[mike golding]

An ordered setlist is perfect for performing songs in a predetermined order. But there's a performance (or practice) scenario where I have a collection of candidate songs I want to select from spontaneously as the spirit (or the room) moves me. In this case I would like to see which songs in the collection I have already played so I can select from the other ones. Or quickly find something for a replay request.

A mode that marks (or lets me mark) a song in the list on the library screen after it was played (clearable of course) might help. But I think the best way would be to provide a new song sorting option for any collection, especially a setlist. While this sort method is in effect, upon leaving a song display that song would automatically be moved to the bottom of that collection list. Sort of the opposite behavior of the Recent tab. I could then easily choose among the not-yet-played songs, and also see which I have done already. If I like I might also create a placeholder at the bottom of the list when starting to play the setlist, to serve as a floating separation marker between unplayed and played.

I know I could achieve the same effect using a manually sorted setlist and tapping the number box to the left of the name of the song I just played. If I then enter a number that is the same or greater than the number of the last item in the list, then my song moves to the bottom. But the (least recently used?) sort option would be quicker and more convenient.

[Geoff Bacon]

Set lists are not the same as collections.

When I edit a setlist, I set the filter so that it only shows songs from the required collection(s).
It is easy to see any songs that you have already added to the setlist (they are highlighted in the collection display).

Note: you may have to press the "3 dots" icon and select "Show Filters" option

Geoff

[Zubersoft]

I can add those suggestions to the list of enhancements to tackle in future updates. One question: if the new sort mode is basically a descending sort based upon the most recently played songs, then it wouldn't be possible to manually sort it.  Is this a problem or do you not really care how the list is originally sorted? 

Thanks,
Mike

[BRX]

Another workaround: Create a collection "played" or similar. If you've chosen songs for the setlist put these also in the collection "played" and make a filter for excluding the songs in "played" when you view the collection you choose the songs from. It should work and isn't too much of a hassle and is independent of the setlist editing window. Of course you must remove the songs from "played" if they are used to be again.

[mike golding]

I can add those suggestions to the list of enhancements to tackle in future updates. One question: if the new sort mode is basically a descending sort based upon the most recently played songs, then it wouldn't be possible to manually sort it.  Is this a problem or do you not really care how the list is originally sorted? 

Thanks,
Mike

What I'm proposing is simply another sort method available in the sorting menu. Useful for setlists and probably any collection or metadata group, but not the big Songs tab and obviously not the Recent tab. Not a new type of collection or use of a filtering scheme. Take any list of songs however it may be sorted, and select this new sorting option listed on the sort menu after Manual, A-Z, etc. Keep it that way for as long as desired, and then go back to whatever other sort method you like.

This sort option is different in that new songs would be added at the top, and songs after being displayed (and presumably played) get moved to the bottom. Now you can easily see what songs were played so far and which have not yet. You could interrupt the session if you like to go to a manual sort to do a reorder, and maybe go back to LRU sorting. Or return to A-Z sorting when you're done.

The notion is of an unordered list that you choose songs from but not pre-meditatively. Say on a gig someone asks to hear a lot of Gershwin songs, or you want to sample all of your Bach pieces, or whatever genre. Now you wouldn't have to keep track of what you already played. Or say a listener asks you "what was that piece you were playing I first came in?"

[Scherzo]

While it isn't what the OP is is after, here is how I currently manage the same situation.

I almost never use Setlists but rather Collections for any number of situations including any group of songs I want at my fingertips without scrolling through the over 700 scores I presently have in MS.

For gigs & jam sessions, I may even have multiple Collections for different situations, some with some of the same songs in both. When I pick a song, it goes in Recent with the first song covered at the bottom. I have my Collections tab & Recent right next to each other so it is a minor issue if I need to see what has already been covered in what order.

When the job is over and I get home, I clear the Recent list because I really don't need the info any more.

While it really has never been something I needed to do so far, for future reference it would be nice to be able to save, export or generate a list of the songs in Recent and name it before I clear the list, even if it had to be done in the Companion.

However, I notice that the Recent tab is not available in the Companion which means it isn't an option in the "Generate List of Songs" feature.

[Skip]

Long press a song in the  recent list then the overflow icon [3 vertical dots] and see if any of those options will work for you.

[mike golding]

I know I can always look in the Recents tab to see what has already been covered, and I often do. But it's tedious to switch between Recents and a group tab and then to particular group, to see what could easily be seen in my active setlist if it could maintain an LRU sort. And even more disruptive in real time, every time I want to find something that I have NOT played yet, I would have to visually scan a possibly long list of recents and mentally subtract those items from my setlist. Or for a candidate new song to play from my setlist, again scan Recents. It might help if Recents were alphabetized and showing alongside my setlist, but it certainly should NOT be.

[mike golding]

I still believe in the utility of a new sort method for randomly choosing songs from an unordered list and having them move to the bottom of the list after viewing them. If this is infeasible for the near term or not consistent with MSP design, I have is a workaround to achieve essentially the same purpose.

I could clear the Recents Tab and then quickly view a desired bunch of songs so that Recents now contains all of them (and no others). Then I would add a placeholder (such as "--------zz", or reuse an existing one) and view it so that it is now at the top of the Recents list. After viewing any song in the Recents list it moves to the top of the list. Now you can easily see which songs haven't been played yet (those below the placeholder) and which have (above the placeholder). Like my LRU sort proposal but with already viewed songs on the top instead of the bottom (MRU?).

As an aid in this procedure, it would be helpful to have an Add Songs to Recents item (after Add Songs to Collection) in the overflow menu when viewing a list of songs (perhaps with some selected, or not) or a selected group name.