MusicBrainz Picard Tagging & Naming Scripts

• Naming Scripts
  • ultimate: General Naming Script
    • Tangling
    • Note about indentation
    • Summary
    • Features
    • Usage
    • Variables and Functions
      • Multi-disc release check
      • Track number padding
      • Media format information on album directory name
      • Get release type
      • Get artist initial
      • Various Artists root directory
      • Get release year
      • Get album name truncated
      • Check if %albumartist% is Various Artists
      • Check for special vinyl track numbering
      • Output only album artist or first from the multiple value field
      • Get channels number if more than 2
      • Get either vinyl or normal track numbers
      • Track title truncated
      • Disc subtitle
    • General Format / Directory Structure
    • Various Artists Format / Directory Structure
    • Replace special characters and multiple spaces
    • Output
    • Credits
    • Cool References

Naming Scripts

ultimate: General Naming Script

Tangling

"Tangling" is an Org Mode feature that extracts code blocks into a target file, see the :header-args: metadata for this section.

Also, "noweb" variables are used between << and >>, noweb variables are expanded on the target file applying the contents of the referred to code block.

Note about indentation

NOTE: Indentation is done using TABs and NEWLINEs because even though
Picard doesn't seem to delete them, they should be ignored by
filesystems anyway.

Likewise any SPACE character seen in the script DOES matter and goes
to the final filename, if not held by an if statement.

$noop(
		<<indentation-note>>
)

Summary

This script is used to organize and format the file names of audio tracks in MusicBrainz Picard, a free and open-source software tool for organizing and formatting audio file metadata.

This is the third iteration from an old script.

Features

• Formats track numbers and disc numbers with leading zeros to ensure proper sorting
• Includes media formats and/or extensions in the filepath, including DSD, SACD, and Vinyl
• Allows for customization with compartmentalized variables
• Includes logic for handling tracks by various artists

Usage

To use this script in MusicBrainz Picard, follow these steps:

1. Open MusicBrainz Picard and select the tracks you want to rename.
2. Go to Options in menu bar, then click Options from dropdown menu

1. Select the "File Naming" tab
2. Click the Edit file naming script button and add this naming script.

Variables and Functions

The script includes several variables and functions for formatting metadata fields, such as the artist name, album title, track number, and disc number:

Multi-disc release check

This checks if the current release is a part of multiple discs release, add it to the album directory name with a padded number if necessary.

$set(checkPadDiscNumber
	,$if2(
		$if($gte(%totaldiscs%,10000),	$if(%discnumber%, \(Disc $num(%discnumber%,5)\)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaldiscs%,1000),	$if(%discnumber%, \(Disc $num(%discnumber%,4)\)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaldiscs%,100),	$if(%discnumber%, \(Disc $num(%discnumber%,3)\)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaldiscs%,10),		$if(%discnumber%, \(Disc $num(%discnumber%,2)\)),)
		,$if($gt(%totaldiscs%,1),		$if(%discnumber%, \(Disc $num(%discnumber%,1)\)),)
	)
)

Track number padding

Similar to Multi-disc release check but it always adds the track number with at least a padding of 2, e.g. "05".

$set(checkPadTrackNumber
	,$if2(
		$if(%_paddedtracknumber%,%_paddedtracknumber%)
		,$if($gte(%totaltracks%,10000),	$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,5)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaltracks%,1000),	$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,4)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaltracks%,100),	$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,3)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaltracks%,10),	$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,2)),)
		,$if($gte(%totaltracks%,1),		$if(%tracknumber%,$num(%tracknumber%,2)),)
	)
)

Media format information on album directory name

Adds extension and media format information to the album name, including:

• sampling rate
• bit-depth
• extension
• special media (Vinyl, SACD, DSD)

$set(mediaFormatSpec
	$noop(DSD is always '1bit' so only output this if greater than 1)
	,$if($gt(%_bits_per_sample%,1),%_bits_per_sample%bit )
	$noop(#TODO: Fix Opus output here:)
	$div(%_sample_rate%,1000)$if($ne($mod(%_sample_rate%,1000),0),.$left($mod(%_sample_rate%,1000),1))kHz
	$if($not($eq_any(%_extension%,dsf,dff,dsd)),$upper( %_extension%))
	$if($in(%media%,Vinyl), Vinyl)
	$noop(Output this before SACD because there are Vinyl rips recorded in DSD)
	$if($eq_any(%_extension%,dsf,dff,dsd), DSD)
	$if($in(%media%,SACD), SACD)
)

