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[john greenwood]

I couldn't figure out a simple way to search for the answer to this, so please pardon me in advance if it is there.

I have developed a personal system for keeping track of classical recordings in JRiver that plays nicely with my Squeezeboxes.  The key to it is the "Artist" field.  However, I notice that in the pane view, the display in the lower pane (track by track listings) is keyed to Album Artist even when the field I choose is Artist (i.e. when the three sort field in pane view are Genre/Artist/Album, I actually get Genre/Album Artist/Album).  As a consequence all of my albums with (Multiple Artists) go to the head of the pack.  I do not want this.  Is there a way to avoid it?

Edit - let me add that the ordering I set in the lower pane is also by Artist, not Album Artist.

[john greenwood]

They say a screenshot is worth 1000 words (paraphrasing).

[Arindelle]

sorry I don't have the time to try to explain it as there are many ways to achieve this. Album Artist takes precedence in general to Artist to allow for compilation albums to be grouped together. But first maybe you could define how you want to set up your classical collection and how you might want to search or present it on the screen. This would affect how I answer the question too

Classical music is the most daunting and if you have a large collection, should give it some thought before setting up everything.

Usually (not always so no comments from the gallery); I would think you want to use Composer as a key field and not artist. Multiple Composers could be grouped as Various Composers for example. The way it looks like you have set this up is to combine Composers with soloists (Brahms Heifetz); this is going to cause some head aches if you have later. J.S. Bach, J.C. Bach.

Listener recently posted an interesting View and you can search the forum or read this interesting post http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=86996.0. There are so many ways to go about this and its very difficult to standardize.

I don't even use a pane view but I want my view to break down works by  the composer, the conductor, the orchestra, the period, the style, the soloists, and the movement.  You might not be that OCD . But I think Classical should have separate views and not be combined with other genres of music for a start ... but thats subjective I guess

[john greenwood]

I do have a large collection, and I have given it a great deal of thought, especially the interaction with my Squeezeboxes.  Squeezebox will not let me search by Composer.  The search fields I can use are Genre, Artist, Album, Song and Year.  As I generally choose the classical music (the Genre) I want to listen to first by composer and second by performer, I have conflated those two into the artist field (see in screenshot where a work is by "Bach Heifetz" - btw another limitation of Squeezebox is the amount of text that can be displayed at any time).  I have also handled the Bach (J.C.E.) issue you raise.

If an album includes a single artist performing works by multiple composers and I want to hear the entire album, I can select one work from the album and then use features of the Squeezebox software to "assemble" the entire album.

In the end, my system works with Squeezebox; however, I do not understand why when I try to sort according to the "Artist" field in JRiver, the "(Multiple Artists)" tracks appear first.  "(Multiple Artists)" is not part of the Artist field.  If I wanted I could sort by Album Artist, but I have expressly chosen not to do  so.

[Arindelle]

Sounds like Sonos is priority and you are using it both as a controller and renderer? ... so to do specifically what you asked for



However, bear in mind AlbumArtist subgroups by Album -- I don't know any player that doesn't use it. If there is anyway to get around this, like pushing to Sonos as a DLNA player from an Ipad or tablet for example? .... Haven't looked into Sonos  since I learned of its 50K Playlist/track limitations a couple of years ago so I don't know what options you may have.

[john greenwood]

As per my prior posts, I am using Squeezebox not Sonos.  The Squeezebox software can display the album artist, but it cannot sort by it.

I did some further examination.  The problem (and it turns out to be a minor one) I am having with JRiver is with the bottom right pane.  When I sort by Artist there (as in the screenshot) the "Multiple Artists" discs are listed first.  That is obviously not a true sort by Artist.  However when I select the Artist in the upper pane I can see the tracks I wanted - i.e. if I select Bach Heifetz, I get only the first three tracks.

Edit - figured out what you did, and it works.

[ferday]

are you positive the squeezebox won't accept composer?  it's unusual that the DLNA device restricts what it displays (to a point...)

did you try going into tools>options>media network>...add or configure DLNA servers

then choose the server you are using (generic DLNA?), then ...customize views

there you can force the composer tag to go through the DLNA.  i have set up myriad custom views for my WDTV live....the WD has issues with sorting as well but i can make it show me any tag that i want

[Listener]

I do have a large collection, and I have given it a great deal of thought, especially the interaction with my Squeezeboxes.  Squeezebox will not let me search by Composer.  The search fields I can use are Genre, Artist, Album, Song and Year.  As I generally choose the classical music (the Genre) I want to listen to first by composer and second by performer, I have conflated those two into the artist field (see in screenshot where a work is by "Bach Heifetz" - btw another limitation of Squeezebox is the amount of text that can be displayed at any time).  I have also handled the Bach (J.C.E.) issue you raise.

If an album includes a single artist performing works by multiple composers and I want to hear the entire album, I can select one work from the album and then use features of the Squeezebox software to "assemble" the entire album.

In the end, my system works with Squeezebox; however, I do not understand why when I try to sort according to the "Artist" field in JRiver, the "(Multiple Artists)" tracks appear first.  "(Multiple Artists)" is not part of the Artist field.  If I wanted I could sort by Album Artist, but I have expressly chosen not to do  so.

Erland  Isaksson  has developed a number of plugins for the Squeezebox server.

The custom browse and custom scan plugins allow you to define browsing methods using Composer and other tags.  Here is some info:

http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/User:Erland

About views in JRiver MC:  You can define whatever views you like.  Those views can use whatever tags or calculated fields you choose to browse and select files. You can define the sort order for the list of files in a view.

[john greenwood]

I don't believe that the Squeezebox hardware works through DLNA.  I understand that starting with version 7.7, the software acts as a DLNA server, and I can see it through other internet-enable devices, but to my knowledge, it has not affected the interface with the Squeezebox players.

As for Erland, I have iPeng, which he worked on, and I know of his work, but I have a system that works for me on the Squeezebox (and iTunes).  My problem was with JRiver.

[Listener]

As for Erland, I have iPeng, which he worked on, and I know of his work, but I have a system that works for me on the Squeezebox (and iTunes).  My problem was with JRiver.

You said "Squeezebox will not let me search by Composer." and I pointed to Erland's plugins.  Your statement was simply wrong.

[Vincent Kars]

My experience with the Squeeze software is a bit dated but if I remember correctly the Server can see DLNA devices in the network and act as a bridge between them and the Squeezeboxes.
The communication between the boxes and the server is based on a proprietary protocol.
Of course being able to play from DLNA devices doesn't alter the interface of the Squeezeboxes.

Like so many, the Squeeze is designed with pop music in mind.
There is indirect support for the composer tag.
You can populate the Composer, Band and Conductor tag and set the server to display them in the Artist tag.
http://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Streaming/Squeeze.htm