Custom Naming

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

This is something I meant to ask about. When the individual discs each have their own folder under the Album parent folder, they are simply labelled &*8220;Disc 1&*8221;, &*8220;Disc 2&*8221;, &*8220;Disc 3&*8221;, etc. The album name is not included in these subfolder names.

Yes, simply Disk1, Disk 2, etc.

However, after experimenting with different naming strings and different settings in different software, I can now see that the file metadata is what&*8217;s important. As long as the top layers of the directory are specified (e.g. Music > Lossless), all files in that directory will be found and displayed correctly regardless of the subdirectory folder names, as long as the file metadata is in place.

Obviously, having the folders organised in an easy to navigate manner makes everything look nice and is user friendly, but it isn&*8217;t actually necessary for the software to find the files. So having numerous folders saved with the same name (e.g. &*8220;Disc 1&*8221;, &*8220;Disc 2&*8221;, &*8220;Disc 3&*8221;, etc.) within the various subdirectories will not cause any problems.

I thinks that makes sense, but if I&*8217;ve got it all wrong then please let me know!

Yes, that's correct, at least for most modern music servers/players, including mine. The tagging matters, the file organization is just something for us humans to look at in some sort of organized way if we're trying to find a file. Theoretically, with Roon Labs system, one could dump a few hundred thousand tracks in a single directory (no separate artist or album subdirectories) and Roon would attempt to separately recognize and report the music organized by artist and album. (this said, even they say that it's intelligence sometimes has problems if everything is dumped into a single folder). But I've seen people say that even that works remarkably well, assuming they have good TAGs!

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

Yes, that's correct, at least for most modern music servers/players, including mine. The tagging matters, the file organization is just something for us humans to look at in some sort of organized way if we're trying to find a file. Theoretically, with Roon Labs system, one could dump a few hundred thousand tracks in a single directory (no separate artist or album subdirectories) and Roon would attempt to separately recognize and report the music organized by artist and album. (this said, even they say that it's intelligence sometimes has problems if everything is dumped into a single folder). But I've seen people say that even that works remarkably well, assuming they have good TAGs!

The way things work is all starting to make sense at last, and I now understand more of the settings in my software as well as what I've learnt about naming strings and tagging. I feel like I've been through a crash course in digital audio this past month!

I do have one (hopefully final!) question regarding the subject of naming strings and file destinations when dealing with compilations.

It seems to be the case that the "[IFCOMP]" command tells files which folder to go to in the event that the album artist is NOT specified in the tags, AND also creates such a folder if one doesn't already exist. The ripped tracks are then saved below this in a subfolder displaying the album name. So where the naming string specifies "[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]", the file path created will look something like this (depending on the parent folder selected):

Music/Lossless/Compilations/Album

Now, I haven't tried this, but I'm assuming that if the album artist IS specified in the tags, the "[IFCOMP]" command still tells the files which folder to go to, but a subfolder is also created within that folder for the album artist. For example, if the Album Artist tag field were to be populated with "Various Artists", using the naming string command "[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]", we would see:

Music/Lossless/Compilations/Various Artists/Album Name

However, in the case that both the naming string and the album artist have the SAME value, the subfolder described above is not created. Instead, we get the same file path as if no album artist were specified in the tags. So if the naming string commands "[IFCOMP]Various Artists\[album]" and the Album Artist tag field is also populated with the value "Various Artists", we simply get:

Music/Lossless/Various Artists/Album

This is perfect, exactly how I would want it. I do wonder, however, why we do not get the additional subfolder described above and see the path:

Music/Lossless/Various Artists/Various Artists/Album

This is just one last question to satisfy my curiosity and not something that will affect which naming string I choose to use, nor something I would wish to change. I think I'm probably overcomplicating something simple, and just wondered if someone could explain. Thanks!

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

The [IFCOMP] part of the naming string is activated if the COMPILATION tag has a value of "1". So in this case everything will go into "Music/Lossless/Compilations/Album". This is true even if ALBUM ARTIST is completed. If you want the album to show up under the ALBUM ARTIST folder instead of the "Compilations" or "Various Artists" folder, you should make sure there is no COMPILATION tag field (i.e., don't tick "compilations" in the CD ripper when ripping).

p.s. There is never one last question. I still have questions, just not as often.

