transfer them to a portable player, like the Blackberry. That’s the last-step in this project. As of this writing, I haven’t discovered how to generate random song lists. It’s easy to play, for example, all the songs which are number 5 on all the albums. Not random, but a different playlist. If you know how to generate random playlists, please share it. Let me know if you’ve had success and what tips work best for you.

As it turns out, technology doesn’t kill the radio-star. It immortalizes them. Thanks to new technology it is now possible to create hours of music that you can take with you everywhere you go. In my case, technology kills the radio. A computer is the DJ that creates the playlist. All I need to do is enjoy it. It’s also providing great exposure to all those b-sides and obscure songs I’d almost forgotten.

Through this project I was able to re-connect with all the music that was important. Now with a strong foundation including dedicated file-server, a music organizer and the ability to transfer portions of the collection to a portable player, I can work on expanding my music collection again. Adding new artists or filling in songs that are missing. Whether I choose to purchase a CD or simply purchase the FLAC files on-line is a decision to be considered.

Please let us know what you’ve done with your music collection and what tools and tips you recommend.