MusicTree (Python Scripts) 2

MusicTree is a small collection of Python scripts that helps you manage a large collection of music files. The project was designed to work with Unix systems (tested only on SuSE Linux), but may also work on Windows. For normal use you also need Vorbis Tools* and rsync.
The scripts help you:
- Maintain a central collection of high-quality (typically FLAC) files.
- Backup this collection on a second disk/machine.
- Generate a parallel collection of lower-quality (but much smaller) compressed (typically Ogg) files.
- Select an arbitrary subset of the compressed files (a "playlist").
- Upload the playlist to a second machine.
The scripts do not assume any particular directory layout (except that the music files live under a single root directory - that is not really a restriction since you can always use a separate directory and links to tie various directories together). Nor do you have to use a particular format (by default the scripts assume archive files are FLAC and the compressed files are Ogg encoded, but you can operate on different formats by changing the relevant commands in the configuration file).
However, the scripts do assume a that you have a basic understanding of how to use Unix. There is no installer or GUI - you run these from the command line and combine them with other command line tools (like find and xargs).
Directories and Machines
This documentation will talk about two different computers: "server" and "client". The "server" is typically a desktop machine with a large disk (or set of disks). This machine stores the high-quality "archive" of your music - all the files, with no (lossy) compression. It may also store a backup copy on a separate disk.
The "client" is typically a laptop or portable music player with a smaller capacity. Because it has restricted space you load it with a selection of (lossy) compressed files.
Separating server and client allows you to keep a safe, "perfect quality" archive where space is available, but also listen to more songs on portable devices with restricted resources.
The scripts expect these directories on the server:
Archive
This is where the complete, high-quality collection of music is stored. For example, this might be where your CD ripping software places files (I use kAudioCreator with the default settings).
Compress
A mirror of the Archive directory with lower-quality files. This is generated from the Archive directory by running the mt-encode script.
Select
A subset of the Compress directory, containging a "playlist" that will be copied to the client.
Backup
An optional second copy of the Archive (typically on a separate disk).
Installation and Configuration:
There is no automatic install. Instead, copy the files to a suitable directory and extend your PATH to include them.
For example, to put the files in the new directory ~/musictree (assuming you use the bash shell):
> cd
> tar xvfz musictree.tgz
> export PATH="$PATH:~/musictree"
Youll want to redefine PATH in your .bashrc or equivalent.
You also need to edit the example configuration file (musictree in the distribution) and (usually) copy it to ~/.musictree.
Suggestions for how to use the various scripts (eg. running mt-encode via cron) are in the following sections.
Enhancements:
- Volume normalization is now supported either via metadata, or by directly scaling the compressed files.