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INTRODUCTION

I'm sure I'm not the only person who has started to rip CDs from their classical music collection and pretty soon got disheartened by the banal fashion with which it is treated by most music software. Practically all the software available is based on a paradigm that says there is a Song by an Artist on an Album. It may allow for a Composer as well, but still assumes that all composers write songs.There should (in theory) be at least two big benefits of ripping your collection: (1) the reduction in shelf space and (2) the ability to quickly locate the music you want. Most software achieves (1) but is not much help as regards (2). At the same time, now that the physical CD case is not to hand when the music is playing, you would like to see some information about it. Frequently this is rudimentary. And of course, you don't want to put in too much work to achieve the required result.This discussion is based on my approach to resolving these problems; an approach which I am sure will evolve over time. At the centre of this is the excellent "Muso" software which, for the first time, gives the classical music lover a "CD Insert" view of their albums coupled with powerful searching and linking facilities, plus an ability to play to either LMS or iTunes.

WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

There are five main hurdles to be faced in ripping and streaming classical CDs (some of which also apply to jazz albums) in a way that satisfies the music lover, rather than the casual listener.

Poor availability of metadata, particularly when the album has a variety of ensembles, conductors, soloists, instruments etc.
Lack of complete structure: failure to deal with the fact that much classical music has movements as parts of larger works which are not the same as physical albums.
A focus on the Artist rather than the Composer (even assuming the latter is displayed/accessible).
Player information screens usually limited to Song, Artist and Album.
Lack of integration of sleevenotes into the experience.

This has meant that either the classical music lover has had to settle for a poor compromise or (in many cases, I suspect) just give up. Even very expensive streaming hardware comes with fairly rudimentary tools for getting value from your CD collection. Unless you have plenty of money and pay someone else to rip your collection for you, the investment of time required to do it, given the quality of the resulting experience, does not seem worth it. I decided to go the Logitech Squeezebox Touch route because at the time it seemed a good value DAC with a flexible software solution. Whilst in retrospect I still think this was a good choice, even with the addition of Custom Browse I became frustrated and disappointed.

A SOLUTION IN SIGHT

Thankfully it would seem that things are starting to improve. Partly this is because of the growth in the digital download market for classical music and improving metadata libraries. However, the major development for me was the purchase of the "Muso" software which deals with several of the problems described.My approach in outline is now:

Rip the CDs to FLAC using dBpoweramp CD Ripper. This provides access to the best metadata available on the web, plus artwork. FLAC files are lossless, but compressed to save space, and provide for a limitless number and variety of tags for metadata.
Review the ripped discs in Mp3tag. I can easily see if tagging errors were made on ripping and correct them. Depending on the type of CD (see details below), I then run an automatic macro action that optimises the tags for Muso and the player software (in my case LMS and iTunes).
Import the music to Muso and check it looks right.
Convert the FLAC files to mp3 using dBpoweramp Batch Converter and import to iTunes (I only do this so that I can sync to my iPod and have a portable version).
Browse/search music in Muso and queue it to play via LMS on the Squeezebox touch(es). {Alternatively, queue the music to iTunes and then sync the playlist with the iPod to play in the car etc.}

This still involves a bit of human review along the way, particularly to fix any shortcomings in the available metadata and each action stage needs to be initiated manually, so a little organisation is required.

THE DETAILS

So to the nuts and bolts.
The key to everything is the metadata structure, so that is discussed in some detail first, followed by further details of each of the steps described above.Before considering the detailed tags, I think it is useful to consider the macro-level structure of the actual CDs and what we are trying to achieve with each.

Types of CD

In order to optimise the use and display of tags, two major types of CD are identified (each with a variant). {Note that the term "CD" is taken to be any album set which forms a unit, so it could be more than one physical disc.}

"Opus" (and "Book") types

These are CDs where the works are generally multi-movement. A tag will be defined for both the Opus and the Movement. On the web-sourced metadata, the Title is typically "Opus: Movement", although I note that a certain high-end purveyor of hardware and dowloadable studio-quality music uses "Opus - Movement" and then uses further hyphens in the movement itself. For large works (e.g. operas) where the CD (or box set) is just that work, then it is useful to define the work in more than one level: "Book" is used for the top level and "Opus" for the lower level. For example, in Handel's Messiah, the Book might be "Messiah" and the Opus "Part I". The plan is that Muso will display a nice hierarchical structure just like the CD insert. On playing in LMS/iTunes, the Album will be the name of the Opus (or "Book - Opus") prefixed by the Composer.

"Song" types (one or more composers)

These are "simple" albums with no hierarchy. They will just be displayed as lists in Muso. For single-composer albums, the composer name will prefix the album, otherwise it will be in a suffix to the title.

Tags

FLAC files allow any tag names, and any number of them, to be used. The actual names are not important unless they are "standard" tags used in particular ways by particular software (including Muso). See Attribute_Mapping for details of standard tags. My basic philosophy is to use "custom" tags for the key metadata and then (re-)construct the standard tags from these. As much as possible, this process is automated. In this way, the standard tags can always be re-configured as software requirements and capabilities change. Re-tagging is an activity to be avoided. Mp3tag is used to facilitate this.

