My Bootleg Processing Process for the Mac

I’m going to do a fuller treatment of this on GFMorris.com, with screenshots, soon, but here’s my process on the Mac:

  1. Take the downloaded bootleg [FLAC, SHN, etc.] on CD and pop it in the Mac.
  2. Use Quicksilver to invoke xACT.
  3. Decode the files from the CD into a folder in Documents/Audio/xACT Decoded Files in the AIFF format. This folder is a temporary waypoint in my process. [I've taken to using AIFF over WAV because, on rare opportunities, I've had issues getting WAVs to save, but have never had a single issue with AIFFs.]
  4. When xACT is complete, go to the appropriate folder in Finder, select all the files, and drag and drop into iTunes’s Library. [I always ensure to drop them right into the Library.]
  5. Scroll to the bottom, where I can quickly tag Artist, Year, Title, Total Tracks, Disc Number, Total Discs, and Genre [for which I always use "Concert Bootleg" to help with my Smart Playlists].
  6. Find the files where they now are in the Library, iTunes having renamed them as well. [Yes, I let iTunes rename my files. I'm okay with it.] Title the tracks if I’m feeling generous.
  7. Copy the AIFFs into as many 80-minute CDs as it takes to get the whole bootleg burned. Good tapers will help you track these out and tell you where to do your splits.
  8. After making audio CDs, run the process to convert all the boots to AAC. [I have an iPod nano, and space is at a premium. I might enjoy ALAC, but ... you know? Who cares.]
  9. Add album art, if any.
  10. Use iEatBrainz to fix the metadata from MusicBrainz’s database. [Often, I'm the one who input the bootleg into MB in the first place. I do a lot of that. It makes me feel good. No, really.]

That’s the process. It’s long and laborious, but at this point, it’s pretty automatic, so I can do a bunch of other things while working on this. And yes, I use Tasks to handle the process, which keeps me on track of where I am. I have a template that I invoke from the moment I first see a bootleg I want to grab. It lets me be sure that I’ve done every step along the way. More on that at a later date.]

Posted July 30th, 2006 in Religion by Geof F. Morris. Tagged: .

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