MPD: A versatile demon for music.

Hi good day. Let's talk about the versatile MPD: Music Player Daemon by its original name in English.

According to the ArchLinux Wiki, MPD is an audio player that handles a server-client architecture. MPD runs in the background as a daemon, manages playlists and a database, and uses very few resources. To use a graphical interface, an additional client is required.

Once it is explained what MPD is, I proceed to tell you how it is installed, and configured to be able to play your music. Personally, I think it is a great service, due to the breadth of forms of use, and above all because of its low consumption.

MPD Installation

1 ° We proceed to update and install the necessary packages:

sudo pacman -Syu && sudo pacman -S mpd mpc ncmpcpp sonata

Clarification: I have chosen, other than my own mpd, a graphical client, Sonata (GTK) and ncmpcpp, via terminal.

2 ° Once installed we are going to configure and create some folders that we need.

sudo {su_editor} /etc/mpd.conf

We look for the following lines, and replace them with our configurations:

music_directory         "/home/tu_usuario/Music"
playlist_directory "/home/tu_usuario/.mpd/playlists"
db_file "/home/tu_usuario/.mpd/tag_cache"
log_file "/home/tu_usuario/.mpd/log"
error_file "/home/tu_usuario/.mpd/errors.log"
pid_file "/home/tu_usuario/.mpd/pid"
state_file "/home/tu_usuario/.mpd/state”

Now it's time to configure the user. We only have to change the user line of the mpd.conf by the corresponding username.

If they are users of Alsa, they must uncomment the following lines:

audio_output {
type "alsa"
name "My ALSA Device"
options "dev=dmixer"
device "plug:dmix" # optional
format "44100:16:2" # optional
mixer_type "software" # optional
mixer_device "default" # optional
mixer_control "PCM" # optional
mixer_index "0" # optional
}

We save and close the mpd.conf and we assign the corresponding permissions:

sudo chmod 644 /etc/mpd.conf

3rd Touch create the required folders.

mkdir ~/.mpd
mkdir ~/.mpd/playlists

Then we create the necessary files so that MPD works correctly.

touch ~/.mpd/tag_cache
touch ~/.mpd/log
touch ~/.mpd/errors.log
touch ~/.mpd/pid
touch ~/.mpd/state

And finally, it's time to launch the mpd demon. Of course, it can then be added to rc.conf.

sudo rc.d start mpd

Sonata

Now with sonata it is very easy. We execute it, we right click on any site:

Once that is done, we save and close the configuration, go to the "Library" tab and you should see the music collection. If it is not seen, restart the program.

NCMPCPP

First of all, we need to configure the main ncmpcpp file:

sudo {su_editor} /usr/share/doc/ncmpcpp/config

And we just have to change the following lines

mpd_host “localhost”
mpd_port “6600”
mpd_music_dir “/home/tu_usuario/Music” ##Ejemplo

We save and close.

We create the corresponding folder in our home.

mkdir /home/tu_usuario/.ncmpcpp

touch /home/tu_usuario/.ncmpcpp/config

Where we will create the corresponding configuration file.

mpd_music_dir = "/home/tu_usuario/Music"
playlist_display_mode = "columns"
song_status_format = "%t{ - %a}{ - %b}{ (%y)}"
song_window_title_format = "MPD: {%a - }{%t}|{%f}"
song_columns_list_format = "(7)[green]{l} (35)[white]{t} (28)[green]{a} (28)[white]{b}"
user_interface = "alternative"
progressbar_look = "-|-"
display_screens_numbers_on_start = "no"
allow_physical_files_deletion = "no"
allow_physical_directories_deletion = "no"
colors_enabled = "yes"
progressbar_color = "green"
volume_color = "greeen"
header_window_color = "green"
main_window_color = "green"
#now_playing_prefix = "$b$u"
#now_playing_suffix = "$/b$/u"

Once the. You can change the configuration to your liking, we save and close.

Touch run ncmpcpp.. If you in the console, simply put the command:

ncmpcpp

Using ncmpcpp:

1. First we clean the playlist with the «c» key (so that there are no repeated songs)
2. Then we press «3» to go to the browser tab
3. We press «v» to select all
4. We press «shift + a» and it will open a new menu
5. Then we give "current MPD playlist" (first option)
6. Finally we select «At the end of playilst»

That is all for now. I hope you liked it and above all that it is useful to you. It will be until next time.

Ivan!

PS: This is my first installment and I hope you know how to apologize if I have done something wrong.