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

The [IFCOMP] part of the naming string is activated if the COMPILATION tag has a value of "1". So in this case everything will go into "Music/Lossless/Compilations/Album". This is true even if ALBUM ARTIST is completed. If you want the album to show up under the ALBUM ARTIST folder instead of the "Compilations" or "Various Artists" folder, you should make sure there is no COMPILATION tag field (i.e., don't tick "compilations" in the CD ripper when ripping).

p.s. There is never one last question. I still have questions, just not as often.

Just as I thought, my assumption was wrong and the answer was simple! As always, thank you for taking the time to explain. That little number 1 in the Compilations field really is far more important than it looks!

[Oggy]

Re: Custom Naming

p.s. There is never one last question. I still have questions, just not as often.

By asking that "one last question" on the forum, the answer may help many others than the question asker too.

[Oggy]

Re: Custom Naming

Just as I thought, my assumption was wrong and the answer was simple! As always, thank you for taking the time to explain. That little number 1 in the Compilations field really is far more important than it looks!

Yes, that little number 1 (and not forgetting to clear it when required...) is very important!

It was because of The Graduate soundtrack which has several Dave Grusin tracks alongside the S&G ones that I decided to use the OST for Album Artist (obviously without the "1").

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

It was because of The Graduate soundtrack which has several Dave Grusin tracks alongside the S&G ones that I decided to use the OST for Album Artist (obviously without the "1").

Do you have OST as the album artist for all soundtracks? That actually makes a lot of sense, especially if the soundtrack is a compilation.

Actually, Oggy, you've reminded me of something else that I was going to ask regarding naming. I have a number of albums in more than one pressing (remasters, reissues, etc.). I think I remember you mentioning in another thread that you save albums with their original release date so that they can be displayed chronologically, and wondered how you deal with such re-released material.

In addition, I have a lot of Japanese releases which often contain one or two extra tracks at the end, and the album title retrieved from online databases usually contains a [Bonus Tracks] or [Japan] designation in the title, which I don't particularly like and almost always delete before ripping. I also have quite a few gold discs released by labels such as DCC and Mobile Fidelity, which have the same track listings as the original releases but might be worth labelling differently. Something like "Dark Side Of The Moon [Mo-Fi]", or "Waiting For The Sun [Gold]". I could probably just put this information in the metadata, but that wouldn't be obvious when browsing my music library.

Anyway, I just thought I'd ask seeing as I don't have any more technical questions. At least not at the moment.

[Oggy]

Re: Custom Naming

Do you have OST as the album artist for all soundtracks? That actually makes a lot of sense, especially if the soundtrack is a compilation.

Actually, Oggy, you've reminded me of something else that I was going to ask regarding naming. I have a number of albums in more than one pressing (remasters, reissues, etc.). I think I remember you mentioning in another thread that you save albums with their original release date so that they can be displayed chronologically, and wondered how you deal with such re-released material.

In addition, I have a lot of Japanese releases which often contain one or two extra tracks at the end, and the album title retrieved from online databases usually contains a [Bonus Tracks] or [Japan] designation in the title, which I don't particularly like and almost always delete before ripping. I also have quite a few gold discs released by labels such as DCC and Mobile Fidelity, which have the same track listings as the original releases but might be worth labelling differently. Something like "Dark Side Of The Moon [Mo-Fi]", or "Waiting For The Sun [Gold]". I could probably just put this information in the metadata, but that wouldn't be obvious when browsing my music library.

Anyway, I just thought I'd ask seeing as I don't have any more technical questions. At least not at the moment.

Hi Supernaut - yes I use OST for all soundtracks.

Yes, I do exactly as you've suggested, put a comment in square brackets (round brackets is for the title) if I have more than one mastering / pressing. I used MFSL for the Mo-Fi DSOTM and used the MFSL cover. For The Beatles added nothing to the original 1989 releases, Remaster, Mono and Mono / Stereo. If I don't need to add anything (for example a DCC being my only pressing, then I don't).

