Part IV. Multimedia / Chapter 10. Playing and Managing Your Music with Helix Banshee | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 9.6. For More Information | 10.2. Using Helix Banshee with Your iPod |  | |
Part IV. Multimedia / Chapter 10. Playing and Managing Your Music with Helix Banshee | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.6. For More Information | 10.2. Using Helix Banshee with Your iPod | | |
Contents
Helix* Banshee™ is a GNOME music management and playback application that lets you import CDs, sync your music collection to an iPod*, play music directly from an iPod, create playlists with songs from your library, and create audio and MP3 CDs from subsets of your library.
To access Helix Banshee, click +.
The first time you open Helix Banshee, you are prompted to accept a license agreement, after which you are prompted to import music. Choose an import source, such as your home directory, a local folder, or a local file, then click .
After successfully importing your music, your library is displayed.
You can use the library to do a variety of things, including playing, organizing, and importing music. You can also view a variety of information about your music collection, including playback statistics (when a song was last played and how many times).
To play a song, simply select the song in the library and click the
Play button (
).
Use the buttons on the upper left corner (
) to pause a song or play the next or previous
song. Use 
to adjust the volume. You can also use the items
on the menu to repeat or shuffle songs.
Helix Banshee also has an integrated CD player. When you insert a music CD, your CD title appears in the left panel. Select the title and click the Play button to play your full CD.
To create a new playlist, click + (or press Ctrl-N). A new playlist is displayed in the left panel. Double-click and enter the name you want. You can drag and drop songs from one playlist to another, or use the options on the menu to remove or delete songs and rename or delete playlists.You can sort a playlist by clicking the title of the column. Click the column again to reverse the sort. You can also right-click , then click .
You can edit the name of the artist, album, and title, as well as the track number and track count. Simply select a song, then click +. You can also rate your music, which gives you the option to only play songs with a certain rating, by selecting the number of stars you want to assign in the field.
If you want to set all fields in a group to the same value, select multiple songs in a playlist, then click +. Make the changes you want, then click . You can also use the and buttons to cycle through the selected songs.
Click the tab to view detailed information about the selected song, including when a song was last played, when the song was imported, how long the song is, and how many times the song has been played.
You can create playlists that automatically add and remove songs based on criteria you specify. For example, a smart playlist can contain songs you rated as five stars but that you haven’t listened to for six months. Another smart playlist can contain all songs published in 2006 that you have labeled with the Classical genre.
Helix Banshee automatically updates all smart playlists when a change is made to your music library. If you import new songs, Helix Banshee checks to see if they match any of your available smart playlists. When applicable, Helix Banshee also updates your smart playlists if you just listened to a song or updated a song’s metadata.
The first time you create a smart playlist, you need to enable the plug-in. You can then create a new smart playlist, choose from a list of predefined smart playlists, or create a smart playlist based on a current search.
In Helix Banshee, click +.
Specify a name for the smart playlist, then select the criteria for songs in this playlist to match.
 |
Use the plus and minus symbols to add or remove criteria. To use an already defined smart playlist, click , then select the playlist you want.
Click .
The smart playlist is added to your music library.
You can create a smart playlist based on search criteria. For example, if you search for all songs in your music library by a certain artist, Helix Banshee can create a smart playlist in which all songs by that artist are selected.
In Helix Banshee, click +.
Specify a name for the smart playlist, then specify the search criteria you want.
 |
Use the plus and minus symbols to add or remove criteria. To use an already defined smart playlist, click , then select the playlist you want.
Click .
The smart playlist is added to your music library.
