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Musical Discussions
Topic: Maybe sooner than later

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Posted by Antonio J. on 05-13-2007
I've been searching the net looking for some music cataloguing software that allows as much as possible of the following features:

- It can look for CD data online avoiding extensive typing of information. I know, there's no such thing for LPs but in a growing CD collection it's interesting. If it can handle DVD performances and our own radio broadcasts, even better.

- Includes some transfer utility to export the database to a Palm or Pocket PC device in order to know what you already have when shopping out there or travelling.

- Can manage extensive information for conductors, soloists, recording venues, dates, engineers...

- Can handle advanced search features, so you can easily find out which pieces were sung by a determined contralto, on which recordings plays Art Blakey, or what recordings were live taped between 1950 and 1960.

- Allows to introduce your own filing system, so you can find a CD or LP easily in the growing number of shelves. Sometimes, specially for recitals, you have a tough time to decide if you file it for the soloist, the conductor, the orchestra or the main composer of the pieces played, then you go to "Beethoven" looking for that nice Michelangeli concert, and after twenty minutes you remember that you filed it for Celibidache.

- Allows several entries for the very same album and admits comments about the pressing quality or any useful info that reminds you about what copy is the one you want to play.

- Has some graphics tool to include a cover scan or get it through internet.

I've spoted several programs like CATraxx, Orange CD, Music Collector (plus List Pro allows to transfer data into a pocket PC), CD Trustee, Music Catalogue Master, ClassiCat, and many others that seem less powerful. None is completely freeware, so you have a trial term or some limited features that won't let you know their full potential.

I'd be very thankful if you could comment about those programs or add some other interesting ones to the list. I'd like to avoid the hassle of downloading them all and trying for myself which is "the one".

Thanks and regards,

Antonio
Posted by Romy the Cat on 05-13-2007

I do not know the available programs but I have a feature that I would like to have. I would not mind to write it myself….

What I would like to have is ability for self-cataloging. I would like when I play something and feed analog line into my DAW, a program be able to intrepid what music is being played and offer for me pre-selected, hieratical (of course over-rideable) options for self-cataloging or at least for easy cataloging.

For instance, when after first 5-10 seconds  of play music the program recognized that it is Stravinsky’s Petrushka I would like the program  offer pre-populated, contex-sensitive  drop-down boxes with years, labels, conductors and orchestras that ever recorded the Petrushka. Selecting one drop-down should reinitialize the others. Sure, the longer the piece of music is played the more the software should harrow down the section…

I am sure in 21 century we are at the level when sound recognition technologies can handle it already… It would be fun to have a web service with large database and an open code project where different listeners-contributors could supply programming affords to the tuning the music recognition algorithm…

Perhaps it exists somewhere….

Rgs,
Romy the Cat
Posted by Antonio J. on 05-13-2007
As you probably may know, there's an online service provided by Shazam that can recognize music, at least the tracks they've included into their database, even sent by a cell phone. Maybe with some sensitive "tunning" and a way wider database, that feature of yours can be available ;-) I could use it too.

By now I can do with knowing where to find what I already have.

Cheers,

A.
Posted by tuga on 05-18-2008
Hello Antonio,

You might have already bought something but I have been using Librarian Pro for some time now and I recommend it.

http://www.koingosw.com/products/librarianpro.php

You can search Amazon for image cover and data (or add items to your Amazon cart) or scans barcodes if you you have a scanner, and file management is very intuitive and intelligent (ex.: you can create folders that recognize and group files with predetermined features).

Saludos,
Tuga

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