Automatic loop - it's not perfect

I have bought a new laptop where Windows XP was pre-installed and I successfully installed your program on that operation system. I have noticed that - even though I have set the end and the beginning of the loop very precisely - the program doesn't jump immediatly to the first marker. There is a little break listenable. I don't know how your program is asking for the data when and where to jump, but I've heard about the same problem with other programs. They usually can fix this problem when you change some data in the INI-file for the program, which may bring up another problem, but only if the overall performance of your PC is not very good. Since I don't have this problem (my laptop is running with 1 GHz, it has a fast hard disc and its main memory is 384 MB) I would like to ask you whether there is a way to change anything like the INI-file so that I won't hear this break anymore. I mean, usually it doesn't disturb too much, but for some pieces of music to break really sounds terrible.

Here's a few comments on this issue:

1. As it is, the CSDS program controls either the WinAmp player or the Microsoft Media Player. It does so by sending commands to those players to load music, set the track position, etc. Sometimes there is a delay from when CSDS sends the command to when the player receives and executes the command. This is what causes the 'jump'. If you don't yet have version 1.09.04, you should upgrade since a change was made to (yet again) minimize the (sometimes unavoidable) 'jump'.
2. I have future plans to try a several things that may fix the problem, the most ambitious of which, is to disassociate the music player portion of CSDS from CSDS itself, making it a separate program, with a higher system priority. I also have plans to try to bypass the players altogether and send commands directly to the sound card hardware via SDK/API commands.
3. I'm currently in the process of modifying how the program controls the Microsoft Media Player. I've found a way to significantly shorten the 'jump', but unfortunately, there are still a few bugs. An advantage of this new (yet unreleased) way is that the looping works correctly even when the tempo is changed.
4. You could try using Winamp instead of the Microsoft Media Player. Winamp is better at buffering the music, and the loop isn't often as noticable. Unfortunately, your loops may all have to be reset, since a loop set with the Microsoft Media Player may not sound well when played via Winamp and vice-versa.
5. CSDS has a 'manual loop reset' button (the rightmost large button in the music player, entitled 'Loop Reset'). This button is also accessible via the shortcut key 'L'. This function sets the track position to 'Loop start'. If you're having trouble with the 'jump' on a particular piece of music, you can press the 'L' key at the appropriate time (perhaps near the end of the music, while you've got the volume turned down low and you're delivering a call).
6. One caller discovered (to his delight), that upgrading the operating system with a new sound card driver solved his 'jump' problem.

Backing up the music database #1
How do I backup my music database?

1. Copy the *.DAT files from folder C:SQDATAMUSIC.
2. From the 'Edit Music Database' menu, select 'Tools | Export (dump database)'. This creates a textual listing of the database, which can be imported into CSDS via the 'Tools | Import' function.

Neither of the above ways actually backup your music (.mp3 or .wav) files. You must do that separately.

Backing up the music database #2
Now that I have done all the keying in of the song titles, labels and label #s and set all my bpms, how do I back this up to my external hard-drive so I don't have to go through this again should anything happen to my laptop? Is there a specific file to back up or do I back up the whole program? And do I need to include all the music files as well?

1. your music (mp3) files, your cue sheets, and lyrics.
2. the CSDS music database (C:\SQDATA\MUSIC.DAT)
3. the music genre flags (C:\SQDATA\MUSIC\FLAGS.DAT)
4. your sequences (C:\SQDATA\SEQ\*.SEQ)

Changing directory structure
I want to change the directory-structure of my computer and now I have a question: Is it possible to make changes in the music database with a program or do I have to change every single record?

In particular, the 'Edit Music Database' section has the following options under the 'Tools' menu:

1. Clear contents of database

Erases all data in the music database.
 

2. Dump contents of database

Creates a text file containing the entire contents of the music database.
 

3. Import from dump

Imports a previously dumped music database. This function adds data (without overwriting existing data) to the music database.

