Skip from Shuffle for Spoken Word

August 8, 2006 2:11 PM

iPod/iTunes Filter: Is there a quick way to mark a large number of audio files (spoken word) as "Skip from Shuffle" in iTunes?

I am running iTunes 6 on Windows XP with an Ipod Nano.

I would like all my spoken word items to be de-selected from any shuffles but find I have to go into Get Info for each track.

Ideally this would just be on the "Multiple Selection" dialog box but for some reason it appears to not be present forcing an individual update.

Any options for me (eg scripting or is that only available on Mac?)

posted by pettins to technology (14 comments total)

Can you make a smart playlist in iTunes? File > New Smart Playlist > then sort by genre or keyword. You could de-select them from that list.
posted by interrobang at 2:30 PM on August 8, 2006

Or just make one of the conditions of your Smart Playlist "genre does not include spoken".
posted by agropyron at 3:13 PM on August 8, 2006

Assuming that (like me) you've not kept your genre fields particularly well maintained, you might be able to catch a good deal of the spoken word stuff by creating a Smart Playlist filtered on time. For example "Time is greater than 6:00", the thinking being that in general most songs are shorter and spoken word pieces longer. You can select all in that playlist, right-click and choose "Uncheck Selection" and then glance through it, re-checking the false-positives.
posted by verysleeping at 3:24 PM on August 8, 2006

Apologies - I didn't make my question clear.

It is the ability to mark the tracks as "skip when shuffling" (located on the options tab of the "Get Info" dialogue.

ie. I don't want to un-check the tracks as I want them on my Ipod, just that I only want to listen to them when I select them from a Playlist....I don't want them to appear when I do an all tracks shuffle.

Thanks for any other thoughts...
posted by pettins at 12:34 AM on August 9, 2006

pettins, I have a javascript that you can run - you highlight the tracks you want to skip, run the script, and the dialog box explains the rest. You want it (via email)?
posted by sjuhawk31 at 8:15 AM on August 9, 2006

What they're explaining is the way to do it - you were clear enough. It's how I do it myself

Make a smart playlist that includes all your tracks, except set one rule box to say "genre does not include podcast" (or audiobook, or spoken word - whatever you have your spoken word file genre listed as) - and simply play that smart playlist.

Example: I have a smart playlist called Shuffle that includes all my songs except classical music - when I want to listen to classical, which isn't often, mostly when I'm working on something else - I will select it. I don't want those songs popping up when I am just playing all my music. So my smart playlist says "Genre is not Classical." I just start this Shuffle playlist, and it plays all my files except the classical ones.
posted by IndigoRain at 8:20 AM on August 9, 2006

Indigo, I think the op wants the option to just go ahead and hit "Shuffle Songs" on the iPod menu instead of worrying about turning on the shuffle>>songs option every time he wants to visit that playlist and turn it back off when it's time to listen to a full album. I felt the same way and that's why I found the script that I offered. By using "Skip When Shuffling" I was able to re-include some individual Disney and Broadway songs that would have been excluded by a smart playliet.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 8:24 AM on August 9, 2006

Know what? For the sake of the community (I know how long it took me to find it), I'll post the script right here. Copy and paste it into Notepad and save as skipwhenshuffle.js, then run it.

var ITTrackKindFile = 1;
var iTunesApp = WScript.CreateObject("iTunes.Application");
var WShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell");
var tracks = iTunesApp.SelectedTracks;
var numTracks = tracks.Count;
var i;

var count = 0;

var confirmVar = WShell.Popup("\"Skip when shuffling\" checkbox option\n\n[Yes] to enable checkbox(es)\n[No] to disable checkbox(es)\n[Cancel] for no change", 0, "iTunes options checkbox control", 3+48)

switch(confirmVar) {
case 6:
var booleanTemp = true;
var booleanString = "Enabled \"Skip when shuffling\" in"
var continueBool = true;
break;
case 7:
var booleanTemp = false;
var booleanString = "Disabled \"Skip when shuffling\" in"
var continueBool = true;
break;
case 2:
WScript.Echo("No changes were made.");
var continueBool = false;
break;
}

if (continueBool) {
for (i = 1; i < numtracks; i++) { br> var currTrack = tracks.Item(i);
name = currTrack.Description;

currTrack.ExcludeFromShuffle = booleanTemp;
var temp = currTrack.ExcludeFromShuffle;

count++;
}
WScript.Echo (booleanString + " " + count + " tracks");
}

Don't credit me with the creation of the script...I got it from somewhere on iLounge but can't find it anymore.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 10:06 AM on August 9, 2006 [1 favorite]

sjuhawk31 - You are spot on. That is exactly the issue and the solution that I wanted.

Just one question - Do you know how I go about executing this in a windows (XP) environment?

(Excuse my ignorance - Its been a while since I was a developer in early 90s!)
posted by pettins at 10:30 AM on August 9, 2006

Yeah...when you save it as a .js file, right-click on it and select "Open With..." then browse to C:\Windows\system32\wscript.exe and make sure you check "always use this program for this type of file." I had a problem opening it at first becuase it wanted to default to open in my web publishing software. As long as you follow those instructions, you should be able to double-click and run it without problem every time.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 10:37 AM on August 9, 2006

Thanks sjuhawk31.

I get an error (Line 30, Char 39).

Any thoughts?

PS. Appreciate your help with this!
posted by pettins at 10:49 AM on August 9, 2006

Try saving this script the same way you did the other. There's a second checkbox it looks at (remember playback position) in addition to the "skip when shuffling" option. You can just hit "cancel" when that box pops up. I always do. The problem probably came for you because I tried to rewrite the script just for you - I'm no programmer, that's for sure.

Anyway, that should work. Make sure you've highlighted the songs in iTunes before you run it.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 11:17 AM on August 9, 2006

sjuhawk31 - You are a genius!

This is exactly what I was looking for and works like a dream!

Plus I somtimes want to check the "Remember Playback position" boxes as well so this is a real bonus.

I can feel a desire for other iTunes scripts but I guess I will discover these in due course when I need them.

Thanks again sjuhawk31 - Brilliant AskMeFier!
posted by pettins at 12:46 PM on August 9, 2006

Ha - very kind considering I've been here a week. That's the beauty of AskMe...you don't need to know anything, you just need to know where to go to get the answer. Luckily, I just went through the "Skip" process myself.

For more generally interesting scripts, visit Otto's iTunes Javascripts. He's got some cool ones. I haven't used all of them yet, but I'm confident they'll work.
posted by sjuhawk31 at 2:20 PM on August 9, 2006