I am new to this and like the look of this software, I have used myriad before and it looks very similar however I have never done the scheduling side of things.
I am wanting to use mAirList to be a 24 hour playout system for a hospital radio station. I am firstly planning to put all the music in then at a later date presenters to record links and put them in.
Does anyone have any advice how to do this best?
I want to have it on a 2 week rotation and want to be able to set it to play the top of the hour each hour.
Should I do the playlists in 3 hour sections for each show? or should I do a playlist for every hour? Should I put the TOH at the top of every playlist or set mAirList to play it?
Please help, I feel that if I know im doing it the most effective way then I am more likely to get it running faster.
mAirList itself has no built in scheduler but will work with third party software, especially those purpose written (EldoDB, RadioDB). Also itunes will work.
Can you suggest something FREE? station playlist isn’t an option. for that matter, I don’t want to schedule music, takes too long everyday, I want to set it up so that the music is picked for specific folders. IE, set up a basic playlist so that the mairlist picks the music at random. and load this in the events window so it runs every hour…
I really like the GUI of mairlist, though I’m still getting used to it, doesn’t hold all my catagories when I load a folder on the right hand side…that could really used a scroll function…
I cannot think of a scheduler, other than the dedicated options at the mAirlist homepage that are free.
The choices currently are:
EldoDB
iTunes
RadioDB2
Station Playlist would be one of the cheapest pay for options and will do as you ask, selecting audio from the defined folders to a ruleset. Even running itself at 11:30pm everyday to setup the playlist for the following day without any further user interaction.
mAirList with some scripting will load these playlists for you.
Have you tried loading each folder individually into the browser as it sounds like you are loading a directory tree?
Then you just clcik the tab to see what’s in the folder.
I have, and have it loaded that way now, but there’s too many catagories and folder…easily in the area of 20-25 folders the way I have it broken it up…i’ve tried playing and moving around as much as I can. the best I can do is lower the tabs into the bar to minimize them and click them that way to get the right folder, certainly doable, but to be able to scroll the tabs while keeping a window so you can view the contents makes the best sense. loading all these folders right now, completely buries the view window for the folder. I’m not loading a directory tree, I’m loading each individual folder/catagory for the mp3’s…as i’m sure you realize, it can be tedious loading all these…fortunately, I saved my settings after a few tries to figure out how that works…
I cannot think of a scheduler, other than the dedicated options at the mAirlist homepage that are free.
The choices currently are:
EldoDB
iTunes
RadioDB2
Station Playlist would be one of the cheapest pay for options and will do as you ask, selecting audio from the defined folders to a ruleset. Even running itself at 11:30pm everyday to setup the playlist for the following day without any further user interaction.
mAirList with some scripting will load these playlists for you.
the link http://www.radiodb.de/ as on the features page is dead, goes no where, so I assume that this software is history? eldo is also history…so you see why I ask…
as zararadio (also in development as freeware now) has a built in scheduler/playlist builder, I might take the files, copy them and rename them as mp3u files or another format mairlist might recognize and see what happens. the links to the folders should be built in, just a matter of grabbing the folder. worth a shot if nothing else…from what I understand the files and mp3u’s are interchangable, so it should be interesting to see what happens, if anything.
I love zara for automation and it’s price, it sucks for live assist, that’s where mairlist beats it severely. mairlists gui is exactly what I want, similar to the pro automation software that is standard in some of the north american radio stations, such as mediatouch or scott studios. I’m using both until I can get mairlist to work the way I want it. I’m thinking it eventually should have a built in playlist option, or a separate piece of software for both playlist/scheduling and audio input into the system, but I think that will take sometime.
Hi Scott, try the option in the browser settings (using the config tool) to use Old style browsers. the tabs move to the top of the browser window and are much smaller.
I forgot about this playlist tool (downloaded but I have never used it).
I am still not any clearer on how I can use mAirList to work for me,
I have been supplied with a schedule of what the station wants playing and when, a classical hour etc. So I understand I need to do a playlist for each hour. The shows will be on a 2week rotation.
