Hello Forum.

I've downloaded the BPM Analyzer tool on my PC and analyzed all of my mp3s i use for dj'ing. the tool works great for the most part and I love that it writes the tag into the mp3 files themselves.

When I load up the analyzed mp3s files into iTunes on the PC, the BPM value shows up correctly there, However when I connect my external firewire drive back to my Mac (where I normally play these MP3s, the BPM values seem to convert to a totally different scaled number.

For instance, a file that was calcuated @ 125 BPM changes to a value of 60864 on the MAC in the BPM column.
another one reads like this: 98 BPM and on the mac, 33939. And a third, displays 125 BPM on the PC, and 60899 on the Mac.

I tried to figure out any sort of correlation or simple % equation, but. my math skills aren't that of a computer scientist.
Is there an easy formula, table anything out there to use that could be of help in equating these conversions into sense?

On one final note. I sometimes notice that when I initially load the just analyzed BPM Analyzer mp3 files into iTunes on the MAC, the BPM shows up properly, but, as soon as you select the file or play it, the BPM value changes to that higher number integer.

Any help would be most appreciated and if there was a solution, it would be even cooler to creat an Apple Script that iTunes could use to batch convert recently analyzed files.

thanks.
benny blanco®

Okay, TRR is more of an expert with the iPOD than me (I'm a RIO guy).

However, my understanding is that iPODs don't actually play MP3s, and when you load tracks up to your iPOD, it's got to go through the iTunes software, and must convert the files to AAC files.

If this is true, then the BPM info in your MP3 ID tags is likely getting corrupted.

Of course, since I'm not an iPOD afficionado, I could be (and likely am) wrong.

quote:

Of course, since I'm not an iPOD afficionado, I could be (and likely am) wrong.

Indeed you are my friend.... ...wrong that is...iPods DO actually play MP3s, as well as Wav and AAC (it's WMA that it converts to AAC )....

As for the BPM info, that has nothing to do with the iPod itself....but instead with the way the Mac is reading the info. Why the Mac is reading the values in this manner is a mistery to me (i'm no programming expert..or novice for that matter)....it might be that the Mac doesn't necessarily use that field in MP3 tags (I could be wrong...as there are some mxing software for the Mac that might have this field).

Not being a math wizard (Hell I hated and stil hate math ) I wouldn't have the foggiest idea on what kind of equation it would take to return the high integer figures to the more familiar BPM values you might be used to seeing....

Jet....care to take a stab at this ya big brain...

quote:

Originally posted by TRR*:

quote:

Of course, since I'm not an iPOD afficionado, I could be (and likely am) wrong.

Indeed you are my friend.... ...wrong that is...iPods DO actually play MP3s, as well as Wav and AAC (it's WMA that it converts to AAC )....

As for the BPM info, that has nothing to do with the iPod itself....but instead with the way the Mac is reading the info. Why the Mac is reading the values in this manner is a mistery to me (i'm no programming expert..or novice for that matter)....it might be that the Mac doesn't necessarily use that field in MP3 tags (I could be wrong...as there are some mxing software for the Mac that might have this field).

Not being a math wizard (Hell I hated and stil hate math ) I wouldn't have the foggiest idea on what kind of equation it would take to return the high integer figures to the more familiar BPM values you might be used to seeing....

Jet....care to take a stab at this ya big brain...

I was hoping somebody from the company would be able to give some insight as to how we can translate the higher integer values back to the correct BPMs. anyone? anyone?... Bueller. Bueller..

I tried opening an mp3 file in a text editor (BBEdit on the mac) and looked for the BPM info. I saw where my Traktor Software had written it in, but couldn't find it for the life of me anywhere else.


HeeeeEEEeeeeeelllp.


thanks.
benny blanco®

I too have the same problen as the OP. Using virtual pc to load up BPM analyzer. iTunes in mac sees the BPM as ##,###

Any solution to this????

ITunes has a "different" way of storing information on audio files in their player. Without going into any gory details you should try the following:

1) Open ITunes, select the song and choose Advanced > Convert ID3 Tags.

2) Click Reverse Unicode.

Try this on a single track to see if you get the results you're looking for. You can always do the same thing over again on the track to reverse this change.

Give it a shot. I hope this helps.

me

This message has been edited. Last edited by: freEky,

I have this problem too. None of the ID3 conversion options on Mac iTunes seem to work. Is it possible that the BPM info that the Analzer writes to the file on the PC is simply incompatible on the Mac? This would be too bad since ID3 such widely read metadata.

Any suggestions?

