UPDATED: This Tag That Tag v4.3
This Tag That Tag will assist with swapping, copying, and appending data between two user-chosen tags in selected tracks or tracks in the selected playlist:
Swap - swap data between tags, ex: ARTIST<->COMPOSER
Copy - copy data from one to another tag, ex: ARTIST->COMPOSER ARTIST
Append - append data from one tag to the end of another, ex: ARTIST->COMPOSER - ARTIST
Prepend - prepend data from one tag to the beginning of another, ex: ARTIST->ARTIST - COMPOSER
This lateset version adds "Date Added" and "Release Date" to the "This" tags. Like the number properties already available, date properties cannot Swap with the text properties available as "That" tags because date properties can't accept text. The dates can be coerced to text in this format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS so that they can be sorted properly.
This Tag That Tag is free to try for 10 days, $1.99 thereafter, free for registered users. More info and download is available here.
iTunes 12.1.2 Available
Apple has released iTunes 12.1.2 (strangely, we never saw v12.1.1). Improves photo syncing issues and fixes to the Get Info window. More as it develops.
[UPDATE 1] No fix to selection object in "Music Videos", still no fixes to CD Get Info and CD View Options shortcuts (probably a lost cause).
Security Update 2015-004 Fixes EPPC Issue
Good news, everyone. Today, in addition to releasing OS X 10.10.3 and iOS 8.3, Apple released Security Update 2015-004 for 10.9 and 10.8. This update appears to fix the EPPC bug introduced in Security Update 2015-002. The bug prevented access to Remote Apple Events over the EPPC protocal. Anyway, I had no problems with a couple of simple tests.
Fast turnaround, actually.
UPDATED: M3Unify v1.2.1
I made a couple of minor fixes to M3Unify which corrects some rare issues with SD card formatting errors. In any case, you should update to v1.2.1, either in-app via M3Unify's "Check for Update..." option or direct download from this page. This is a free update for registered users.
Latest Security Update Affects EPPC Protocol
Apple's latest Security Update (2015-002) apparently affects the EPPC protocol on OS X 10.8 and 10.9 and prevents Remote Apple Events from being sent/received correctly. Topher Kessler has more at MacIssues and there is this thread at MacScripter.
UPDATE: This issue was fixed with Security Update 2015-004 for 10.9 and 10.8.
UPDATED: A Space Between v1.2
The few-seconds gap between tracks on recorded media is an artificial time. Devised to be just long enough to visually and sonically demarcate the tracks on a space-limited side of LP vinyl, the gap carried over to tapes, CDs and digital. It is unlikely that musicians playing a gig would pause such a short period of time before launching unto their next number...for every single number. Even so, we're accustomed to the two-second rule when listening to recorded media. (And cross-fades? Utterly unnatural.)
A Space Between will play the tracks in the selected playlist and wait a user-entered number of seconds between tracks.
I've found that six to eight seconds of silence between tracks can be quite refreshing, especially between longer contiguous album tracks. But it adds something to the atmosphere of a mixed-track playlist, too.
How un-streamy.
This latest version of A Space Between is a maintenance update with a few minor performance tweaks.
Free stuff, dev ID-signed, more information and download is here.
Play Selected Track and Cue Next
A Correspondent inquired about a script that would play a selected track in iTunes through to the end and then stop and then select the next track but not play it. In such a way, a playlist containing sequential musical cues required for a theatrical performance could be fired one track at a time, via the script, without a lot of stopping and mouse-clicking and swearing backstage ("Up yer scrim!", "Purple behind!").
This is such a script:
-- Play Selected Track and Cue Next
tell application "iTunes"
-- get the single selected track and play it
set theSelection to selection
if length of theSelection is 1 then
set theTrack to item 1 of theSelection
try
play theTrack with once
on error
## beep
return
end try
-- the selected track is playing, now do some other stuff...
-- get the playlist
set thePlaylist to (get view of front window)
-- stash current fixed indexing value
set curfi to fixed indexing
-- we want free indexing not fixed indexing
set fixed indexing to false
-- compute next track's index
set idx to (get index of theTrack)
if (idx = (count of tracks of thePlaylist)) then
set idx to 1
else
set idx to (idx + 1)
end if
-- select the next track in the playlist
reveal track idx of thePlaylist
-- restore fixed indexing to whatever it was before
set fixed indexing to curfi
end if
end tell
What you'd want to do is save this with Script Editor, named whatever you like, with a File Format of "Script" and put it in your [Home]/Library/iTunes/Scripts/ folder so it appears in iTunes' Script menu.
Prepare a playlist and select its first track. When it's time to actually play the track, don't use any iTunes play controls; instead, fire the script. The script will play the selected track, figure out which track is next in sequence, select it, and then quit. iTunes will stop when the current track has finished by virtue of that with once parameter on the play command. When it's time to play the next track, which is now the selected track, fire the script to play it and select the next track. And so on.
While assigning this script a keyboard shortcut will be convenient if you can keep a hand near the keyboard, something that could fire this via a physical remote control would be super boss. Under such circumstances, you may prefer—or it may be necessary—to save the script with a File Format of "Application".
UPDATED: I Hate That iTunes Done Chime! v3.0
Ripping CDs and converting audio files with iTunes isn't something a lot of people do anymore. Ahh, to be free of the slow, ear-stabbing torture of the done-chime that sounds after every import or conversion.
Boodely-oop!
Sure, you could lower the volume on your machine everytime that boodely-oop! drives another tri-tone nail into your brain. Or you could replace the done-chime with some other sound or silence! with I Hate That iTunes Done Chime!
This applet will allow you to replace iTunes' Tri-Tone done chime ("The Hellmouth's Doorbell") with a System sound, a user-chosen AIFF file, or no sound (actually, a sound file provided that is just one second of silence).
This script hadn't been updated since 2009, during which time the additional security and permission considerations of the OS prevented it from working. The script now asks for permisson before it moves any files around.
Dev ID signed and free to use, more information and download is here.
Join Together v7.3.0 Now Available
I'm happy to announce a pretty cool update to Join Together.
Join Together will create and export a single AAC or ALAC (Apple Lossless) audio file from the audio data of tracks dragged from iTunes or files dragged from the Finder.
This latest version will accept dragged or copy-and-pasted artwork to be applied to the final joined file's metadata. Additionally, there is now support for exporting 16-bit and 24-bit ALAC files at 44.1, 48, 88.2 and 96 kHz.
Join Together is free to use full-featured in demo mode, whereby the volume level of the final joined file will be sharply reduced at the half-way point of the file. A registration code, which when entered will remove this restriction, is $5.00. More info and download is here.
Additional screenshots follow. (more…)
UPDATED: M3Unify v1.2.0
M3Unify s a flexible M3U playlist creator and file exporter that will allow you to load a USB thumb drive or SD card with copies of your iTunes songs the way you and your audio player want. M3Unify can archive playlists and audio files to a folder, volume or portable media and includes options to create Artist/Album sub-folders, rename files, convert to AAC or MP3, and more.
This latest version adds the ability to encode to MP3 (via iTunes), correctly adds image data to AAC-exported files' metadata, and has minor performance and UI fixes.
For OS X 10.8 and later. M3Unify is $5.00, but free to use in demo mode with a fifteen track limit. This is a free update for registered users.
More information, video demo and download is here.