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So... what does party shuffle actually DO?

post #1 of 21
4/28/04 at 7:35pm
Thread Starter 
Maybe I'm just hvaing a brain fart, but I can't really figure out exactly what party shuffle does, why it's awesome (is it??), and how it's different from another playlist. Can someone explain this to me like I'm a 4-year-old?
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27" 3.06 GHz iMac

16 GB iPhone 4
80 GB iPod Classic
1 GB 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle

Apple TV (2nd gen)
Apple TV (1st gen 40 GB)
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post #2 of 21
4/28/04 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally posted by tetzel1517
Maybe I'm just hvaing a brain fart, but I can't really figure out exactly what party shuffle does, why it's awesome (is it??), and how it's different from another playlist. Can someone explain this to me like I'm a 4-year-old?

It allows you to see songs that were played, and will be played. You can customize how many of each you see, and also you can remove songs if you don't want to hear them because you can see them ahead of time.
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post #3 of 21
4/28/04 at 7:58pm
Thread Starter 
OK, I guess it's the "will be played" part that's throwing me off... is it just randomly selecting the songs that will be played, or is it actually basing that on something?

And I still don't get what practical application this function has.
27" 3.06 GHz iMac

16 GB iPhone 4
80 GB iPod Classic
1 GB 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle

Apple TV (2nd gen)
Apple TV (1st gen 40 GB)
AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11n)
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27" 3.06 GHz iMac

16 GB iPhone 4
80 GB iPod Classic
1 GB 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle

Apple TV (2nd gen)
Apple TV (1st gen 40 GB)
AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11n)
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post #4 of 21
4/28/04 at 8:54pm
I love this feature. I have a pretty big library (3000+ songs) and sometimes its hard to get myself listening to a variety of stuff. Sometiems i forgot about older songs, etc.

I created a smart playlist that contains all of my songs with a playcount of more than 2 and set the partymix to take songs only from that playlist. Now it randomly selects songs that i obvoiusly like and often songs i wouldn't have thought to listen to before. It also allows me to see whats coming, and if i see songs i dont' feel like, i can just delete them.

I guess its more or less a beefed up form of random play. Either way, it lets me be lazy, and anything that does that is a welcome feature!
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post #5 of 21
4/28/04 at 8:55pm
Quote:
Originally posted by tetzel1517
OK, I guess it's the "will be played" part that's throwing me off... is it just randomly selecting the songs that will be played, or is it actually basing that on something?

And I still don't get what practical application this function has.

If you set "upcoming songs" to zero, you can then drag songs into the playlist in the order you want. Of course you can do this with normal playlists but Party Shuffle sounds cooler.
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post #6 of 21
4/29/04 at 1:20am
It's not really the party playlist screen that is the big change, it's the fact that you can go to the main library and right-click on songs and cue them up to play after the current song, or at the end of the current party playlist. Obviously if you're at a "party" you don't want to be rude and interrupt the flow of music to put something else on.

This is similar to how Winamp and many similar non-library PC audio apps work (except better).
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post #7 of 21
4/29/04 at 7:25am
keep in mind the 'party' part. It's designed to be a quick playlist, one that you don't have to necessarily labor over. This way you don't mess up any of your other playlists
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post #8 of 21
4/29/04 at 8:03am
Most importantly, with Party Shuffle, once the tracks have been playing after initial setup, the current song stays in the same location (say, always the 5th item in the list) and the songs march up as they are played - a new random song appearing at the bottom and the oldest song being dropped from the top.

Whereas the old way, a traditional playlist, if you set it for random, the current track would hope around madly often offscreen where you'd need to scroll around to find it. The new way, the current song is in a static, reliable, useful location.

Party Shuffle should become everyone's preferred/default method to play a playlist randomly, since it's so easy to choose them.

Now all we need "folders" in the left pane to tidy up all the playlists.
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post #9 of 21
4/29/04 at 9:18am
its better for listening purposes

my current party shuffle is running )
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post #10 of 21
4/29/04 at 9:20am
HERE'S THE CATCH, albeit not a big one:

You MUST start a song INSIDE the Party Shuffle window for the whole process to begin. Simply selecting a song in the library and playing it, then going to the P.S. won't work.

So if you're setting up music before a party or just want to listen to whatever, load your regular or smart playlist in the drop-down at the bottom of the Party Shuffle and then start the first song from within that window. From that point on it's all good! You can then go through and do whatever you want to the P.S. playlist and iTunes will oblige.

