Tagging

From mAirListWiki

This page contains information, instructions, and advice about tagging: the process of manually setting various cue points for an audio file (usually a single song). 2 tagging tutorial videos have been created by Charlie Davy: The full-length version with all tag information explained and a shorter version showing a tagged song.

Contents 1 Tagging Explained 1.1 Multiple Cue Points 1.2 The Five Cue Point Types 2 How To Use the mAirListTag Program 2.1 Controls 2.2 Selector dialog 3 Tagging Tips And Tricks 3.1 How To Create 'Clips' For Competitions etc. 3.2 How To Create A 'Hook' Or 'Teaser' For A Song 3.3 How To Override The Default Fade Duration 3.4 How To Tag Songs Quickly 4 Sample Tagging Checklist

Tagging Explained

Many CD players, especially DJ decks, allow you to set cue points on a CD, which the player will store and use whenever the same CD is inserted later. Tagging audio files (from here on, we'll call these songs) in mAirList is a similar process.

You don't have to tag songs to use them in mAirList, but you won't be able to use all of mAirList's facilities if you don't.

To show you how mAirList tagging works, here is a song shown as an annotated progress bar:

As the graphic shows, most songs have three sections:

1. Ramp or intro—usually instrumental.
2. Vocals or main section of the song—the vocal verses and choruses.
3. Outro—which often (but not always) includes a final fade out.

You can optionally set five types of cue points, which mAirList will use when it plays the song in a Player. Here is the same song as in the previous graphic, this time showing the cue points:

In brief, the five cue point types are:

1. Cue: start of playout (or 'cue in').
2. Ramp: where the vocals start or the intro ends.
3. Outro: where the vocals stop or the outro begins.
4. Fade Out: in Auto mode, the Next song will be started here, and simultaneously, this song will fade out 'under' it. Note that the Fade Out cue point is ignored in Assist mode.
5. Cue Out: playout and fade out unconditionally stops here (hence overriding the default fade duration set in Configuration).

You will find more detailed descriptions of the five cue point types below.

Multiple Cue Points

You can set more than one of each cue point type for a single song: in fact, you can set as many (or none) of each type as you want. For example, you often need to set two or more Cue points for live recordings, to skip some or all of the spoken introduction to the song; or to skip effects or other material at the start of a song which is not usually played. For example, the first 3.9s of Wannabe by The Spice Girls is a recording of Mel B running up to the microphone and then laughing: how often do you hear that part played on the radio?

Multiple cue points are indicated in the tagging and PFL dialogs by an * after the cue point name label. For example, Ramp* instead of Ramp.

Here is a graphic showing a song with multiple cue points:

• The cue points in black are principal or default cue points. In Auto mode, mAirList will always use the principal cue points; in Assist mode, you can select and use alternate cue points from the selector dialog (see below).
• The cue points in blue are alternate cue points. These are stored as lists, one list for each cue point type. For example, the Outro points and Fade Out points are two separate lists. In the PFL dialog, you can view a list and audition each cue point in it using a mini 'selector' dialog like this one:
  

If you set multiple cue points and you use Assist mode, we recommend that you enable the Configuration option Show PFL cue dialog for every Player: otherwise, presenters will be forced to use the principal cue point you have set instead of being able to select one of the alternates from the selector dialog.
TIP: Even with the dialog option enabled, you can still prevent accidental overwriting of cue points by disabling the Configuration option Show save buttons in PFL cue dialog for each Player.

The Five Cue Point Types

This section contains more detailed descriptions of the five types of cue points.

Cue

The point where playout of the song begins.

NOTE: Most songs do not need a Cue point.

Set Cue points if you want to skip material at the start of a song, such as effects, overly long intros, and spoken intros to live recordings.

You can also use Cue to mark the start of a short 'hook' or 'teaser' section of a song.

If the principal Cue point is non-zero, CUE is displayed in the State area of the Player when the song is loaded, as a visual warning to the presenter.

Ramp

The point where the intro ends and/or the vocals begin.

NOTE: Most songs do need a Ramp point; the principal exception is instrumental songs.

Set multiple Ramp points in songs with 'multiple' vocal starts, like a repeated vocal riff or backing vocal (which might begin anything up to 30s before the main vocal starts).

Although Ramp points are only useful for live assist, we suggest you do set Ramp points even if you currently use only automated playout. You will be setting Fade Out points anyway, and it is much easier to set the Ramp points now, at the same time (because your station may change to using live presenters in the future).

If the principal Ramp point is non-zero,

• the Ramp is usually (configuration option) displayed as a separate progress bar above the main progress bar as a visual aid to the presenter, and
• the Player's time display shows the remaining Ramp time preceded by R—for example R–24.7—as a 'countdown,' and
• the Ramp time (to the nearest second) is shown in the Playlist.

