Playing random Groups - upplay

[Pastim]

(14-11-2015 17:32)simoncn Wrote:  

(14-11-2015 17:26)Pastim Wrote:  There is now a Control Point (CP) that can, in addition to being able to play random single tracks, play random minimserver Groups.

See upplay at http://www.lesbonscomptes.com/upplay/

My Groups are, generally speaking, complete Classical Works (for some longer works they are Acts or Parts). So I can now play random concerti, symphonies, and so on.

Previously I could only do this with LMS (the squeezebox server), which is a rather complex beast - wonderful but hard work. Being able to do this with minimserver means I can, for instance, play random Works by Perahia, or random Works that I have rated at 80, or random Oboe Concerti, and so on. The combination of minimserver's flexibility in indexing and upplay's ability to randomise Groups (or tracks) at any index level, gives me fantastic flexibility.

upplay started as a linux CP, but is now also available on Windows. It's simple, with a very clean interface. I like it a lot. Strongly recommended.

Thanks for this pointer. Can upplay also play random albums?

It plays whatever is in the third column of the detailed track listing (reached when you have gone through all the indices). This is either an Album or a Group. In my case it is a concatenation of Album and Group (where present) so that a Group name common to different Albums (eg. a Symphony name) is treated as a unique Group. So it will play my non-Grouped Pop albums randomly (but within order in each album).

It can be slow when there are a lot of tracks to inspect. So if you pick a Genre that has thousands of tracks it takes a while. If you click on the same Genre and then select the "xyz Albums" entry for 'random play by group' it's a lot quicker. If you have any suggestions for the developer please contact him via the website.