Itunes Question: What's "Grouping"?

Factual Questions
1

When I enter the information for a track in Itunes, I notice a data space for “Grouping.” Anyone know what it’s for?

2

It’s most useful for classical music. I have a CD of Beethoven’s Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7; each one is four tracks long. So I can use the following scheme to tag my music:
[ul]
[li]All tracks: Album tagged as “Symphonies Nos. 5 & 7”, Composer as “Beethoven, Ludwig van”[/li][li]Tracks 1-4: Grouping tagged as “Symphony No. 5”[/li][li]Track 1: Title tagged as “I. Allegro con brio”.[/li][/ul]

3

Ah, thanks MikeS. Does the grouping show up in the Ipod display?

4

I use it for Audiobooks (“Abridged” and “Unabridged”) and for tracks that are performed live “Live Performance”.

I don’t think they show up on the iPod itself, but if were to make a smart playlist using the grouping field, that playlist would work on the iPod fine.

5

So, when you randomize your songs, will it only play the entire thing or just one movement? Or can you select it to do either?

ETA: cause if such a thing is possible, I don’t know how to do it in WMP (I know that’s not what this thread is about, but if you can do it it might be an incentive for me to change, because there are quite a few “intro” songs in my playlists that only sound good as an introduction track to the next song.)

6

In Itunes 7, go to edit/preference/playback. At the bottom is “shuffle: songs albums groupings”. Select one.

For classical listeners, much more here: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/itunes.htm

7

Ah! I think this will be very useful for my Randy Newman boxed set, in which each disc has a separate name. I always wondered where I could put the disc names, and grouping seems like a good bet.

8

Does the Ipod display the “grouping” when you play the track?

I have problems iwth classical pieces because when the piece is playing, I want to see the composer and the larger work’s name as well.

If I enter it as

Performer: London Philharmonic
Title: Movement 1 (Allegro)
Grouping: Symphconcerto No. X, Opus Y
Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

Then I don’t get the display I want. I have to enter it as …

Performer: London Philharmonic
Title: Beethoven: Symphconcerto No. X, Opus Y: Movement 1 (Allegro)

Other complaints about Ipod/Itunes

  • Why can’t I use the whole Ipod screen to display track information? Why is half of it taken up by a graphic even if I don’t display album art? Why does the title scroll but not the other information?

  • Why doesn’t Ipod show all the information recorded in Itunes when a track is playing? Yes, I can sort by composer, but why can’t I see who the composer is when the track is playing?

  • Why does the compact disc have to be in the drive for the data I enter to be associated with it? Why can’t I import the CD, eject it, enter the data in Itunes and then have the correct data appear the next time I insert the CD? It only works if I have entered the data while the CD is actually in the drive.

  • Similarly, why can I “submit CD track names” only when the CD is in the drive?

  • Why doesn’t the CD view remember the data I want to see? Every time I insert a CD it goes back to the default “name/time/album/artist/genre” display and I have to go back to view options to display the composer, etc.

  • Why does the Ipod automatically credit an album to “Various Artists” (if more than one artist is credited on individual tracks) when I have already specified who the album artist is? For example, in the Faces’ “Five Guys Walk into a Bar” boxed set, all the tracks are credited to the Faces except two. When I go to album view on the Ipod, it says “Five Guys Walk into a Bar”/Various Artists instead of “Five Guys Walk into a Bar”/The Faces.

9
  • Why can’t I enter “sorting” information in the CD view?