Outro

The point where the vocals end and/or the outro begins.

NOTE: Most songs do need an Outro point; the principal exceptions are instrumental songs, songs where the vocals continue right to the end, and songs with a well-known ending which is always played (example: (I Got You) I Feel Good by James Brown).

Set an Outro point where it is 'safe' for the presenter to talk over the end of the song and fade it out. If a song ends with a repeated chorus, many stations set the Outro point at the end of the second chorus and before the third chorus.

Set multiple Outro points in songs with 'multiple' end points, such as before a long instrumental break before the final repeat and fade of the chorus; or to match multiple Fade Out points.

Although Outro points are only really useful for live assist, we advise you to set them even if you use completely automated playout (see Ramp above!).

If the principal Outro point is non-zero, the progress bar shows the Outro section of the song (see diagram above) in a contrasting colour, as a visual aid to the presenter.

Fade Out

In Auto mode, the point where mAirlist will simultaneously start the next song and start fading out the current song.

NOTE: All songs do need a Fade Out point. Although Fade Out points are only really useful for automated playout, we strongly advise you to set them even if you currently use only live-assist (see Ramp above!).

This cue point has NO EFFECT in Assist mode!

Set the Fade Out point where the song has itself already faded down to a low level; for fast endings, set Fade Out at least 0.8s before the end of the song. In Auto mode, the length of the fade out depends on whether the song also has a Cue Out point set (see below).

You can also use Fade Out to mark the fadeout point of a 'hook' or 'teaser' (see Cue above), since you probably want a very fast fadeout.

If the principal Fade Out point is non-zero, and in Auto mode only, FADE is displayed in the State area of the Player when the Fade Out point is reached, as a visual assurance that automation is working properly.

Cue Out

The point where playout and/or fadeout of the song unconditionally ends.

NOTE: Most songs do not need a Cue Out point.

This cue point DOES APPLY in Assist mode!

If you set a Cue Out point, this overrides the default mAirList fade duration in Auto mode. The fade duration will be the time between the Fade Out and Cue Out points. Set this cue point ONLY when you are setting up 'hooks' etc., because in Assist mode the song will not fade out and will instead 'crash stop' when the Cue Out point is reached. ALWAYS override fade duration by setting the Fade duration in the song's Properties, and NOT by setting a Cue Out point!

Set a Cue Out point to mark the absolute end of a 'hook' or 'teaser' (see Cue and Fade Out above). We recommend setting the Cue Out point about 1.0s after the Fade Out point of the 'hook.'

If the principal Cue Out point is non-zero, it is treated as the 'absolute end point' of the song, and remain times in Auto and Assist modes will be calculated using the principal Cue Out point and not the actual end of the song's audio file.

How To Use the mAirListTag Program

You can tag songs using the PFL dialog in mAirList, but the (included) mAirListTag program is usually easier—especially if you have a LOT of songs to tag!

If you added mAirList desktop icons during install, you can run mAirListTag by clicking the Tagging icon on your desktop. You can also run the program from the mAirList menu in your Start Menu. If both are 'missing,' install mAirList again ('over' itself) and make sure you select the install options to create a start menu, desktop icons, or both.

The mAirListTag window looks like this:
Image:mAirListTagWindow.png

The right-hand side is a mAirList Properties dialog, with a PFL tab (page) and a Properties tab; the left-hand side is a file explorer tree. The tabs are identical to the ones in mAirList itself, so we will only describe the PFL tab in detail, because that is the tab you use to tag audio files.

To start tagging a song, drag it from the file explorer and drop it on the player: the song will start playing. Any cue points already set (including multiple cue points) will be loaded and displayed along with the song.

You cannot explicitly 'eject' a song from the player; songs are implictly 'ejected' when you click a save button, load another song into the player, or close mAirListTag. Similarly, there is no 'Cancel' button; any changes you make to a song's cue points are implictly cancelled if you don't click one of the save buttons before you load another song or close the player.

Controls

The buttons and controls in the PFL tab are (from top to bottom, then left to right):

Slider

Drag the slider to move the play position.

NOTE: You cannot drag the slider to the absolute end of a song because it is only accurate to whole seconds. You can move to the absolute end of a song by letting it PLAY right to the end (this will make sense when you try it yourself!).

PAUSE/PLAY

Self-explanatory.

0

Click to move the play position to zero (start of song).

END MON

Click to listen to (monitor) the final few seconds of the song. The actual duration is the End mon duration time set in Configuration (default is 15 seconds).

The five cue point 'rows' have identical controls, which are (from left to right):

Time button

Displays the cue point's time (if set). Click to open the selector dialog (see below) for this cue point.

+ and –

Click to move the cue point forward/backward by 0.01s (one hundredth of a second).

Shift+click to move the cue point forward/backward by 0.1s (one tenth of a second).