How to copy the music database from one computer to another computer with a different folder structure:

1. On the source computer, run CSDS, get into 'Edit Music Database', and do a 'Dump contents of database'.
2. Copy the music files (mp3 files) to the destination computer to the desired folder.
3. Copy the 'database dump' from the source computer to the destination computer.
4. On the destination computer, use a text editor such as WordPad or NotePad to edit the 'database dump'. Do not use a word processor such as Microsoft Word! Do a global replace to change the file pathnames so that they start with the desired folder. Exit the text editor and save the file.
5. On the destination computer, run CSDS, get into 'Edit Music Database', and do a 'Import from dump'.

Chronotron 3.1
I just purchased a new laptop and have reinstalled CSDS and the new WinAmp 5.03 ... I'm having trouble with speed control, tho ... I downloaded and installed Chronotron 3.1, but it's not helping. What to do next, my guru??

You can find them both at http://www.ceder.net/csds/ftp/

Chronotron II sounds distorted

My number one computer crashed and became unrepairable, so I got a new computer. On the computer that I lost, Winamp and Chronotron II worked perfectly. On my new computer, Chronotron II will not work all the time. It distorts the music so I have to go back to Pace Maker but that does not work with your program so I have to change the speed on every song. Then Winamp will close down with an error message about 3 -5 times a session.

1. From the WinAmp menu, select 'Options | Preferences';
2. Select 'DSP/Effect' and 'Chronotron II plug-in';
3. Press the 'Configure' button; a dialog box entitled 'Chronotron Parameters' is displayed.
4. Go to the 'Settings' tab, and try changing some of the options. I think the lower radio button is for 'slow' computers, and gets rid of the distortion.

Chronotron v3.12c
I downloaded Chronotron v3.12c and installed into winamp per instructions so I could change tempo. Start CSDS OK, but can't start the Music Player. Locks up CSDS and WinAmp and CSDS. Can't use CSDS at all now. Any ideas?

CSDS requires version 1 or II. You can get Chronotron II from http://www.ceder.net/csds/ftp/

BTW, most people use the PaceMaker plugin. It works a bit smoother.

Convert WAV files to MP3
What settings do you use when converting from WAV to MP3?

I don't use Cool Edit 2000 to convert into MP3. I use BladeEnc, which defaults to 64Kbps for Mono.

Copy music database to another computer #1
Is there a way to transfer the Music Database information from one computer to another?

Copy the entire folder to the destination computer. Note that this copies the music database only, not the music (mp3) files. They must be copied separately, and placed in the same folder structure as they were on the source computer.

Copy music database to another computer #2
How can I copy the data from the music data base on my desktop to the music data base on my laptop?

1. Copy the entire music folder to the other computer, assuming the other computer has the same folder structure. See http://www.ceder.net/faqdb/viewsingle.php?RecordId=190

   Or...

2. 1. On the source computer, Run CSDS;
   2. Select 'Music | Edit Music Database';
   3. Select 'Tools | Export';
   4. Save the file and copy it to the destination computer;
   5. Copy your music files, cue sheets, and lyrics to the destination computer, preferably in the exact same folder structure.
   6. If you've added new genre flags, you should also copy file c:\sqdata\music\flags.dat to the same location on the destination computer.
   7. On the destination computer, run CSDS;
   8. Select 'Music | Edit Music Database';
   9. Select 'Tools | Import' and enter the file created on the source computer.

In general, if you switch between using CSDS on two different computers, you should designate one computer as the primary computer (perhaps your laptop), and one computer as a secondary computer. Make all your changes on the primary computer, then copy them (as backup) to the other computer.

CSDS and WinAmp

I recently purchased a Fujitsu laptop with Vista Home Premium. I installed CSDS. I used this at a dance with the Windows API music player. Every thing worked. Not perfectly, but usable. I downloaded Winamp and the Chronotron plug-in. I started Winamp and installed the plug-in. It worked at it should. I then started CSDS and changed the music player to Winamp. When the Winamp starts, Chronotron is also started. It now goes into an infinite loop. The only way to gain control is to shut the laptop down and restart it. From this explanation are you able to determine anything? Have you run across this before?

Try changing the following CSDS setting:

System | Preferences... | Music(3) | Open Winamp via 'SendMessage'.

