TUNETRACKER SYSTEM IN ACTION - TuneStacker

TuneStacker™ Commands

TuneStacker™ contains a powerful set of tools for generating vibrant, dynamic radio formats. Be certain to look carefully at this page, because the simple "commands" listed here give you a lot of creative power. If you have TuneTracker Command Center™, please also click on the "Read More" button for additional codes that give you huge additional fapabilities. More than ever before, "If you can dream it, you can do it!"

Before reading this section, please familiarize yourself with the overview information on the "How it Works" page.

As described elsewhere in this manual, the most basic element of a TuneTracker™ program log is the format clock file, which contains some very simple lines of instruction. Lines of instruction intended for TuneTracker™ are TuneTracker™ commands. They start with a pound sign (#) and are completely ignored by TuneStacker™. The entire list of all the TuneTracker automation commands is found on this page. Lines of instruction that don't start with a pound sign are TuneStacker™ commands, and that's what we cover in this section. TuneStacker™ commands tell the TuneStacker™ program what files it should retrieve and add to your program logs as it generates them for you.

TuneStacker™'s syntax includes some modifications since version one, so if you are upgrading from the original TuneTracker system, simply run your existing master log through the TSConvert program (located in your TuneStacker™ folder) and it will change all the syntax for you in the time it takes to take your finger off the mouse button.

Use these codes to tell TuneStacker™ how to select the audio files that will be included in your program logs. You may use upper or lower case wherever you like. All TuneStacker™ commands are "case insensitive."


Break (TuneTracker Command Center™ Only)

Wherever you want commercials to fall, you need to place a one of our little break marker "cups" in your master log, so TuneStacker™ knows where to drop your announcements into the program log. Each break marker looks like this (note this system follows a 24-hour time format)...


  •   Break Marker Examples:

    break 03:32:30
    break 10:19:00
    break 14:51:50

Play

Play tells TuneStacker™ to include an audio file that is located in a specific place on your hard drive. Be sure to enter the path and filename exactly as it exists, paying attention to upper and lower case.


  •   Examples:

    Play /boot/programs/Program_Open.wav
    Play /boot/news/TheFeatureShow.mp3
    Play /boot/jingles/jingle.aiff

Random

"Random" is the centerpiece. "Random" is the most important command to learn, by far, because it it's potential is huge. It's an amazingly simple tool you can use to create just about any imaginable format, especially if you have the added functionality it contains in TuneTracker Command Center™. "Random" searches your hard drive for every file matching the criteria you specify. The following examples, all of which search for songs matching a single attribute, will work in both TuneTracker Basic™ and TuneTracker Command Center™.


  •   Examples

    Random Artist Toto
    Random Genre Gospel
    Random Comment 90s
    Random Tempo Fast
    Random Year 1983
In the first example above, you are instructing TuneStacker™ to search the hard drive for every single file whose "Artist" attribute contains the word, "Toto." In the second example, we're randomly selecting one song from among all those with the Genre "Gospel." See how easy it is?!

Now, let's consider the possibilities. Since "Random" can be run on most of the attributes used by TuneTracker™, you can do "Random" searches by Artist, Album, Genre, Tempo, Year, and Comment. The wheels are already turning up there, aren't they? But let's go ahead and spell out some of the possibilities.


  •   Use "Random" searches by Artist to do special weekend artist salutes and "Twofer Tuesdays"
  •   Use "Random" searches by Comment to randomly grab public service announcements
  •   Use "Random" searches by Album to do unique format mixes
  •   Use "Random" searches by Genre to do a Sunday Night Jazz show
  •   Use "Random" searches by Tempo to control the tempo mix of your format
  •   Use "Random" searches by Year to do a show featuring songs from 1991
  •   Mark all songs with the word "Song" in the comment attribute field, to do random grabs from your entire music library using "Random Comment Song"
Of all the attributes available to the "Random" command, the Comment attribute is probably the most powerful one of the bunch, because it isn't limited to a strict category the way Tempo or Genre are. Comment can be used to search for absolutely anything.


DON'T STOP HERE!

Command Center owners, be absolutely certain to click "Read More" or you'll miss out on a LOT of what your version of TuneStacker™ can do!

Read More about using this feature.


PlayFolder

You're going to love "PlayFolder." It lets you add the contents of an entire folder to your program log using a single line in your MasterLog. Let's say you have a weekly news program which you presently go to the trouble to produce from a bunch of individual elements whose contents change from week to week. "PlayFolder" will build the whole thing for you. Just place all the files into the folder, and add numbers to the front of all the filenames so TuneStacker™ knows the order you want them in. Then just add the following single line to your MasterLog.


  •   Example 1:

    PlayFolder /boot/News/NewsWeekly
Since, in our imaginary example, the program's open, first segment, first commercial, second segment, second commercial, third segment, and close are all sitting in the NewsWeekly folder, with numbered filenames, the "PlayFolder" command will grab them all and build the whole show for you, production-free.

One useful note is that, when numbering the filenames, it is wise to start with the number "01" rather than "1," especially if you have more than nine files in the folder. If not, the natural method of alphanumeric sorting we use will be confounded when you get to the number "10," and things will get out of order. If you have more than 99 files in the folder, then start your numbering with "001."


  •   Example 2:

    PlayFolder /boot/Programs/WeeklyCountdown
Suppose you have a whole countdown show ready to go for the weekend, and you want to assure that none of the songs in the countdown are played anytime near the show. Since PlayFolder offers the option, it will automatically protect all the cuts in the folder by as many adjacent cuts as you have specified in your TuneStacker™ Preferences.


Rotate

Sometimes, you don't want to randomize, but rather, you want to rotate. For example, suppose you have a whole bunch of promos, and you need to have them play with equal frequency. So you add the word, "Promo" to the "Comment" attribute of those files, and in your MasterLog, you include the following line each time you want a promo to play (other rotate examples are also listed below):


  •   Examples:

    Rotate Comment Promo
    Rotate Comment PSA
    Rotate Comment Jingle
It's also possible to rotate by any of the attributes you normally associate with songs, though rotating through your music library causes a certain predictability that is generally not desirable. Still, there may be special reasons why you want to rotate through all the songs by a particular artist, for example, or to rotate through all the cuts on an album, and those things are all possible.

Now, some great news. Just as an old-fashioned tape cartridge, or "cart" doesn't forget where it left off in its rotation when one day rolls into the next, neither does TuneStacker™. Rather than starting over at the beginning of a rotation when a new day begins, the rotation "carries over" from one day into the next. Rotate is also smart enough not to be tripped up by cuts which have been removed, so if you pull out a few cuts, Rotate will compensate for it. TuneStacker™ can keep track of up to 12 distinct rotations at a time.

Command Center owners, you can also rotate by more than one attribute at once if you like...

  •   Examples:

    Rotate Comment Promo Rating H      Rotate through all Promos rated for Heavy rotation.
    Rotate Comment PSA Rating C      Rotate through all PSAs rated for Christmas
    Rotate Album Quadrophenia Tempo Fast      Rotate through all the fast songs from the Album, Quadrophenia.



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