I am not really bothered about using anything to create playlists automatically as I was planning to use Winamp and pick every song manually and save the playlist.
The only thing thats really confusing me is:
how do you tell mAirList to load and play the next hour
in 2 weeks theres just over 300 hours - how do you tell it to go back to the first one at the end of the 2 weeks
Do you have to put the top of the hour at the start of every playlist or can mAirList play it automatically?
Please help, these are the only things holding me back
Hi Ste, lots of work to build playlists manually unless off course the same show will repeat.
To answer your points:
This will call for some scripting, both Torben and Cad are proficient in scripting so they will be able to offer more direct advice here or check out the wiki http://wiki.mairlist.com/index.php/Main_Page
It will help if you can tell the names of the playlists, for instance are they named by hour or by show name etc.
Load and run the scripts from the event scheduler.
I still find the task of manually creating playlists every fortnight daunting and suggest you give the clockwheel link a look.
If it was a 1 week rotation, this would be fairly easy by the means of scripting. Just name the playlist files “Weekday-hour.m3u”, for example “Wed-17.m3u”. (It’s important to use the three-letter abbreviation, because the script will use the FormatDateTime function which outputs the weekday names in exactly this format.)
Second, create an empty playlist and insert the top-of-the-hour item for a particular hour. Go to the properties of that item, and on the Options page, check “Fixed time” and enter the time at the top of the hour, e.g. 16:00:00. Then save this playlist in .mlp format, and name it e.g. “Top16.mlp”. Repeat the steps for the other 23 hours. (You can also copy the first file, open it in Notepad, and change the time manually.)
The top-of-the-hour playlist can also contain more than one item. The only important thing is that the first item is marked as fixed with the correct time.
Finally, you need a “simple” script which is run a few minutes before the top of the hour, and does two things: (1) Append the next hour’s TopXX.mlp file to the current playlist, (2) append the next hour’s playlist file. This is done while the old playlist is still running. At :00:00, mAirList will see that there is a fixed-time item, fade out the old playlist and jump to that item. Your top-of-the-hour jingles are played, and mAirList proceeds with the new playlist.
The script is fairly easy to write, only a few lines of code. I can assist you if you like.
Having a 2 week schedule makes things a little more complicated. In particular, you need two playlists for each day and hour, e.g. “Wed-17-week1.m3u” and “Wed-17-week2.m3u”. And the script will have to decide whether the current week is week 1 or week 2. Perhaps this can be done by the means of calendar weeks.
I was wondering if it could be done just by numbering the playlist hour, I understand how long it will take to create the playlists manually however the 2 weeks of programming will be repeated for a long length of time and we shall only be updating the “New Music” hour.
Below is a file I have created of each of the shows and numbered each hour, can mAirList not be set up to run though in order?
It sounds like it will be a really long job going through and tagging the TOH in every hour, lol looks like it shall be a long night for me!!