Try using PaceMaker instead of Chronotron.

Database - Adding Rows and Columns
I'd like to insert rows and columns in music data base and can't figure out how to.

Do you want to add a line of data? If so, from the CSDS main menu, select 'Music | Edit Music Database'. This will display the Edit Music Database window. Now select 'Edit | Add new music file(s)'. This will insert a row for each music file you select. You can then use 'Edit | Edit hightlighted item' or the 'Edit' (pencil) button to edit the current row.

Do you want to add extra columns to the music database? Extra columns can not be added to the music database (without me changing the program and/or structure of the music database). If you have a need for a new column, let me know about it, and I'll consider adding it.

On the other hand, you change the size and order of the columns. You can use the mouse on the column headers to change the size, and to drag a column to a new position. This functionality is also available from the menu via 'Display | Column position and sizes'.

The 'Genre Flags' column is designed to be used to mark music selections as belonging to specific categories. The default flags are 'Patter', 'Singing call', 'Round', 'Line', and 'Sing-along'. You can add about 25 more if you'd like. Typical categories might include 'gospel', 'holiday', 'vocals', 'key change', 'crowd exciter', 'singing calls to learn', 'jazz', 'showtune', etc. You can add new flags via the menu 'Edit | Music Flags...'.

For personal data that can not be easily described using 'Flags', use the 'Comments' field.

Deleting multiple items from the music database
Is there any way to delete all of the records under F8 Rounds at one time, with one easy stroke? I know that I can go to Music - Edit Music Database - then under the F9 Rounds tab, select the song - and remove item from database, one at a time, but this will be time consuming. Is there any way to select all of the songs and remove them from the list?

The 'best' way to delete a lot of items from the music database is to actually delete (or move) the music files on the disk, then do the following:

1. Start CSDS;
2. Go to Music | Edit Music Database;
3. Select 'Tools | File pathnames | Find non-existent files';
4. Check the second box, 'Remove database items where...';
5. Press OK and wait for completion;
6. Close the 'Edit Music Database' window, saving changes.

Error - MusicSetTempo - Sound Rate is out of range
After starting the music player I get this message: MusicSetTempo   Sound Rate (0) is out of range.   Sound Rate will be reset to 1. and the %tempo (controlls) will set to -25,0 I think, its not normal! But if I start the music player a second time I get this message: Run-time error '35600' index out of bounds and the program will be stoped. What shall I do?

Please make sure that you have the latest version of CSDS.

If upgrading CSDS does not resolve the problem, please send me more information. E.g., What version of Windows are you running (95, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP)? Which music player are you using (Microsoft Media Player or WinAmp)? What song are you trying to load? You might try removing the song from the music database, then re-inserting it back into the database. If you still have problems, send the music file to me as an E-mail attachment.

You should also clear the quick list and the history list, as the values in these files represent the music database values when the item was added to the list.

Go into 'Edit Music Database', Look at the '% Tempo' field FOR EACH PIECE OF MUSIC in the database and make sure that the field contains a valid value (-25.0 to 25.0). If a bad value is found, fix it. Save the Music Database.

I believe the problem you describe concerns the Microsoft Media Player and it's interaction with CSDS. Hence, you might try downloading and installing the latest version of the Media Player from the Microsoft Website. If this still doesn't fix the problem, we could try replacing your version of the system file MSDXM.OCX and see what happens.

This problem can probably be 'avoided' by switching to WinAmp as the player. If you decide to do this, be sure to download WinAmp version 2.x not 3.x from the WinAmp website, as CSDS does not yet work with version 3.x.

Export Music History List
I missed the export of the historylist as an excel-File. There is only an export for GEMA as short list with Titles and an export with titles and Last-Play-Time. Isn't an excel-export now possible? I use the comments in the lists with my own music number.

1. Open Music History list;
2. From the menu, select 'Grid | Customize';
3. Press the 'Export' button;
4. Select 'XLS' or 'XLSX';
5. Select an output filename;
6. Press the 'Export' button.

Flags - Can I add some more?