Again this is personal preference,so using what is the most instinctive makes sense. I've also used 24/96, Vinyl Rip, 2003 Mix, Expanded etc. and all versions (including later mixes) I use the original release date.

If I know the CD has bonus tracks from the LP, I originally added [Bonus Track] to those tracks only, but have replaced that with a * with a single space before it. This is really neat as it displays on my players and apps - but not so clever if the filename is used.

In most cases, my preference is to add nothing, or as little as possible. This is simple to change in the future if I get another pressing.

When a remastering is very obviously better, such as David Bowie: Pin Ups with the 2015 mastering over the 1999, i've deleted the 1999.

The point to all of this is we are creating personal libraries, but not only do we have different balances to our music collection, we have different personal preferences and different equipment, so occasionally we have to work around the limitations of the players and apps.

I see you've settled on Gary's naming scheme, which with only minor tweaks has worked extremely well for me.

I actually have two naming strings, one for single discs, where I leave Disc blank and one for multi where Disc is populated with for example 1/3, 23, 3/3. I use Pad track number to 2 digits (ie 02) in CD Ripper Options.

For your interest and to show just how much appreciation I owe Gary (and everyone else who have helped me and countless others), here are my naming strings.

Single

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album] [IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[track] [artist] - [title][][]



Multi

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album] [IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[Disc]-[track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album][IFMULTI] \Disc [disc][]\[Disc]-[track] [artist] - [title][][]


As you can see I followed Gary's example of one disc per folder and use Folder.jpg for each disc (not embedded), which makes changing cover art a breeze (and saved me a lot of time with my early errors!).

Unlike Gary I add Artist, or Album Artist to every track.

The only difference in the multiple naming string is the [Disc] -
If I had known what I was doing, I would have tried to combine these in one naming string, so you only get the Disc number and hyphen if Disc is populated, ie 2-01 and 01 if Disc blank.

Gary, could you help on this please?


Supernaut, I had hoped that having Discs in their own folders would combine them on all modern players and apps, but a friend tried this naming string and on one app. only the first disc played - all the discs have to be in a single folder for continuous play. This seems to be unusual, but unfortunately it is possible and that could be useful to know.

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

supernaugt, I do like Oggy. for different versions of albums, I put something in [brackets] in the actual album name tag. Like his, I have 89 beatles release just as album name, but I also have 2009 releases, so I have, for example, three different album names: Revolver, Revolver [Mono], Revolver [Stereo]. Another example is Jackson Browne: Late for the Sky, Late for the Sky [DCC Gold], Late for the Sky {2014 Remaster]. Same thing for the Rollling Stones, e.g., Aftermath [2002 Remaster], Aftermath [UK 2002 Remaster], Aftermath [Mono Box Set], Aftermath [UK Mono Box Set] (yes, UK and US versions of this album have different track listings as was common back then).

But for all these albums, regardless of the name, I use the original album release date for the DATE tag. I want to know something is a 1966 album even if remastered in 2002.

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

oggy, I see your strings are slightly different. Here's a single string you can use for single or multi-disk (and it will automatically deal with multidisks properly). And it doesn't create a separate folder for disks, it just puts the disk number and hyphen before the track number when there are multidisks, but doesn't do this for a single disk. Let me know if that's what you're wanting, or something slightly different.

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI][disc]-[][track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI][disc]-[][track] [artist] - [title][][]

[Supernaut]

Re: Custom Naming

Yes, I do exactly as you've suggested, put a comment in square brackets (round brackets is for the title) if I have more than one mastering / pressing. I used MFSL for the Mo-Fi DSOTM and used the MFSL cover. For The Beatles added nothing to the original 1989 releases, Remaster, Mono and Mono / Stereo. If I don't need to add anything (for example a DCC being my only pressing, then I don't).
...
In most cases, my preference is to add nothing, or as little as possible. This is simple to change in the future if I get another pressing.
...
When a remastering is very obviously better, such as David Bowie: Pin Ups with the 2015 mastering over the 1999, i've deleted the 1999.