The tags and how they are derived and used are set out below. The sequence shown is the one that I use in the "panel" in Mp3tag (although I do not display them all, the others can be accessed via "extended tags"). Multiple entries in tags should be separated by ; (NB do not use any ; in string in a tag except to separate multiples).

Title

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata.
Initially, on ripping, this should be the opus (if any) followed by the movement, separated by a colon. This is a (fairly) standard naming convention for classical tracks. Check that only one colon is present.The tag is subsequently modified for display purposes.

Artist

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata.
For displaying on the player, the names of all significant performers are required. This is built automatically by an Mp3tag action. When ripping, this tag should only contain the name of the principal soloist (or maybe two, for duets etc.). The orchestra, conductor, composer etc. are in other tags.

Artist Sort

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata.
This should be created on ripping by Metadata in Options setting. Check it reflects the artist.

Album

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata. Will require editing and is subsequently changed by tagging actions.
Initially this should be exactly the name of the CD or box set that you want to see under Muso. However, there is merit in using a prefix of "Composer(s): " as this helps to sequence folders and playlists (see further details below). For "Opus" type albums we are aiming for an eventual display of "Composer: Opus" or "Composer: Book - Opus".

Genre

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata. May require editing.
I use a classical sub-type (see box 3 - tbc) for all works where composer/conductor are key. Otherwise 'Rock' etc. Do not use "Classical". The alternative is to use another tag for sub-genre. [EDIT REQUIRED]

Comment

Derived from:- User.
Any additional information about the album (shows in Album sub-header in Muso).

Album artist

Leave blank. Interpreted differently by software. Muso will infer from other tags. For Muso to group the album together, the "folder" option needs to be selected in the database edit. For classical albums, Muso will treat the composer as the Titled Artist if the composer is the same on every track. See also http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Foobar2000:Encouraged_Tag_Standards#ALBUM_ARTIST .

Composer

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata.
Full name. Use hyphens etc. to prevent splitting words on sorting.

ComposerSort

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata or automatic from Composer
Surname, First name (if not present, it will be created later by Mp3tag action)

ComposerLastName

Derived from:- Automatically from ComposerSort
Surname

Arranger

Derived from:- User.
Name of arranger, if any. Generally not shown separately in web-sourced metadata.

Period

For Classical Genre: Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Modern. For other (popular) genres: decade (e.g. 1970s). Can be left for Muso to work out from Composer.

Book

Derived from:- User.
Larger body of work (see notes above).

Opus

Derived from:- Automatically from Title.
Name of work. Should be identical with the first part of the title. If an opus just comprises a single track, then the opus and title can be identical [EDIT - CHECK THIS] (mp3tag action creates automatically, so get it right in the Title when ripping). Check to see if the opus appears elsewhere in the collection and use consistent naming. Also use opus numbers and catalogue numbers (plus wikipedia to check official opus names if nec. - see http://www.jsbach.org for Bach BWVs and titles).

Band/Ensemble

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata or user.
Name of the Orchestra or group (multiple bands supported, separated by semicolon)

Conductor

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata or user.
Conductor's full name.

MainPerformer

Derived from:- Automatically from Artist.
The main artist for the track. Not Band or conductor here (possible exception if the conductor is also playing as lead artist/director).

Instrument

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata or user.
The instrument of the MainPerformer, if relevant. If more than one MainPerfomer, then list instruments in the same order.

Performer

Derived from:- Web-sourced metadata or user.
Name of any soloists or other featured individuals other than the main performer (separate by semicolons). Include instrument in brackets if required.

CDName

Derived from:- Automatically from Album.
This is then used as the source of the album name in Muso and the playlist in iTunes.

Movement

Derived from:- Automatically from Title.
Section of the work. Should be identical to the second part of the title (mp3tag action creats automatically, so get it right in the Title when ripping).

Work

Derived from:- Automatically from "Book - Opus"
An intermediate tag. Also used to feed "Style" tag on conversion to mp3 which feeds iTunes Grouping.

The Process

This section sets out my process for ripping, retagging and importing classical music.

Step 1: Rip the CD's

Read the CD, using dBpoweramp CD Ripper. It will be ripped to a folder such as: Music\Newly-Ripped CDs. Each CD (or set) will have its own folder. Multiple discs will be in sub-folders. A pre-defined "profile" in dBpoweramp is used to do this, giving the files a filename of "\[album]\[IFMULTI]Disc [disc]\[track] [title]". This Profile also should set metadata and tag ID options to create sorted composer tags etc. plus create new tags (in options) for Opus, CDName (=Album), Movement, Period, Instrument.

NB: Before ripping it:

Amend Album name, if necessary, to begin with Composer or other lead artist(s) surname, followed by colon, then the album name (or works on it). Do not include Disc number.
Scan artwork if necessary.
Review metadata and ensure consistency with metadata rules (see above). Make sure that Genre is correct and that Title is in the format "Opus: Movement". Make sure that multiple disc sets have the right discnumber tags. Add metadata where missing (no need to enter Movement or Opus as it can be created from Title); usually this means Period and Instrument.

Rip the CD. On ripping, dBpoweramp should be set up to map Album to CDName, Soloists to Performer, Artist to MainPerformer. Replaygain and other effects can be applied as required.

Talk:Classical Music Support