Is it possible to add some more "flags" so I can divide my Hoedowns and Singing calls tunes up into smaller groups. There is currently one flag for Hoedowns -- (P) Patter and two flags, I think, for Singing calls -- (S) Singing and (A) Sing along. Then there is one for Rounds (R) and one for Line Dances (L). I would like to be able to sort the tunes by "effect". For me, that would be something like "Rousers - Patter and Singing", Cruisers - both P and S, and possible a couple of others as spares. I was thinking that perhaps they could be labelled in the program as S1, S2, S3, P1, P2, P3 etc. which would enable each caller to subdivide his records according to his own ideas.

To add a flag,

1. go to Music | Edit Music Database.
2. do one of the following:
1. from the menu, select Flags | Edit Flags; or
2. click the 'Edit...' button immediately above the list of flags for the currently displayed record.
3. the 'Edit Music Flags' dialog box appears.
4. To add a flag, select an unused entry, enter the prose name for the flag, then enter a single character to be used to designate the flag.
5. The 'Clear' button to the right of each entry allows you to delete the flag.
6. When you're done, click the 'OK' button to save the changes.

In your case, I'd suggest adding the following flags:

Rouser -- "R" flag

Cruiser -- "C" flag

Note that the letter corresponding to the flag must be unique, so that, in the above case, if you added Rouser (R), then you'd have to give Rounds (R) a different letter.

Then, for your 'Patter Rouser' records, mark both the 'P' and the 'R' flags. For 'Singing Cruiers', mark both the 'S' and the 'C' flags.

You could also add a flag for seasonal or holiday records such as Christmas, Halloween, St. Patricks Days etc.

Other users add flags for categories such as 'Gospel', 'Rock', 'Country', 'Patriotic', etc.

Flags - How about adding a "V" flag?
How about adding the Flag "V" for Vocal? I recently started to buy records as mp3 from Hanhurst. I download either instrumental and vocal version and put both in the database.

1. Get into the 'Music | Edit Music Database' window;
2. From the menu, select 'Edit | Flags...' or press the 'Edit...' button located immediately above the right-side of the list of flags (in the edit frame).

CSDS initially supplies five flags:

• Patter (P)
• Singing call (S)
• Round (R)
• Line (L)
• Sing-A-Long (A)

You may add more, edit, or delete the above flags. However, it is not recommended that you change the Patter (P)' or 'Singing call (S)' flags -- they must have indices of 0 and 1 within the flag table.

Folder structure #1
I'm starting to record music and use the laptop at my dances (FINALLY!!). Any thoughts on directory structure? So far I've put an 'MP3' and a 'CueSheet' directory under the 'MUSIC' directory set up during your install. Any thoughts about organizing, backing up, etc.?

I use the following:

• C:\Sqdata\Mp3 -- contains my square dance MP3s
• C:\Sqdata\Non-Square Dance Mp3 -- contains my non-square dance MP3s
• C:\Sqdata\CueSheets -- contains the cue sheets.

Currently, it is easiest for the program to have all the cue sheets in the same folder, and all the music in another folder. But... do whatever you'd like, and whatever you think is easiest for backup.

For backup purposes for MP3 files, you only need to back them up once since they never change.

You should backup your Music Database (folder C:\Sqdata\Music) occasionally. Alternatively, you can use the 'backup feature' of the Music Database itself:

1. from the CSDS main menu, select 'Music | Edit Music Database'.
2. from the Edit Music Database window, select 'Tools | Export'.
3. the file created can (in the future) be 'imported' into the Music Database to restore it.

Folder structure #2
My laptop came with its 20GB hd partitioned into 2 10GB partitions. I've been putting all my MP3 files in the C: partition because of this statement in one of the FAQs: Currently, it is easiest for the program to have all the cue sheets in the same folder, and all the music in another folder. My question is what is the downside to starting to put new music over on the (nearly empty) D: partition.

As for cue sheets, and lyrics... if you download them from our web-based record database, CSDS will put all the cue sheets in one folder, and all the lyrics in another folder. Again, these folders are specified via 'System | Settings... | Folders'.