That's great advice, thank you. I also like to add as little as possible, but I think having [MFSL] or [DCC] in the album title actually looks quite good! I hadn't even thought about the MFSL covers being different, so I'm glad you reminded me. Half of my CD collection (pre-2000) is stored in sleeves without the liner notes, which are in a separate box. I'll have to dig them out and check (also to check the other metadata is correct).

I also have a preferred version of most CDs, so I'll only be ripping that one in most instances. There are a few, however, which differ enough that I'll want to rip both.

Supernaut, I had hoped that having Discs in their own folders would combine them on all modern players and apps, but a friend tried this naming string and on one app. only the first disc played - all the discs have to be in a single folder for continuous play. This seems to be unusual, but unfortunately it is possible and that could be useful to know.

As I mentioned in another thread, my playback software seems to be something of a mixed bag. On my PC and one of my portable apps, all discs from different folders are automatically grouped. On my other portable player they aren't, although there is a setting to ignore the file path and group tracks with the same album name and album artist ID (which does the same job). None of the software supports SORT tags, although I may still include them.

supernaugt, I do like Oggy. for different versions of albums, I put something in [brackets] in the actual album name tag. Like his, I have 89 beatles release just as album name, but I also have 2009 releases, so I have, for example, three different album names: Revolver, Revolver [Mono], Revolver [Stereo]. Another example is Jackson Browne: Late for the Sky, Late for the Sky [DCC Gold], Late for the Sky {2014 Remaster]. Same thing for the Rollling Stones, e.g., Aftermath [2002 Remaster], Aftermath [UK 2002 Remaster], Aftermath [Mono Box Set], Aftermath [UK Mono Box Set] (yes, UK and US versions of this album have different track listings as was common back then).

But for all these albums, regardless of the name, I use the original album release date for the DATE tag. I want to know something is a 1966 album even if remastered in 2002.

Thanks, garym. Again, great advice for labelling remasters and reissues. I 'll probably end up doing something very similar.

[Oggy]

Re: Custom Naming

oggy, I see your strings are slightly different. Here's a single string you can use for single or multi-disk (and it will automatically deal with multidisks properly). And it doesn't create a separate folder for disks, it just puts the disk number and hyphen before the track number when there are multidisks, but doesn't do this for a single disk. Let me know if that's what you're wanting, or something slightly different.

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI][disc]-[][track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI][disc]-[][track] [artist] - [title][][]

Gary thank you. That is perfect for my friend's need and works exactly as described, I would like the same but putting each disc into their own folder for multis, please.

I'm sure I could work this out, but having my beautiful son who is Autistic "helping", tasks like this tend to be time consuming. I have just had to re-type some of this after his assistance.

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

try this Oggy

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc][]\[track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc][]\[track] [artist] - [title][][]

[garym]

Re: Custom Naming

try this Oggy

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc][]\[track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc][]\[track] [artist] - [title][][]

Oggy, use this instead. works the same, but the "coding" is technically more correct.

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc]\[][track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc]\[][track] [artist] - [title][][]

(I'm enjoying a nice Sunday morning, drinking coffee, listening to jazz vocal music on WBGO, and coding naming strings!)

[Oggy]

Re: Custom Naming

Oggy, use this instead. works the same, but the "coding" is technically more correct.

[MAXLENGTH]240,[IFCOMP]Compilations\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc]\[][track] [artist] - [title][][IF!COMP][IFVALUE]album artist,[album artist],[artist][]\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disk [disc]\[][track] [artist] - [title][][]

(I'm enjoying a nice Sunday morning, drinking coffee, listening to jazz vocal music on WBGO, and coding naming strings!)

Thank you for the strings and I hope you get as much enjoyment from the coding as you have the coffee and jazz!

To be honest I've used the two strings for five years, so reducing them down to one but with the same results would be helpful, but not a priority - Supernaut's thread for some reason had me looking at the possibility.

I've had a play, but so far have not got the desired result which is:-

Single albums

Album Artist / Artist

Album

Track 01, 02 etc.



Multi albums

Album Artist / Artist

Album

Disc 1 Disc 2

Tracks 1-01,1-02 Tracks 2-01, 2-02