Day Show Hour Playlist hour number
Monday Breakfast 7am 1
Monday Breakfast 8am 2
Monday Breakfast 9am 3
Monday Mid Morning 10am 4
Monday Mid Morning 11am 5
Monday Mid Morning 12 midday 6
Monday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 7
Monday Non Stop SHR 2pm 8
Monday Afternoons 3pm 9
Monday Afternoons 4pm 10
Monday Afternoons 5pm 11
Monday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 12
Monday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 13
Monday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 14
Monday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 15
Monday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 16
Monday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 17
Monday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 18
Monday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 19
Monday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 20
Monday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 21
Monday Early Breakfast 4am 22
Monday Early Breakfast 5am 23
Monday Early Breakfast 6am 24
Tuesday Breakfast 7am 25
Tuesday Breakfast 8am 26
Tuesday Breakfast 9am 27
Tuesday Mid Morning 10am 28
Tuesday Mid Morning 11am 29
Tuesday Mid Morning 12 midday 30
Tuesday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 31
Tuesday Non Stop SHR 2pm 32
Tuesday Afternoons 3pm 33
Tuesday Afternoons 4pm 34
Tuesday Afternoons 5pm 35
Tuesday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 36
Tuesday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 37
Tuesday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 38
Tuesday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 39
Tuesday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 40
Tuesday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 41
Tuesday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 42
Tuesday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 43
Tuesday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 44
Tuesday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 45
Tuesday Early Breakfast 4am 46
Tuesday Early Breakfast 5am 47
Tuesday Early Breakfast 6am 48
Wednesday Breakfast 7am 49
Wednesday Breakfast 8am 50
Wednesday Breakfast 9am 51
Wednesday Mid Morning 10am 52
Wednesday Mid Morning 11am 53
Wednesday Mid Morning 12 midday 54
Wednesday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 55
Wednesday Non Stop SHR 2pm 56
Wednesday Afternoons 3pm 57
Wednesday Afternoons 4pm 58
Wednesday Afternoons 5pm 59
Wednesday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 60
Wednesday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 61
Wednesday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 62
Wednesday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 63
Wednesday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 64
Wednesday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 65
Wednesday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 66
Wednesday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 67
Wednesday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 68
Wednesday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 69
Wednesday Early Breakfast 4am 70
Wednesday Early Breakfast 5am 71
Wednesday Early Breakfast 6am 72
Thursday Breakfast 7am 73
Thursday Breakfast 8am 74
Thursday Breakfast 9am 75
Thursday Mid Morning 10am 76
Thursday Mid Morning 11am 77
Thursday Mid Morning 12 midday 78
Thursday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 79
Thursday Non Stop SHR 2pm 80
Thursday Afternoons 3pm 81
Thursday Afternoons 4pm 82
Thursday Afternoons 5pm 83
Thursday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 84
Thursday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 85
Thursday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 86
Thursday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 87
Thursday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 88
Thursday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 89
Thursday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 90
Thursday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 91
Thursday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 92
Thursday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 93
Thursday Early Breakfast 4am 94
Thursday Early Breakfast 5am 95
Thursday Early Breakfast 6am 96
Friday Breakfast 7am 97
Friday Breakfast 8am 98
Friday Breakfast 9am 99
Friday Mid Morning 10am 100
Friday Mid Morning 11am 101
Friday Mid Morning 12 midday 102
Friday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 103
Friday Non Stop SHR 2pm 104
Friday Afternoons 3pm 105
Friday Afternoons 4pm 106
Friday Afternoons 5pm 107
Friday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 108
Friday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 109
Friday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 110
Friday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 111
Friday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 112
Friday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 113
Friday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 114
Friday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 115
Friday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 116