Ctrl+click to move the cue point forward/backward by one second.

SET

Click to set the cue point to the current Elapsed time.

It doesn't matter whether the song is currently playing or stopped, so you can click SET 'in flight' to set an approximate cue point which you can fine-tune later.

0

Click to set the cue point to zero ('delete' the cue point).

TEST

Click to PLAY the song from the cue point.

Note that the row's name label will be followed by * if there are multiple cue points.

At the bottom of the tab are buttons which save the tag information in a Metadata File, Database (if configured), or in a custom mAirList ID3v2 tag within the MP3 file (File Tag). When you click one of these buttons, the song is be 'ejected' from the PFL tab player.

Selector dialog

When you click any Time button (the large button which displays a cue point's time), this opens the selector dialog for that cue point, which looks like this:

The selector dialog contains the list of alternate cue points. When you set two or more cue points of the same type (for example, two Ramp cue points), always add the principal cue point (shown on the Time button) to the selector dialog list, so that you can easily 'reset' the cue point to the principal cue point.

The selector dialog controls are:

List of cue point times

Click a cue point in the list to select that cue point for TEST or delete (both explained below).

Double-click a cue point in the list to use that cue point and close the selector dialog (similar to the SET button in the main dialog).

While TEST mode (see below) is selected, click a cue point in the list to audition it.

TEST (toggle button)

Click TEST to select TEST mode, which allows you to audition cue points in the list (see above).

Click TEST again to exit TEST mode.

ADD

Click to add the current cue point time (shown on the Time button) to the list.

DELETE

Click to remove (delete) the selected cue point from the list.

Tagging Tips And Tricks

This section contains step-by-step instructions for some of the techniques and ideas described above.

How To Create 'Clips' For Competitions etc.

For 'guess the intro' or 'what is this the last note of?' competitions, what you need is a specific extract or 'clip' of a song.

To run most competitions of this type, you will need to play the clip on air at least twice. Therefore, we suggest (perhaps surprisingly?) that you create the clip in a Cartwall player and not as an item in the main Playlist.

You can then play the clip as often as you need to, and you can prepare several clips and save them all—plus any jingles or other carts for the competition, like backing beds and 'right/wrong' carts—as a single 'competition' Cart Set, ready to load and use whenever you need it.

To create a song clip in a Cartwall Player:

• Make sure that the Cartwall Extra PFL player option is enabled before you begin.

1. Open the Cartwall, right-click the Player you want to store the clip in, click Open..., and load the song file. If you use an embedded Cartwall, it may be easier to drag the song from the Browser and drop it on the Cartwall Player.
2. Right-click the Cartwall Player with the song loaded in it, then click Extra PFL.
3. Clear the existing Ramp, Outro, and Fade Out points by clicking the 0 buttons.
4. Set the Cue and Cue Out points to the start and end points of the clip, then click Cue TEST to check them, and adjust as necessary.
5. Click Local to save your cue points in the Cartwall and close the Extra PFL player.
6. Check the new duration of the clip cart, and play it as a final double-check.

Remember to Save Set when you have prepared all your clips and other competition carts! Your 'clip' cue points will be saved in the Cart Set (MLC) file.

How To Create A 'Hook' Or 'Teaser' For A Song

IMPORTANT! If the song already has a non-zero Cue, Fade Out, or Cue Out point set, make sure that all the existing cue points are already stored in their dialogs, and Add them if they are not (see the final two numbered steps below for instructions).

1. Set the Cue point to the start of the hook.
2. Set the Fade Out point to the end of the hook.
3. Set the Cue Out point to a point about 1.0s after the Fade Out point.
4. Click the Cue TEST button, then adjust all the cue points until the hook sounds 'right.'
5. Click the Cue Time 'button,' then click Add, then close the Cue selector dialog.
6. Repeat the previous step to Add the Fade Out and Cue Out points to their selector dialogs.

When you have set up the hook points, you will need to set the changed cue points back to their 'normal' places. Usually, this means setting Cue and Cue Out to zero, and choosing the 'usual' Fade Out point from the selector dialog.

It's also a good idea to add a note to the song's Comments to inform presenters that a hook has been set up, and its approximate start/end times (for example: HOOK from 1:17 to 1:29).

Only then should you Save your changes!

To use a pre-prepared 'tagged hook' on-air:

1. Load the song into the Playlist.
2. Select PFL and then select the Cue, Fade Out, and Cue Out points of the hook, using the selector dialogs. This is easier if you have a Comment to guide you (see above), otherwise select the correct Cue Out point first and work backwards to select the correct Fade Out and Cue points (trust us: this works!).
3. Click the Cue TEST button to make sure you selected all three cue points correctly.
4. Switch PFL off.

