itunes playlists

sgw · Post by **sgw** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 10:28 am

I have a large itunes library - and need the playlists and playlists folder to make sense of it all. However, when I want to throw together the tunes in a playlist for a dj set etc in Live, I have to root around the hard drive searching for each individual file and then drag into live.

Is there any way (or future plans) for Live's browser to be able to read itunes playlists - in the same way as Serato scratch etc?

If not, does anyone have any ideas to speed up the process?

Thanks and Happy Xmas to all.

oldbetseysatan · Post by **oldbetseysatan** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 11:48 am

Not sure how Serato works but...

(This might be Mac specific?)

I borrowed a tip from Beatnik (would send you the link but the page now seems to have gone...) where you first create a new playlist in iTunes, then create a new Folder on your desktop, highlight all the files in your new iTunes playlist and just drag them into the new folder on your desktop. It has now copied all the songs from the iTunes list into this new folder.

Now you can point one of your browser icons directly to the new folder and there they are.

He also used an program called 'A Better Finder Renamer' to quickly rename all the files in the new folder a little more clearly (I now do this too...) and works well simplfying each name.

Maybe you could create another folder in your Live library called 'iTune Playlists' and just add the new playlist folders there as and when?

Good luck,

R.

sgw · Post by **sgw** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 2:42 pm

Thanks for the tips oldbetseysatan - but this would use too much space - all my itunes files are in aiff format - and occupy the best part of 500gb! So copying files for each playlist is really my last resort. I was hoping that there was a way to have Live see the contents of an itunes playlist - ie in the browser, to select the playlist, and then have the contents of the playlist directly accessible for dragging into the liveset.

I tried command option dragging the itunes tracks from their playlist onto desktop, hoping that would create aliases (which would be all I need) - but it copies the files instead.

Cheers,
sgw

DISUYE · Post by **DISUYE** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 3:59 pm

This would be useful. The iTunes playlists & song info are all held in one massive XML file so it shouldn't take too much programming to be able to incorporate them.

Although you could try this: (albeit starting from scratch) while DJing I drag tunes/clips which have just finished playing into a new folder in the Ableton Browser, then delete the cilp from Live. This is an easy way to keep a records of tracks I've already played, group tracks that go together, but leaves my file structure intact (orgainsed into folders, date purchased).

Anyway, everytime you drag a clip back into the Browser, Live creates an ALC file which refences the original audio file, plus different clip params, and this clip reference file and can also be dragged back into Live at anytime. It can also be renamed independently of the 'parent' audio file (say you loop or repitch something) and saves the clip params as they were, the moment you dragged it into the Browser.

Try diddling about with this - I've not explained it very well but it's painfully easy. Works very well as a playlist organiser and keeps your file structure as-is.

After figuring this out, the Finder file structure & WAV/AIF files became my record collection, and these folders of Ableton Live Clip files became my record bags :)

Dan

sgw · Post by **sgw** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 4:30 pm

thanks disuye

I've tried that - and it works great - but the thing is - I've already spent countless hours creating playlists and folders in itunes - various categories of tunes etc. There are more than 15,000 tunes in the library so I'm keen to find a solution which means that I don't have to manually recompile each playlist for use in Live.

I hope Ableton look into this aspect of their programme as it's very cumbersome - I've tried using the search feature for example but it's so slow as to be of no use. Maybe they could have an 'analyze' function to build a database for faster searching like they do to create 'asd' files all in one go.

Any ideas from anyone or Ableton would be much appreciated.

Cheers

grfld · Post by **grfld** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:10 pm

Maybe i don't get it, but i simply drag the files from iTunes directly to Live.

My complete collection is organized via iTunes, i have a large number of playlists and it works fine for me.

Captain Screwbarb · Post by **Captain Screwbarb** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:17 pm

"I was hoping that there was a way to have Live see the contents of an itunes playlist - ie in the browser, to select the playlist, and then have the contents of the playlist directly accessible for dragging into the liveset."

As far as I know itunes already does this? On a Mac you go to user/music/itunes/itunes music and in there should be your whole library, organized into folders based on artist and album I think...I have it set as one of my three locations in live, and can just drag songs right in.

grfld · Post by **grfld** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:42 pm

Captain Screwbarb wrote:As far as I know itunes already does this? On a Mac you go to user/music/itunes/itunes music and in there should be your whole library, organized into folders based on artist and album I think...I have it set as one of my three locations in live, and can just drag songs right in.

This is for windows true, too. But this is only the location of the files, not of the playlists which are located inside the library.xml file.

x/grfld

drush · Post by **drush** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:59 pm

he's looking for a way to make Live talk to the playlists, which are XML-driven. the actual location of the music files in your iTunes Music Folder (or wherever you keep them) is not organized by playlist... unless you manually make it so. so yeah, you can drag from a playlist window but then you'll be copying the files as already indicated.

the answer to your question unfortunately for now is No. i just do it by copying files for as long as i'm going to use them in a given project, and then delete them. it is definitely less than ideal.. and often very messy.

yeah it would be great if Live's browser worked like Serato's. like, really great.

ispytodd · Post by **ispytodd** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:01 am

I totally agree with the above.
Serato was spot on in referencing the itunes library. Seems simple enough as the itunes xml file can be read by anything that can read, well, xml (isn't that the whole point?)...

For people that aren't familiar with it, Serato has it's own vanilla file browser, like Live, but with the click of a button you can view copy of your itunes library - with playlistsand sortable columns for title , bpm(!), artists, or any other id3 metadata.. Playlists are huge - a godsend for anyone DJing with Live... In addition Live will colorcode songs in the library that you have already played.

one day... one day.

xfx · Post by **xfx** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:12 pm

OK guys, I had the same problem... Serato does it right but there is a trick how to do this WITHOUT duplicating files. Try an iTunes script called "Alias Files to Folder" which you can find here:
http://www.dougscripts.com/itunes/
Works fine for me with iTunes 7, PowerBook G4 and Live 5.2.

Enjoy!

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:44 pm

hijack -

i just installed itunes7 on my p4 1.8 - old chip i know but

should i be surprised that it can't playback a tv episode i purchased? very jittery in both audio and video, and the A/V loses sync

also i was getting audio dropouts just from scrolling through my library while a song was playing. i think that was because my cpu was so hot from trying to play that video (i actually froze the computer at one point, which has never ever happened to me before!)

just now i notice in task manager like 95% cpu just playing an mp3 and scrolling through the library!

seems weird to me

longjohns · Post by **longjohns** » Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:03 pm

it will play in quicktime but not in itunes7

itunes playlists

itunes playlists

ableton should take a page from serato's library