Friday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 117
Friday Early Breakfast 4am 118
Friday Early Breakfast 5am 119
Friday Early Breakfast 6am 120
Saturday Weekend Breakfast 7am 121
Saturday Weekend Breakfast 8am 122
Saturday Weekend Breakfast 9am 123
Saturday Weekend Mid Morning 10am 124
Saturday Weekend Mid Morning 11am 125
Saturday Lunchtime Classics 12 midday 126
Saturday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 127
Saturday SHR New Music 2pm 128
Saturday SHR Up Close & Personal 3pm 129
Saturday SHR Retro Years 4pm 130
Saturday SHR Retro Years 5pm 131
Saturday SHR Retro Years 6pm 132
Saturday Weekend Evening Show 7pm 133
Saturday Weekend Evening Show 8pm 134
Saturday Weekend Evening Show 9pm 135
Saturday SHR Things you cant play 10pm 136
Saturday SHR Things you cant play 11pm 137
Saturday SHR Through the Night 12 Midnight 138
Saturday SHR Through the Night 1am 139
Saturday SHR Through the Night 2am 140
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 3am 141
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 4am 142
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 5am 143
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 6am 144
Sunday Weekend Breakfast 7am 145
Sunday Weekend Breakfast 8am 146
Sunday Weekend Breakfast 9am 147
Sunday Weekend Mid Morning 10am 148
Sunday Weekend Mid Morning 11am 149
Sunday Lunchtime Classics 12 midday 150
Sunday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 151
Sunday SHR New Music 2pm 152
Sunday SHR Up Close & Personal 3pm 153
Sunday SHR Retro Years 4pm 154
Sunday SHR Retro Years 5pm 155
Sunday SHR Retro Years 6pm 156
Sunday Weekend Evening Show 7pm 157
Sunday Weekend Evening Show 8pm 158
Sunday Weekend Evening Show 9pm 159
Sunday SHR Things you cant play 10pm 160
Sunday SHR Things you cant play 11pm 161
Sunday SHR Through the Night 12 Midnight 162
Sunday SHR Through the Night 1am 163
Sunday SHR Through the Night 2am 164
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 3am 165
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 4am 166
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 5am 167
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 6am 168
Monday Breakfast 7am 169
Monday Breakfast 8am 170
Monday Breakfast 9am 171
Monday Mid Morning 10am 172
Monday Mid Morning 11am 173
Monday Mid Morning 12 midday 174
Monday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 175
Monday Non Stop SHR 2pm 176
Monday Afternoons 3pm 177
Monday Afternoons 4pm 178
Monday Afternoons 5pm 179
Monday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 180
Monday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 181
Monday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 182
Monday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 183
Monday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 184
Monday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 185
Monday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 186
Monday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 187
Monday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 188
Monday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 189
Monday Early Breakfast 4am 190
Monday Early Breakfast 5am 191
Monday Early Breakfast 6am 192
Tuesday Breakfast 7am 193
Tuesday Breakfast 8am 194
Tuesday Breakfast 9am 195
Tuesday Mid Morning 10am 196
Tuesday Mid Morning 11am 197
Tuesday Mid Morning 12 midday 198
Tuesday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 199
Tuesday Non Stop SHR 2pm 200
Tuesday Afternoons 3pm 201
Tuesday Afternoons 4pm 202
Tuesday Afternoons 5pm 203
Tuesday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 204
Tuesday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 205
Tuesday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 206
Tuesday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 207
Tuesday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 208
Tuesday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 209
Tuesday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 210
Tuesday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 211
Tuesday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 212
Tuesday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 213
Tuesday Early Breakfast 4am 214
Tuesday Early Breakfast 5am 215
Tuesday Early Breakfast 6am 216
Wednesday Breakfast 7am 217
Wednesday Breakfast 8am 218
Wednesday Breakfast 9am 219
Wednesday Mid Morning 10am 220
Wednesday Mid Morning 11am 221
Wednesday Mid Morning 12 midday 222
Wednesday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 223
Wednesday Non Stop SHR 2pm 224
Wednesday Afternoons 3pm 225
Wednesday Afternoons 4pm 226
Wednesday Afternoons 5pm 227
Wednesday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 228
Wednesday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 229
Wednesday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 230
Wednesday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 231
Wednesday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 232
Wednesday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 233
Wednesday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 234
Wednesday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 235
