I have been trying to find information on how to load music files
into the CSDS database and so far, I've had no luck. Can you tell me how or where to find this information? I don't even have a clue as to how to begin.
From the CSDS main menu, select
Music | Edit Music Database.
To add one or more music files by individual
selection, select Edit | Add new music file(s).
This brings up an 'Open Dialog Box' that allows
you to select files.
However, there's a better way of doing this.
To add all music files that are currently not
loaded in the Music Database, select
Edit | Add New Music Files from Folder....
Browse to the folder containing the music
files, and press the 'OK' button. The program
will scan both the Music Database and the selected
folder and add all music that is not already
in the database.
After music has been added, examine each newly added entry, and edit the title, label,
and label number as appropriate. CSDS attempts to fill in these fields automatically,
but sometimes it fails. If your music files are
named like BigSpender-OzarkProductions-0031.mp3,
CSDS can extract the information. First the
title, then a dash, then the label, then a dash,
then the label number.
After the music is loaded, the next steps are desirable:
-
Set the BPM (Beats per Minute): Play the music,
go to the Music Player, select the 'Bpm' tab, and
press the 'K' key on each beat of the music until
a message box appears.
-
Set Flags. For Patter records, use 'P'; for
Singing call records, use 'S'. If the record
is used for both patter and singer, set both
flags. There are 4 or 5 flags set up for you.
You can add more if you'd like (e.g., 'E' for
Special Events, 'C' for Christmas, 'X' for
Exciting Music).
-
Set the Rating. Doing this allows you to easily
find your favorite tunes.
-
For Patter records, set the Loop. Play the music,
go to the Music Player, and select the 'Loop' tab.
Play the music and set the loop markers by pressing
the 'Set' buttons at the appropriate time. Use the
time scroll bar to quickly position the music at
a certain point. Use the 'Test Loop' button to see
how well your loop is.
-
Associate cue sheets and lyrics with your singing calls.
(this is usually done automatically)
Then select Tools | Add cue sheets and lyrics from Database....
You can send us missing cue sheets, and we'll add them
to the web database, or you can create your own cue
sheets and add them yourself.