I guess the best way to think about it is as a 21st century digital juke box with a much bigger library and a VERY dynamic album selection with added playlists from which to choose.
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post #11 of 21
4/29/04 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
OK... now I'm starting to get it. It sounds like a feature though that people will come up with some pretty creative uses for once it's explored a little further. Y'all are a pretty creative bunch, so I'm looking forward to that.
27" 3.06 GHz iMac

16 GB iPhone 4
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1 GB 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle

Apple TV (2nd gen)
Apple TV (1st gen 40 GB)
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27" 3.06 GHz iMac

16 GB iPhone 4
80 GB iPod Classic
1 GB 2nd Gen iPod Shuffle

Apple TV (2nd gen)
Apple TV (1st gen 40 GB)
AirPort Extreme Base Station (802.11n)
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post #12 of 21
4/29/04 at 8:44pm
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Am I the only one that wishes that this was more juke box and less playlist?
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post #13 of 21
4/30/04 at 3:25am
If you think about it in a 'party' context as well I think it's nice that if someone hears a song they don't recognise and want to know what it is, they can find out if they check the list within a reasonable time fron it being played, before it dropd off the top of the list.
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post #14 of 21
4/30/04 at 5:54am
Quote:
Originally posted by tetzel1517
Maybe I'm just hvaing a brain fart, but I can't really figure out exactly what party shuffle does

Thank God! Thought I was the only one
This "feature" has me baffled! Been mucking around with it a bit and can't seem to find any use for this feature at all, confusing is one word for it!
I was trying to get a party shuffle of songs together from different albums I've stored but all I seem to get is a sh!t load of songs playing in order from the same albums instead of one or two from various playlists in order of selection. When I try to delete a song it just ends up at the bottom of the list again. What am I doing wrong

Think I will just drag and drop my selections into an ordinary playlist and forget about P>S.
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post #15 of 21
4/30/04 at 6:02am
On a related note, if you're gonna be using iTunes at a party, it'd be kinda nice to lock people out of i) accessing the rest of your Mac/PC, and ii) deleting or otherwise tampering with your music/playlists. That way people could poke around and cue up songs they wanted on your Mac.

Any ideas how this can be done?

J.
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post #16 of 21
4/30/04 at 8:02am
Well, if it's true that music libraries can be shared among users now, you could do all or some of the following:

Create a new non-admin user on the Mac for the purposes of public use. Maximize the iTunes window on screen and remove any unnecessary menu icons, dock icons, etc. that you don't want people fooling with. Copy your existing playlists from your normal user account into this one. Make whatever specific new ones that you want. After all that, start the music!

Following those steps, people can't mess with your system, and if they change playlists it's no skin off your back because your original playlists are still preserved in your own user account.

It's worth a shot.
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post #17 of 21
4/30/04 at 8:06am
You can also restrict which applications may be used. So you could have a user (say, called "jukebox") that may run only iTunes.
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post #18 of 21
4/30/04 at 2:55pm
It also helps to use Party Playlists if you open it in a seperate window (double-click the icon, works for normal playlists too) and then remove all columns but but the song title and artist name.

edit: I should have said why this is a good idea. So that you can work with both the library and party playlist at the same time.
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post #19 of 21
4/30/04 at 4:00pm
Quote:
Originally posted by CosmoNut
Well, if it's true that music libraries can be shared among users now, you could do all or some of the following:

Create a new non-admin user on the Mac for the purposes of public use. Maximize the iTunes window on screen and remove any unnecessary menu icons, dock icons, etc. that you don't want people fooling with. Copy your existing playlists from your normal user account into this one. Make whatever specific new ones that you want. After all that, start the music!

Following those steps, people can't mess with your system, and if they change playlists it's no skin off your back because your original playlists are still preserved in your own user account.

It's worth a shot.

Great idea, CosmoNut....but then for some reason I think that fast user switching is the greatest thing since sliced cinnamon bread.

It took me awhile to figure out how Party saved time too, but one thing that would be useful...won't it keep track of songs each time it is used so as you remove songs and add songs, you slowly evolve a really great party mix. But then again it took me a long time to figure out how to make good smart playlists using and/or logic with multiple playlists.
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post #20 of 21
4/30/04 at 10:02pm
Great thread - some really useful ideas/input here.

CosmoNut: that's a perfect example of how the Mac can truly be the digital hub... if only Apple would advertise the sheer elegance/simplicity/usefulness and "safety" of running a Mac like this at a party setting! [I](with apologies to pscates for stealing his thunder about Apple's advertising practices) [/I ]

MacGregor: if it does keep track of the songs we remove and add, then you are right it will slowly evolve to an "optimum" party mix. Cool!
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post #21 of 21
4/30/04 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally posted by MiMac
Thank God! Thought I was the only one
This "feature" has me baffled! Been mucking around with it a bit and can't seem to find any use for this feature at all, confusing is one word for it!
I was trying to get a party shuffle of songs together from different albums I've stored but all I seem to get is a sh!t load of songs playing in order from the same albums instead of one or two from various playlists in order of selection. When I try to delete a song it just ends up at the bottom of the list again. What am I doing wrong

Think I will just drag and drop my selections into an ordinary playlist and forget about P>S.


?????????

Your loss.
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