I, like many others over the holidays, obtained an iPod Nano. Its an incredible little device. Light and small, but the largest capacity available is a mere 4 GB. What to do when your library weighs in at about 40 GB (lets not even get into the audiobooks)? Sure you could constantly sit at your computer updating your “iPod Selection” playlist, but that takes up way too much time out of your day. Here are some useful tips to use on your iTunes + iPod Nano setup to keep your Nano fresh with content without the expense of spending an hour making a ‘4-gig mixtape’.
- Download the iTunes Companion Widget. This widget for the Yahoo Widget Engine (formerly Konfabulator) has vastly improved since its initial release. Most notably, the companion will search Google and Amazon for album artwork. If found, it will update all tags for that album with artwork, track number and total tracks. On the more manual side, the program allows an easy way to control iTunes and — most importantly for your iPod — rank your songs.
- Rank all your songs. The rank field of your tags can prove extremely useful for organization and auto-playlists. The iTunes Companion is the easiest option while sitting at your computer. Don’t forget you can also rank via your iPod by clicking the select button a few times during playback. Its important to keep your ranking consistent. Do not rank based on the album, artist, or genre. Rank each song on an individual basis. Here are my personal guidelines when it comes to ranking a song:
0 stars [. . . . .] - This should not be considered as a bad rank. Think of a 0 only as “not ranked.” Doing so keeps your poor-ranked separate from your to-be-ranked.
1 star [* . . . .] - If you don’t like the song, then why do you have it? Reserve this for the least liked tracks of albums you want to keep whole on your computer. Those 10 second interlude tracks between songs usually deserve 1 star.
2 stars [* * . . .] - “This song is okay, but I’d go crazy hearing this song frequently.” Those guilty pleasure 90’s rock ballads fit nicely in this range.
3 stars [* * * . .] - Being the median score, most songs will be 3 stars. Use it liberally.
4 stars [* * * * .] - Save the 4-star for those tracks you could listen to all week. Generally my 4 ranks are what I like to have on my Nano at most times.
5 stars [* * * * *] - This is the crème de la crème. Your all-time favorite songs are 5 star material; those top tracks from your favorite artists (but not all tracks from your favorite artists). If more than 15% of your library is 5, you have an unbalanced scale. Keep these at a minimum.
- Auto playlists. This relies greatly on the other tips. With auto playlists, iTunes will update your iPod with little manual decision making on your part. I have two essential autoplaylists synced with my Nano, “Top Rated” and “Unrated Unheard”. The first is simply a random selection of my library where the rank is 4 or 5. I chose random rather than order by rank, because I like to get a little changeup each time I sync. The second playlist looks for unrated songs and/or songs that haven’t been played yet. Later once the majority of my library has been heard once, I may switch it to “played in the past X weeks.” Be sure to set a song limit. It depends on your free space, I like to keep the playlists at about 30 tracks. Now each time you plug in your Nano you get a sample of your favorite songs as well as some new material to rate and possibly ‘promote’ it up to a top track.
- Podcasts, podcasts, podcasts. Subscribing to podcasts is a simple way to bring fresh content to your iPod continuously. There is at least one podcast out there for everybody. Spend some time browsing the directories. A few of my favorites include TWiT, Diggnation, Engadget, NPR: Music and KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic.
- Tag to the extreme. The greatest advantage to digital formats is the ability to organize your library with metadata. There are tons of free programs that will help you out with this task. Musicbrainz Tagger is by far the best when it comes to free software. MBT tries to identify your song by ‘acoustic fingerprints.’ The library is always growing and is proving to be very powerful. If you plan on using a 3rd party tag program, be sure to download the iTunes Library Updater. For some reason, iTunes doesn’t think it is important to periodically check the music folders to see if anything has changed. Luckily the iTLU does the job for you. It has both a GUI version and a command line version useful for scheduled automatic tasking.
There you have it. Follow these tips and you’ll never go board with your Nano’s music. Remember to sync daily — its like flossing.
Things I Want