Hash vs. Singing

I would like to know how you seperate your hash mp3's from your singing call mp3's in your CSDS program. It' seems very time consuming going thru them at a dance to find a particular song and when I do, I have to go thru all the singers AND the hash records to find a hash record. Got any suggestions? I was wondering if the program could be installed twice and make one the hash and the other the singing calls or could two different data bases be set up? Not sure the best way to set it up. Give me some ideas if you would?

To solve your problem, you must

1. set 'Flags' in the music database; and
2. set and use 'Filter' buttons.

Flags:

In the 'Music | Edit Music Datababase' screen, there is a 'Flags' field. For each piece of music, you can mark it with certain flags. For hash records set the 'Patter (P)' flag; for singing calls set the 'Singing call (S)' flag. You can set more than one flag for a given piece of music. You can add more flags (max = 32) by clicking the 'Edit' button immediately above the list of flags. For example, I currently have 13 flags ('Big Band', 'Boogie Woogie', 'Exciter', 'Jazz', 'Line', 'New', 'Oldtime called', 'Patter', 'Popular', 'Round', 'Sing-A-Long', 'Singing call', and 'Singing calls to learn'). You could also add flags for 'Holiday tunes', 'Special Events', etc.

You need to go through all entries in the music database, setting the 'Patter (P)' flag for all your hash music, and setting the 'Singing call (S)' flag for all your singing calls. If a piece of music is used both for hash and singing, then set both flags.

Filter Buttons:

Filter buttons are located in a row near the top of the 'Edit Music Database', 'Load from Database', and 'Music Quick List' windows.

The first button is labeled 'F1 Filter...'. This button allows you to set filter buttons F2 thru F9.

The last button is labeled 'F10 All'. When this button is pressed, all music within the database or quick list is displayed.

Filter buttons F2 thru F9 display a subset of the database or quick list. For example, you could set F2 to display all your favorite hash music (e.g., 'Patter (P) + Rating=5 (Excellent)').

To set a filter button, press the 'F1 Filter...' button.

To set the F2 filter button to be 'Patter (P)', do the following:

1. Click on the 'Flags + Rating' tab;
2. In the left-side list box, select 'Patter (P)';
3. Press the '- (-)' button to turn off the secondary filter;
4. Press the 'set F2' button to set the F2 button to be 'Patter (P)'.

To set the F3 filter button to be 'Singing call (S)', do the following:

1. Click on the 'Flags + Rating' tab;
2. In the left-side list box, select 'Singing call (S)';
3. Press the '- (-)' button to turn off the secondary filter;
4. Press the 'set F3' button to set the F3 button to be 'Singing call (S)'.

Press the 'OK' button to exit the 'Music Filter' dialog box.

You can now press F2 to display all your hash music, or press F3 to display all your singing call music.

If you do not yet utilize the 'Quick List', you should experiment with it too. The Quick List is used as follows... Before the dance, go into the Music Database, and, one by one, highlight the music you wish to call at the dance and press the 'Quick Add' button. This adds the music to the quick list. When you're calling the dance, use the 'Quick List' instead of the 'Music Database' when you wish to load music.

How do I get my vinyl records into my computer?
How do I get a music file from my records into my computer as a music file? Does your program (CSDS) do that?

There are 4 choices for music editing software listed on our digital music page, http://www.ceder.net/digital_music.php

I recommend Sound Forge http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/Products/ShowProduct.asp?PID=868 or Goldwave http://www.goldwave.com/

I personally have CoolEdit2000 (no longer available) and Adobe Audition (pricey).

To record music, you basically follow these steps:

1. hook up your hilton to your computer. There's information at http://www.hiltonaudio.com/portable/digital_music_03.htm on how to do this.
2. run the music editor (e.g., Sound Forge, Goldwave, Adode Audition)
3. record the music
4. clean up the music (noise reduction, volume normalization, remove blank space at beginning and ending of record)
5. save the music as a mp3 (or wav) file

The next step is to load the music into CSDS.

1. Move all your music files into a folder. Preferably your music files should be named as follows: "