Introduction ============ Why MusicMuster? ---------------- In January 2022 I started my show on `Mixcloud `. Until then, my show had been on an internet radio station which required me to use a Windows playout system. As I only use Linux, I had to set up a Windows PC specifically for that purpose. The system I had to use had what I felt were shortcomings in various areas. Once I moved to Mixcloud I searched for a Linux equivalent that didn't have the same shortcomings but was unable to find one that met my criteria. I decided to see how practical it would be to write my own, and MusicMuster was born. What is MusicMuster? -------------------- It is a Linux-based music player. Whilst it could be used as a general home music player, there are much better applications for that role. **MusicMuster** has been specifically designed to support the production of live internet radio shows. Features -------- * Database backed * Can be almost entirely keyboard driven * Easily add new tracks to playlists * Show multiple playlists on tabs * Play tracks from any playlist * Add notes/comments to tracks on playlist * Automataic olour-coding of notes/comments according to content * Preview tracks before playing to audience * Time of day clock * Elapsed track time counter * Time to run until track starts to fade * Time to run until track is silent * Graphic of volume from 5 seconds (configurable) before fade until track is silent * Ability to hide played tracks in playlist * Buttone to drop playout volume by 3dB for talkover * Playlist displays: * Title * Artist * Length of track (mm:ss) * Estimated start time of track * Estimated end time of track * When track was last played * Bits per second (bps bitrate) of track * Length of silence in recording before music starts * Total track length of arbitrary sections of tracks * Commands that are sent to OBS Studio (eg, for automated scene changes) * Playlist templates * Move selected/unplayed tracks between playlists * Down CSV of played tracks between arbitrary dates/times * Search for tracks by title or artist * Automatic search of current/next track in Wikipedia * Optional search of selected track in Wikipedia * Optional search of selected track in Songfacts Requirements ------------ .. note:: MusicMuster has only been tested on Debian 12, "Bookworm"; however, it should run on most contemporary Linux systems. The :doc:`installation` page explains how to build MusicMuster in its own environment which will automatcally install all requirements except the database. The current version of MusicMuster uses MariaDB version 10.11; however, any recent version of MariaDB should suffice. MusicMuster is a Python 3 application and requires Python 3.8 or later. Feedback, bugs, etc ------------------- Please send to keith@midnighthax.com Keith Edmunds, July 2023