Classical music - why the separate node?

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catsknit
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Sep 07, 2016 2:36 pm

Classical music - why the separate node?

Post by catsknit »

I don't understand why there is a separate node for Classical music, when I can just use Genre Classical.
is there some benefit and should I tag them differently?
Right now, when I rip or download classical music (a large part of my music) I put the composer under the Artist name to make finding it easier, b/c I really don't care who the performer(s) were; I want to sort on all Mozart or all Mahler etc.
If there are better ways to handle classical music I'd love to know.
Windows 10, MMW 5.0.4.2670, MMA 1.4.4.0956
Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: Classical music - why the separate node?

Post by Lowlander »

MediaMonkey is flexible. With a License you can remove the Classical Music Collection if it serves no purpose for you: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... _Rules/5.0

Many people approach their classical music different, like via Composer instead of Artist and have different Columns showing, in different order and/or different sorting than Music files. Having separate Collections allows for this.
Paul Mac

Re: Classical music - why the separate node?

Post by Paul Mac »

I'd just like to write in support of Lowlander's comment, different people use MM in different ways.

I have over 36k tracks in my classical music library. Sometimes I will be interested not just in a particular piece of music but how it was performed by different artists e.g. compare Glenn Gould and Angela Hewitt's way of playing Bach's keyboard music, it is like chalk and cheese and interesting to explore.

I came across this post because I was seeking help to improve how I use MM5. It is a good program and I can get to where I want most of the time but my plea to the programmers was going to be to make the interface with the database a bit more granular. For example I could make a whole new collection of "Box Sets" and select on one of custom fields that are provided but I would prefer to be able to display such a custom view within the views provided under the heading "Classical Music".

One trick I have used to make some of my searches quicker is that I have already put my albums into Windows sub-folders, mostly named by composer e.g. Composer_A-C or Choral_D-G. Otherwise if I click on Composers in MM5 the list becomes unmanageable.
noisebeam
Posts: 49
Joined: Tue May 29, 2012 11:33 am

Re: Classical music - why the separate node?

Post by noisebeam »

catsknit wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 2:29 pm I don't understand why there is a separate node for Classical music, when I can just use Genre Classical.
is there some benefit and should I tag them differently?
Right now, when I rip or download classical music (a large part of my music) I put the composer under the Artist name to make finding it easier, b/c I really don't care who the performer(s) were; I want to sort on all Mozart or all Mahler etc.
If there are better ways to handle classical music I'd love to know.
I am the same way so I don't use the Classical node. I use Artist(s) for all the performers, conductor and for Album Artist use either just the Composer or the Composer and the primary performer. It of course then shows up twice in Album Artist view which doesn't bother me.
(I also for Original Date, use the date of composition or first performance which is great fun to sort all classical music this way especially if you take the time to track down these dates as most accurately as they are documented)
Barry4679
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Re: Classical music - why the separate node?

Post by Barry4679 »

If you have the Gold edition you can make changes to the Media Tree.

You can change the definition of the Music node, to also include Classical Music
Or you can enable the EntireLibrary node, which is hidden by default.

Some details here:
https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/index. ... _Rules/5.0
Want a dark skin for MM5? This is the one that works best for me .. elegant, compact & clear.
yarguy
Posts: 394
Joined: Mon Apr 09, 2012 8:34 am

Re: Classical music - why the separate node?

Post by yarguy »

There is a field specifically for Composer in MM (4 and 5) as well as a specific field for Conductor, allowing Artist to be used for ensemble, orchestra and/or soloists. The Classical Collection is useful because it allows the MM user to set up different displays for classical versus other types of music where - for example - Composer and Conductor aren't particularly relevant. As well, the Property dialogue is organized in a more useful in each Collection. What is missing from MM (both 4 and 5) is any native way to enter composition and movement information and make use of this information. One can create fields for this using the custom fields but it is not possible in MM5 to play a multi-movement composition with one click (it can be done - awkwardly - in MM4 using Linked Tracks). What makes the re-design of MM a missed opportunity is the failure to improve the handling of classical music over MM4. It can be done as there are music players that do it (and so get used by me much more than MM).
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