This copy of the song in your Playlist is now just the hook. Obviously (?) you will add the song again, further down the Playlist. Note that the second copy of the song uses the default cue points, so you don't need to alter it to play it out in full as usual.

If your Playlist is for later automated playout, remember to Save the Playlist(!).

If your Playlist is for live-assist use, we suggest that you temporarily switch to Auto mode when you play the hook: this ensures the hook fast-fades out as planned, instead of crashing to an ugly-sounding stop at the hook's Cue Out point. If you don't want to segue straight into the Next song from the hook, click back into Assist mode while the hook is playing. This can take a little practice to master, but the end result is well worth it and sounds extremely professional!

How To Override The Default Fade Duration

Change the Fade duration in the song's Properties. Usually you will do this in the Playlist rather than in mAirListTag (which would make the change 'permanent' for that song).

DO NOT set a Cue Out point in mAirListTag for this purpose, because that will cause problems when the song is played in Assist mode.

How To Tag Songs Quickly

If you are just starting to tag your existing audio library for mAirList, or you suddenly acquire hundreds of new songs, you obviously need to tag songs as quickly and efficiently as possible. Here are our suggestions to help you use the mAirListTag program effectively.

• Never start a tagging session if you have anything else on your mind, or if you are in a bad mood. Tagging—especially 'speed tagging'—requires a surprisingly large amount of your concentration, and preferably all of it!
• Try as far as possible to stop distractions and interruptions while tagging: switch your telephones off, and either find a quiet room or use headphones.
• The mAirListTag 'explorer' does not refresh, so carry out any moving or copying of audio files before you start mAirListTag.
• Tag files in sessions no longer than an hour. After an hour of tagging, you will need to take a break of at least five minutes, because you won't be as sharp as when you started (and it's also good ergonomics!). During your break, get up and walk around, and be sure to look at a distant object to rest your eyes as well.
• The fastest way to move to any point in a song is to drag the slider.
• Slider tick marks are twenty seconds apart. This can help when you are judging how far to drag the slider.
• Shift+click on a +/– button moves a cue point by 0.1s, and Ctrl+click moves it by one second.
• Don't 'linger' over a song: once it's tagged and tested, Save it and move on to the next one.
• Work out your own best 'routine' so you can do the job as quickly as possible. Aim for a 'target time' of about one minute to tag a typical 'simple' audio file with all its principal cue points.

Sample Tagging Checklist

Following is a sample 'checklist' to get you started, but we encourage you to change it if you discover a method which works better for you.

1. Load the song by double-clicking it. If the song is completely instrumental, or the vocals start immediately, skip the next five steps (which set the Ramp point).
2. Let the song play, but be ready to click the mouse at the Ramp point. Alternatively, if the intro is very long, drag the slider to find the Ramp.
3. Click the Ramp SET button to initially set the Ramp.
4. Use the Ramp TEST and Ramp +/– buttons to adjust and check the exact Ramp point.
5. Move the Ramp backwards by 0.4s (to allow for presenter reaction time).
6. Play the song from a point before the Ramp point, and watch the progress bar as a final test.
7. Click END MON and listen for the 'right' Fade Out point. For a long fade, this should be on a beat; for an 'end,' it should be just after the final note. The 'right' Fade Out point is the moment when you would start the next track for a smooth segue over the fade (or end of) the song you are tagging. In most cases, the song will have faded down to at least 12 dB below peak by this point.
8. Use the Fade Out TEST and Fade Out +/– buttons to adjust and check the Fade Out point.
9. If the Fade Out point is less than 0.8s from the end of the song, move the Fade Out point to 0.8s from the end unless this would genuinely 'crash the tned of the track (this ensures there are never any 'gaps' during automated playout).
10. Find and mark the Outro point, if any (the vocals in some songs continue right to the end, or near enough to make an Outro point unnecessary). Usually this will be the end of the vocals, or the start of the third repeat of the chorus or hook.
11. Add any extra Outro and/or Fade Out points (for example, an extra Outro marking the usual point where the song is faded, if there is a long instrumental before the actual final chorus). Remember to Add the principal cue points to their selector dialog lists first!
12. If necessary, add any extra Ramp and Cue points. You may want to mark the start of any 'preamble' before the actual lyrics as an extra Ramp point, or add Cue points to skip a spoken intro or 'cut' a long instrumental intro. Again, don't forget to Add the new points you set to their selector dialog lists.
13. If you have set any 'extra' cue points, check that ALL the cue points currently displayed ARE the ones you want to use as the principal cue points for the file. Use the selector dialogs to correct any mistakes.
14. Click the appropriate button to Save the tags to a Metadata (MMD) file, Database (if configured), or in a special mAirList File Tag (custom ID3v2 tag) stored within the MP3 file. The song will be ejected from the Player.
15. Load the next song to be tagged.