[ale] CD ripping and maintaining album and track number

[Preston Boyington]

Jeff Hubbs wrote:
> I use Grip on Gentoo to go from CD to FLAC and I have my own Python 
> script that uses sox and lame to make MP3s.  So I have a pair of similar 
> directory trees, one with FLACs and MP3s (the latter when that's the 
> format of my original) and one with MP3s made from the FLACs and copies 
> of the original FLACs.  Something I'm not doing right and need to fix 
> (because my daughter gripes at me) is that I'm not handling track order 
> properly somewhere along the line...When a directory of songs 
> (representing an album) gets pulled into an iTunes library, I want to 
> have it where the songs will get grouped by album and the songs on each 
> album will play in the original order.  I've been doing it by starting 
> song names with track numbers (e.g., "01_tom_sawyer.mp3) but that screws 
> up browsing for songs by name on the iPhone and other devices.  Is there 
> a way I can I maintain track number info from CD to FLAC to MP3 or do I 
> need to have a more elaborate Grip configuration that makes FLACs and 
> MP3s at the same time?

easytag is your friend.  I've never used iTunes but converting a tag to 
filename and vice-versa is simple with EasyTag (there's an aac version also)

incidentally all my music is generally listed as:
artist_-_album_-_track_-_title

with the exception of compilations which are:
album_-_track_-_artist_-_title

it makes sorting very easy since I just dump all of the songs under the 
main folder:
Aerosmith
Audioslave
Boney James
Classical - Bach
Classical - Stravinsky
Galactic
Genesis
Godsmack
Monster Magnet
Soundtrack - Kingdom of Heaven
Soundtrack - Underworld
Waldo de los Rios
ZZ Top

(I _do_ separate soundtracks and compilations by adding "Soundtrack", 
"Christmas", or "Classical" to the name of compilation folders.  Again 
this is just for my directory sorting)

I don't use any sub-folders.

for me this helps keep my collection orderly.