After you filter back in stuff that you do want to hear, you end up with a nice, well rounded playlist that is as eclectic as you. And that ought to work for you most of the time.
There will be times, though, when you’re really in the mood for something a bit more particular. Times when you need mood music, or music along a specific theme.
Here’s the thing. You could just cobble something together and let it play. I’ll show you how to cobble something together, and have that integrate with the rest of your iTunes Smart Playlists, so that your binge of classic 80′s tunes will be remembered and you don’t end up hearing the same songs in your regular @YourNameForIt playlist.
For me, I associate music with radio stations from my past. Maybe this is because I haven’t been around a decent radio station is years (no offense, AFN and RTL3). KQAK from the late Eighties in San Francisco, 91X or KROQ for early 90′s music, and KLOS for heavier music. And yes, punk rock has, for me, always meant KALX, which I could pick up on the radio in my room when the atmospherics were just right.
There are two ways to tackle this, three if you merge the two. The first is by band, and the second is by genre. I prefer the former, but hey, I’ll talk both.
For an example, I’ll use 91X and KROQ. Both mean alternative rock, and specifically stuff from the mid 1980′s to mid 1990′s.
One note, first, though on years. In iTunes, each sold has a place holder for the year. We’re going to use this. The value often assigned to this slot is the year the CD was released. That’s not always when the album was released — maybe the CD came out later, or you have a later edition of the CD. In My Tribe, by 10,000 Maniacs is a good example of that — I have a copy of the CD from when it was originally released, though the record label had to re-release it with one less song a couple of years later. My version is from 1987, and the latter is from 1989.
OK, enough with all that. Let’s talk about 91X and KROQ.
Both were classic alternative rock stations, the former serving San Diego and the latter serving LA. Here‘s the link to the list of top songs played by 91X from the 80′s, and the same for KROQ for stuff from the 90′s. If we use those lists as the basis for defining alternative rock during that period, I can compare the bands listed to my own musical library.
So, I’ll make a new Smart Playlist, and match any of the following rules:
- Artist contains Clash.
- Artist contains Smiths.
- Artist contains R.E.M.
- Artist contains U2.
- Artist contains Devo.
- Artist contains INXS.
- Artist contains Cure.
- Artist contains Squeeze.
- Artist contains New Order.
- Artist contains Blondie.
And so on. There doesn’t seem to be a limit to the number of rules in a smart playlist, so go crazy. Click ok and name is something like 91XBands.
Good. Make a new smart playlist, and match all of the following rules:
- Playlist is @YourNameForIt
- Playlist is 91XBands
- Year is in the range of 1985 to 1995.
Click OK, and name is something like @91X. Poof, it’s your Rock of the 80′s mood music. The key to the success of this, though, sis not just having stuff rated, but also having years associated with your music.
The other way to tackle this problem is through the use of genres. This works for some things, and not others. For example, to make something akin to 91X or KROQ would be nearly impossible, as it covers a bunch of genres and bands.
But something like classic rock is easy to do. I use classic rock as a genre already.
- Playlist is @YourNameForIt
- Genre is classic rock
And that’s it. Click OK and call is Classic Rock or KLOS or what have you. The strength is that is plays what I define as classic rock; the problem is that is means I have to define it. I could also have said
- playlist is @yournameforit
- genre contains rock
- year is in the range of 1960 to 1975
This might have produced a different batch of music, though. Tinker with it until you find something you like.
August 4th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
[...] Mood music: How to get your groove on [...]