After looking at this problem more carefully I am pretty sure that the addition of the fractional BPM data after the decimal point is the culprit. Even though PC iTunes does not display the .xx BPM data, it is still there. I opened a file in TagNRename and was able to delete the data after the decimal. Once a whole number, the BPM was correctly imported into Mac iTunes.

So the question to MixMeister is: is there any way to disable the writing of the decimal point data?

Hey guys (n' gals)

OK, i'm a Ex-Mac-Evangelist come PC-(Ab)user, but aren't the new macs kewl. They'll now accept Windows installation, and that means GAMES

Just installed BPM analyser, and it's analysing away... I have restarted iTunes half a dozen times and the BPM information won't appear. This is a superficial problem, the bpm info IS in the ID3 tag.

"Fix"
Updating your tag version in iTunes will repopulate the iTunes Library.itl file from the MP3's ID3 tag. You may lose any changes that you have done in iTunes this way. i mean, over the past months I have Capitialised and un-comma'ed a lot of the Artist information in new albums. None of this information has been written into the ID3 tag, but they were in the iTunes .itl file.

To not lose the changes to your files, create a new iTunes Library folder (fastest to be on a different HDD, different HDD channel) point to it in the iTunes Preferences and consolidate library to this new folder. Then do an tag update to the latest tag version.

OK, yeah, this is going to take *AGES*, but hey, if you've just waited for BPM Analyser to look at your entire library, then you should do the full job.

Anyone else found this to be the case? iTunes has for many versions not written info the files, only in it's own database. well, this is the PC version, and i think was the case when I still had my indigo iMac.

Hope this case study helps some.

note: I just restarted BPM analyser again after fiddling around in iTunes with my artist info's. No, they have reverted again, I can't work this out. maybe ID3 version 2.4 isn't the best version for accepting changes from iTunes. not sure. If anyone is interested I'll post an update in the future.

Well, I'm interested. Too bad this post is more than a year old. I'm having the same issue as asc3ntion: Run MixMeister's BPM Analyzer and once it's done (hours later), the BPM tags don't show up in the BPM field in iTunes (despite being supposedly written into the id3 tags). Looked at MixMeister's BPM Help file and doesn't suggest any fixes.

Uuuugggghhhh...

Oh, and 99.9% of the files in my iTunes library are standard format mp3's... so no issue with the files being in WAV or AAC format.

Okay, I've found a solution. I just tried it for myself and it works like a champ.

Seaching the iLounge I found this:

Hi all.

Thanks for the link to MixMeister, it seems to do the trick really nicely. I also had that issue though where the BPMs were not visible in iTunes after running the app.

I have fortunately found a nice little workaround that will allow the BPM to display.

1. After running MixMiester on your entire library, load up iTunes.

1.5. Now right click on a track and 'Get Info' then click 'OK'
Now the BPM should be viewable within iTunes by just getting the 'Info' to refresh using this method. Please note, no other part of your ID3 tags were changed.

2. So, to apply this to your entire library in 1 step.
2.1. Select all soungs in your library using 'Ctrl + A',
2.2. right-click and choose 'Get Info'. The multiple info screen will come up.
2.3. *DO NOT* change anything -- Just click OK. (since the little 'boxes' aren't checked it won't erase all of your existing tags, but *will* enable iTunes to reload the info.) Make sure that all of the little 'update' boxes are unchecked.

Hope this helps.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: msh441,

msh441 - you are the man! thanks for the fix, I've spent like 6 hours trying to work around this mess.

Ok, I've tried this workaround. The BPM values show up fine in iTunes on a Windows PC. But when I transfer the files to a Mac, I still get the extended string of numbers in the BPM field.

Any added advice?

just bought a mac, had the same problem - seems like itunes doesn't know what to do with decimal places - other programs round up or just leave off in their display, but itunes comes up w/ these wacky numbers..

I edited all the decimal places using a tag editor, and now they show up ok in itunes..

bottom line.. bpm analyzer & itunes dont work so well together

I hate itunes - lol

I found a solution. I'm not running mixmeister itself, but downloaded the BPM app and found it was accurate enough. I like keeping my collection arranged by BPMs so I don't accidentally cue up something at 121 when I'm playing at 130+. I'm sure you can all relate. Anyway here's what you do:

You simply need an application that lets you manipulate MP3 tags. mp3tag lets you apply REGEX expressions to tag values, to manipulate the strings in all sorts of ways.

1. Run all your tracks through MixMeister BPM Analyzer.
2. Load them in mp3tag.

3. You have to add a Conversion script to actually edit the tag in batch. There's an easy way that just chops off all the decimal and letters after it: \.[0-9]

There's also a way to round the BPM up or down to the whole number, which is a little more involved. The answer is found here.

Hope this helps.