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Set List Durations
#1
Hi Mike

My database contains about 430 songs and the majority of these don't have the duration field filled in.
This is primarily because I didn't need the information when I imported the songs and also because of the time/hassle it would take to play the songs and edit the metadata.
I suspect that majority of user's databases also don't have durations set for the majority of their songs.
Previously, this didn't matter to me because I just treated a set list as just a list of songs.

However, I now find myself having to create set lists for gigs and I find that the durations mechanism in MSP are a bit lacking.
I have turned on the "Show SetList Duration" but as nearly every historic setlist contains one or more songs without a duration, the displayed time is useless to me and just clutters up the screen.

There is also no easy way to see which songs in a setlist don't have a duration set. I know I could display each song's duration by customising Song Title Formatting but again, I don't really want to clutter the screen up with unwanted information; Basically, I'm only interested in durations when I am editing a set list. Knowing that a setlist has missing durations is only part of the problem; one also has to find which song(s), display it, play/time it and then work through the MSP menus so that one can edit the duration field.

So, what I would like is a, per Set List, setting that shows the duration of each song in the left hand pane of the editing screen (e.g. at right edge of left pane). I would also like a 2nd line added at the top to show the total duration of the set list e.g. "23:45 + 3 unknown". As screen space is limited, I'm not bothered about showing durations in the right pane (I can always move a song across and delete it if it is not suitable).
Note: If the user hasn't selected that durations shouldn't be used for this particular setlist then MSP should work as at present.

Now that the total duration can be calculated during editing, we also need a mechanism to easily fill in any missing durations. As one can't display a song from the editing screen, this would need to be from the displayed Setlist screen. An extra option could be displayed in the 3 dots drop down e.g. "Next missing duration" (this would be hidden if the user hadn't turned on durations for this particular setlist).
Selecting this would display the offending song and, near the bottom, show an overlay with "Time Song" (or similar) dialog. This would have Start, Never and Cancel options. For Never, set the duration to 1 second (this would cater for dummy pages used to mark breaks etc - timings are only estimates anyway so 1 sec is neither here or there).
When Start is pressed, MSP starts a counter (it doesn't need to be displayed) and removes the bottom dialog. After 30 secs (say) to let the user move away from the top of the page, MSP displays another, transparent, dialog close to top which the user can press to stop the timing. As you don't know what the user is displaying in this area of the screen, this needs to be a small button or something which, when pressed, brings up a larger dialog. e.g. Store time in database, cancel, retime.

Pressing the "Next Missing duration" would always start at the top of the list and work down. If all durations are set, this option should either not be displayed or should be grayed out (I prefer greyed out as one then sees the option exists but I think MSP tends to not show non applicable options)

I realise that there are other ways of attacking this problem e.g. loading an excess of songs into a setlist and jumping towards the end when time is running out. However, this requires one to repeatedly look at one's watch and the audience might get the idea that you are in a hurry to get somewhere.

Just my thoughts - others might have a different way of working - and there could well be some aspects of MSP that I am not using!

Great program

Geoff
Samsung Galaxy Tab A6
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Messages In This Thread
Set List Durations - by Geoff Bacon - 12-05-2018, 06:12 PM
RE: Set List Durations - by itsme - 12-07-2018, 07:17 AM
RE: Set List Durations - by Geoff Bacon - 12-07-2018, 09:27 AM
RE: Set List Durations - by itsme - 12-08-2018, 08:27 AM
RE: Set List Durations - by Geoff Bacon - 12-08-2018, 09:54 AM
RE: Set List Durations - by itsme - 12-08-2018, 10:38 PM
RE: Set List Durations - by Geoff Bacon - 12-09-2018, 01:00 AM



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