• Note: I use a special/custom tag for tracking albums that are not in MusicBrainz's databases. Here the following line can be added to append a marker string to the album directory name:

  if($eq(%NOT_ON_MUSICBRAINZ_DB%,true), #NOTONMBDB)
  

Get release type

Check if release type is single to append that to file naming

$set(getReleaseType
		,$if($eq(%releasetype%,single),\(Single\))
		$if($eq(%releasetype%,ep),\(EP\))
)

Get artist initial

$set(getInitial
	,$upper($left($if2(%albumartist%,%artist%),1))
)

Various Artists root directory

Check if %albumartist% is Various Artists to use that as the artist root directory for releases that are such.

$set(getVariousArtistsRoot
	,$if($eq(%albumartist%,Various Artists),Various Artists)
)

Get release year

Returns the first value of either %originalyear%, %originaldate% or %date%.

$set(getReleaseYear
	,$if2(
		$if(%originalyear%,$left(%originalyear%,4))
		,$if(%originaldate%,$left(%originaldate%,4))
		,$if(%date%,$left(%date%,4))
	)
)

Get album name truncated

Truncates the album name from %album%.

$noop( limit album name output to 120 characters )
$set(getAlbumNameTruncated
	,$left( $replace(%album%,/,), 120)
)

Check if %albumartist% is Various Artists

$set(notVariousArtists
	,$ne(%albumartist%,Various Artists)
)

Check for special vinyl track numbering

Vinyl releases usually use a SIDE>TRACKNUMBER format like A1, A2, and B3, B4.

$set(checkVinylTrackNumber
	,$if($and($in(%media%,Vinyl),%_musicbrainz_tracknumber%),%_musicbrainz_tracknumber%)
)

Output only album artist or first from the multiple value field

Gets the first value of either %albumartist% or, %artist% and if it is a multiple-artists field choose the first value, up untill the standard separator ";".

$set(getAlbumArtist
	,$if2(
		$noop(This searches for the first multiple artist separator `;' and truncates after it:)
		$left($if2(%albumartist%,%artist%),$find($if2(%albumartist%,%artist%),;))
		,$if2(%albumartist%,%artist%)
	)
)

Get channels number if more than 2

$set(getMultiChannels
	,$if($gt(%_channels%,2), %_channels%Ch)
)

Get either vinyl or normal track numbers

Complimentary of Check for special vinyl track numbering and Track number padding.

$set(getTrackNumber
	,$if2(%checkVinylTrackNumber%,%checkPadTrackNumber%)
)

Track title truncated

$set(getTitleTruncated
	,$left(%title%,120)
)

Disc subtitle

Some releases have a "disc subtitle" that specify location or work.

$set(getDiscSubtitle
	,$if(%discsubtitle%,\(%discsubtitle%\))
)

General Format / Directory Structure

$set(generalFormat
	,%getInitial%
	/
	%getAlbumArtist%
	/
	[%getReleaseYear%] %getAlbumNameTruncated% %getReleaseType% %checkPadDiscNumber% %getDiscSubtitle% [%mediaFormatSpec%]%getMultiChannels%
	/
	%getTrackNumber%. %getTitleTruncated%
)

Various Artists Format / Directory Structure

$set(variousArtistsFormat
	,[%getVariousArtistsRoot%]
	/
	%getAlbumNameTruncated% %checkPadDiscNumber% [%getReleaseYear%] [%mediaFormatSpec%]%getMultiChannels%
	/
	%getTrackNumber%. %getTitleTruncated%
)

Replace special characters and multiple spaces

The following $rreplace functions delete special chars if replacing with unicode variants using the built-in plug-in failed. Also replace double or more spaces with just one.

$set(rreplacePattern,[:?"_*\\]+)

$set(VASanitized
	,$rreplace($rreplace(%variousArtistsFormat%,%rreplacePattern%,),\\s+, )
)

$set(generalSanitized
	,$rreplace($rreplace(%generalFormat%,%rreplacePattern%,),\\s+, )
)

Output

Final format for the directory structure, obsfuscated by the variables that store it.

$if(%notVariousArtists%
	,%generalSanitized%
	,%VASanitized%
)

Credits

• Adapted from thebradleys' naming script: Repository for neat file name string patterns and tagger script snippets#4
• Influenced by Fatal-Picard-Script: rickeymandraque/Fatal-Picard-Script/nocomment.picard

Cool References

• rdswift/picard-scripts