How to get the apple loops metadata?

Hi guys,

 

I hope this is the right place to ask this question. I need some help in figuring out a way to put the apple loops metadata (tempo and key) in the filename. Here's the thing.

 

I want to use some apple loops in another DAW, but I want also to know their tempo and key. So, what I'm planning to do is a) convert the .caf to .wav b) write the tempo and key in the filename. I need help on the second part. Any idea how I can extract that info and convert the file with a new filename containing the key and tempo? I'm looking for a way to automate the process.

 

Thank you.

So you're asking for programming help to read an Apple loop file? There are docs on the format, pick your programming language of choice, and make a tool to extract the data you want. (Although this is out of the scope of the Logic forum, really.)

 

If you want to do it manually, then you can use Logic or another tool to inspect the Apple loop file, and manually rename the file with the data you need - if you only need to do a few, this will be good enough.

 

Otherwise, you'll want to make a tool to do what you want. I don't know of any batch renaming tools offhand that can read metadata out of audio files, but you might get lucky perhaps if you look around for audio related batch processing tools...

If you're a programmer, you may be interested in this script: https://github.com/jhorology/apple-loops-meta-reader

 

You can also type mdls in the Terminal then drag the loop (to paste its path), then press Enter, to lists its metadata (although I don't see any tempo information listed there):

 

Davids-MacBook-Air:~ david$ mdls /Library/Audio/Apple\ Loops/Apple/Jam\ Pack\ Rhythm\ Section/Thrash\ Drumset\ 05.caf 
_kMDItemOwnerUserID                    = 0
kMDItemAppleLoopDescriptors            = (
   Single,
   Part,
   Acoustic,
   Dry,
   Clean,
   Grooving
)
kMDItemAppleLoopsLoopMode              = "Non-Looping"
kMDItemAudioBitRate                    = 287455
kMDItemAudioChannelCount               = 2
kMDItemAudioSampleRate                 = 44100
kMDItemAuthors                         = (
   Apple
)
kMDItemContentCreationDate             = 2011-07-22 00:27:51 +0000
kMDItemContentCreationDate_Ranking     = 2011-07-22 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemContentModificationDate         = 2011-07-22 00:27:51 +0000
kMDItemContentType                     = "com.apple.coreaudio-format"
kMDItemContentTypeTree                 = (
   "com.apple.coreaudio-format",
   "public.item",
   "com.apple.coreaudio-format",
   "public.data",
   "public.audiovisual-content",
   "public.audio",
   "public.content"
)
kMDItemDateAdded                       = 2018-10-27 22:44:23 +0000
kMDItemDateAdded_Ranking               = 2018-10-27 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemDisplayName                     = "Thrash Drumset 05.caf"
kMDItemDurationSeconds                 = 2
kMDItemFSContentChangeDate             = 2011-07-22 00:27:51 +0000
kMDItemFSCreationDate                  = 2011-07-22 00:27:51 +0000
kMDItemFSCreatorCode                   = ""
kMDItemFSFinderFlags                   = 0
kMDItemFSHasCustomIcon                 = (null)
kMDItemFSInvisible                     = 0
kMDItemFSIsExtensionHidden             = 0
kMDItemFSIsStationery                  = (null)
kMDItemFSLabel                         = 0
kMDItemFSName                          = "Thrash Drumset 05.caf"
kMDItemFSNodeCount                     = (null)
kMDItemFSOwnerGroupID                  = 80
kMDItemFSOwnerUserID                   = 0
kMDItemFSSize                          = 78352
kMDItemFSTypeCode                      = ""
kMDItemInterestingDate_Ranking         = 2011-07-22 00:00:00 +0000
kMDItemInterestingDate_RankingRepaired = 1
kMDItemKind                            = "Apple Loop"
kMDItemLogicalSize                     = 78352
kMDItemMediaTypes                      = (
   Sound
)
kMDItemMusicalGenre                    = "Rock/Blues"
kMDItemMusicalInstrumentCategory       = "Drums"
kMDItemMusicalInstrumentName           = "Drum Kit"
kMDItemPhysicalSize                    = 81920
kMDItemTimeSignature                   = "4/4"
kMDItemTotalBitRate                    = 287455

I found that script, but I'm not a programmer. I was thinking if I can find a utility or something that could print out the header chunk, so I could use regex or any kind of filter to get the tempo and key info and put in the file name. BTW...what is mdls?

BTW...what is mdls?

A command to list the metadata of a file: https://ss64.com/osx/mdls.html

I found that script, but I'm not a programmer. I was thinking if I can find a utility or something that could print out the header chunk, so I could use regex or any kind of filter to get the tempo and key info and put in the file name. BTW...what is mdls?

 

Im not sure if you still around but have you found a way to do this?

I need to do the same since i want to use Logic's Apple Loops inside Bitwig Studio, what i want is just to convert whole Apple Loops library from CAF to WAV and add tempo and key information after the filename of each loop.

Hey. No luck. I wanted to do exactly the same thing as you, but I could not find a way.