I have some loops from different sources to get onto my DT2 (possibly also use in koala etc). They are named quite differently, regarding BPM
Is there a well-known convention for including BPM in filename ?
I’m thinking something that might be useful in future for software (e.g. sample organisers) or other hardware.
I see there are a few OT-specific threads on this topic, but nothing more general.
I think that the easiest way to label from a logistical standpoint (if you have a system for it) is to list “types” of loops numerically so melodic as 01, rhythmic as 02, vocal as 03 etc in order to avoid having long file names starting with a bunch of grouped but otherwise out of order alpha characters.
If you know 01 is melodic, you know that the listing system will group all 01’s together before listing any 02’s and therefore you can do:
01_163_C indicating 01(melodic loop) 163 (bpm) C (key of loop) without having your listing of the melodic factor (song key) impact your ordering system. Or if you want to attach any other data like “Sade” or “ELO” or some other indicator of what the loop is, you would just put it last.
I’m sure this is something that already occurred to you but sometimes it helps to hear it reiterated, so ie your system would look something like:
and that way a rhythmic loop to which some people might add a pitch if the drums are tuned, but let’s say for sake of illustrative purposes that you don’t, then in that case there is no impact on the listing system by eliminating one or both of the last 2 data sets because it will default to the hierarchy of first the type, listing anything starting with 0 first, then next highest number following, then the bpm will determine the next ordering (low to high), and in the event that there exist two or more entries under the same bpm it will then list them by the alpha qualifier of the song key.
I always try to list with a 0 first just in the event that I ultimately reach the number 10 in which case I won’t have to go back and relabel everything since computers always list 0 before 1 unless prompted to list by some other criteria.
Basically, unless you’re looking for the source of the loop before the type of loop, there’s a distinct advantage to having a numerical system and I think this should work pretty well for you but decide based on what sounds good for you as opposed to what sounds good for me.
You can, of course, also modify the system to taste.
Thanks.
Yes, I’d already figured out if there’s no agreed convention, then I’d put BPM early on in the name. It actually doesn’t matter much on a DT2 (with those 3 machines that try to fit your loop to a number of bars anyway) but just trying to future-proof my naming choices … if there’s a convention that everyone uses.
That’s what I’m really looking for, a convention that everyone uses.
If there is no such thing I’ll be doing something very similar to what you suggested.
That‘s good, but if the collection is big, duplicates might occur. That’s something DT doesn‘t handle well, so one should check the file structure and add a counter if that happens.
yes, it relies on the user to have common sense, hence any subcategorization last in line.