Wednesday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 236
Wednesday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 237
Wednesday Early Breakfast 4am 238
Wednesday Early Breakfast 5am 239
Wednesday Early Breakfast 6am 240
Thursday Breakfast 7am 241
Thursday Breakfast 8am 242
Thursday Breakfast 9am 243
Thursday Mid Morning 10am 244
Thursday Mid Morning 11am 245
Thursday Mid Morning 12 midday 246
Thursday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 247
Thursday Non Stop SHR 2pm 248
Thursday Afternoons 3pm 249
Thursday Afternoons 4pm 250
Thursday Afternoons 5pm 251
Thursday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 252
Thursday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 253
Thursday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 254
Thursday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 255
Thursday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 256
Thursday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 257
Thursday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 258
Thursday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 259
Thursday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 260
Thursday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 261
Thursday Early Breakfast 4am 262
Thursday Early Breakfast 5am 263
Thursday Early Breakfast 6am 264
Friday Breakfast 7am 265
Friday Breakfast 8am 266
Friday Breakfast 9am 267
Friday Mid Morning 10am 268
Friday Mid Morning 11am 269
Friday Mid Morning 12 midday 270
Friday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 271
Friday Non Stop SHR 2pm 272
Friday Afternoons 3pm 273
Friday Afternoons 4pm 274
Friday Afternoons 5pm 275
Friday SHR 60s @ 6 6pm 276
Friday SHR 70s @ 7 7pm 277
Friday SHR 80s @ 8 8pm 278
Friday SHR 90s @ 9 9pm 279
Friday Elaines Love Songs 10pm 280
Friday Elaines Love Songs 11pm 281
Friday Elaines Love Songs 12 Midnight 282
Friday SHR Overnight Zone 1am 283
Friday SHR Overnight Zone 2am 284
Friday SHR Overnight Zone 3am 285
Friday Early Breakfast 4am 286
Friday Early Breakfast 5am 287
Friday Early Breakfast 6am 288
Saturday Weekend Breakfast 7am 289
Saturday Weekend Breakfast 8am 290
Saturday Weekend Breakfast 9am 291
Saturday Weekend Mid Morning 10am 292
Saturday Weekend Mid Morning 11am 293
Saturday Lunchtime Classics 12 midday 294
Saturday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 295
Saturday SHR New Music 2pm 296
Saturday SHR Up Close & Personal 3pm 297
Saturday SHR Retro Years 4pm 298
Saturday SHR Retro Years 5pm 299
Saturday SHR Retro Years 6pm 300
Saturday Weekend Evening Show 7pm 301
Saturday Weekend Evening Show 8pm 302
Saturday Weekend Evening Show 9pm 303
Saturday SHR Things you cant play 10pm 304
Saturday SHR Things you cant play 11pm 305
Saturday SHR Through the Night 12 Midnight 306
Saturday SHR Through the Night 1am 307
Saturday SHR Through the Night 2am 308
Saturday SHR Through the Night 3am 309
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 4am 310
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 5am 311
Saturday Weekend Early Breakfast 6am 312
Sunday Weekend Breakfast 7am 313
Sunday Weekend Breakfast 8am 314
Sunday Weekend Breakfast 9am 315
Sunday Weekend Mid Morning 10am 316
Sunday Weekend Mid Morning 11am 317
Sunday Lunchtime Classics 12 midday 318
Sunday Lunchtime Classics 1pm 319
Sunday SHR New Music 2pm 320
Sunday SHR Up Close & Personal 3pm 321
Sunday SHR Retro Years 4pm 322
Sunday SHR Retro Years 5pm 323
Sunday SHR Retro Years 6pm 324
Sunday Weekend Evening Show 7pm 325
Sunday Weekend Evening Show 8pm 326
Sunday Weekend Evening Show 9pm 327
Sunday SHR Things you cant play 10pm 328
Sunday SHR Things you cant play 11pm 329
Sunday SHR Through the Night 12 Midnight 330
Sunday SHR Through the Night 1am 331
Sunday SHR Through the Night 2am 332
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 3am 333
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 4am 334
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 5am 335
Sunday Weekend Early Breakfast 6am 336
I guess from your format the easiest will be a script or scripts to load each hour by programme number (disposing of the rest of the filename)and then recycle the pattern.
I’m sure Torben will help or suggest a better way.
Yeah thats what i was hoping, instead of having filenames just numbering them and getting it to play them in the correct order then start from the beginning again, I hope someone can help me I would be very thankful
Yeah the scripts do scare me a bit, and also I have a feeling if I came up with a way I would spend hours on it and it wouldnt work properly and it would really wind me up. Thats why I would be really really thankful if someone can lend a hand and show me how the script should look, all it needs to do is load playlists each hour between 1 and 336 then start again, I would be really thankful if someone could script it for me.
I suggest a PM to Torben and follow his idea for naming the playlist in the standard he has already advised (Weekday-hour.m3u). This should simplify the coding.
The script would then each hour call for the next playlist
Certainly much simpler than creating an event for each hour.
Here (taken from the wiki) to get you going is an example of the coding: