From: Andreas Haferburg <ndhmail_at_gmx.de>
Date: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 09:08:38 +0100

Hi all,

I'd like to write a plugin to display lyrics. Unsynced or, if sync info is
available, synced. I'd like to have additional functionality to set/reset the
timestamps for synced lyrics.

I'm not yet sure whether I should use id3v2 frames or an external txt file. There
are two i3d2 frames for lyrics, one, ULT, for unsynced, and SLT for synced.

So here's my user story (summary below, skip if boring :)
------------------------
Once I have the lyrics, say, in a text file, I want a simple way to link them to
my mp3s. I could use a tag editor (like Tag&Rename) to copypaste the lyrics to
the tags. My Tag&Rename doesn't seem to support the SLT field, ULT only. Or I
could provide a CoolSong.txt file for my CoolSong.mp3. Or a lyrics.txt for the
entire album/dir.

Then I want a simple way to set the time stamps. Either I use another piece of
software on my PC, or there's a neat little plugin for my Archos that let's me do
this. :) I favor the plugin approach.

When I play my CoolSong.mp3 on the JukeBox, I press, say, Menu+On (I have a
Player) to enter Lyrics-Mode. The screen shows the first line of the song. I
press (+) to scroll down. When I press Play, it inserts a blank line to show
instead of the last line that appears on the screen, just to satisfy my strong
aesthetic standards. :) I hit Stop(return to WPS) and let the track replay. Since
I have in my WPS.cfg the new tags to show synched lyrics, it displays and scrolls
the lyrics how I "recorded" it, i.e. set the timestamps.

Now I realize that some lines are shown to early, so I go to Lyrics-Mode again.
It automatically scrolls the lines, as recorded before. When I encouter a line
that shows too early, I hit (-) to reset the timestamp for that line. Then I'm
happy. :D

Maybe there's even a button combination for fast forward and rewind( On+(+) and
On+(-) ). And some option to reset all timestamps. And some to make the last
displayed word join the next displayed text unit(i.e. move the newline char).
------------------------

Feature summary for Player:
In WPS:
 Menu+On -> enter Lyrics Mode iff there are lyrics
In Lyrics Mode:
 (+) -> scroll down, set timestamp
 (-) -> reset timestamp for displayed text
 Play -> replace last non-empty displayed line by empty line
 Stop -> back to WPS, save timestamps
 hold On+(+) -> fast forward
 hold On+(-) -> rewind
 On+Play -> make last displayed word join text displayed next
 On+Stop -> Ask to delete all timestamps, Play=Yes, other=No


Now for the implementation details:
Are there any people out there, who already USE lyrics? How?
Are there programs that support synced lyrics? If so, how? (Asking because of
compatibility)

I found "MP3 Manager". Uses lyrics3, an expansion of (alternative to?) id3.
Shareware, Win32 only.
http://www.volweb.cz/str/index.htm

"Lyrics Plugin for winamp" + "Lyrics Editor" by Alon Gingold, editor is ok,
plugin not so(1st impression). Free, but AFAIK not open source. Win32 only. Uses
lyrics3.
http://www.hiker.org.il/lyrics.htm


So:
id3v2 seems reasonable at the first look, but not practical at all. (CS prof at
work? o_O)

lyrics3 may be better, but needs an external program.

I personally favor an external txt file approach, because it's simple(Joe User
can use notepad). [mm:ss] tags (plain text) could be used: Not THAT annoying +
transparent(!!). Downside would be disk cluttering?

Feedback? :)

Best regards
Andreas Haferburg

P.S.: BTW THANKS A LOT for Rockbox! One of the reasons I bought an Archos. Since
v2.1 it's just perfect, everything I need. No more track skipping on low battery
+ Queueable dirs = thx. Great work! <3
Received on 2003-12-22