Main Menu
One of the goals of Harmonium is for its interface to be immediately familiar to anyone
who has used a TiVo. By maintaining many of the same visual cues as TiVo and using remote
control keys in similar ways, TiVo users can begin using Harmonium with little fuss.
Browsing Music
Harmonium automatically sorts your music (using its ID3 tags) and arranges it so that it can
be browsed by album artist. Once an album artist is selected, you are provided a menu of albums
that have been released by that artist. Similarly, selecting an album displays
either the tracks on that album or the discs that make up that album (if the album is a
multi-disc set). On each screen, different sort orders can be configured (under Set Preferences)
for menu items. For example: Albums can be sorted either alphabetically or by the years that
they were released. Music tracks can be sorted either alphabetically or by their track numbers
(preserving the artist's intended presentation).
While you're browsing your music collection, the top of the screen is updated with information about the album that's being browsed. Album art supplies a visual cue that gives context to your browsing. Information about the album title, artist, and release year of your current selection is also provided to help guide you.
Playing Music
While music is being played, the Now Playing Screen is updated with information about the
currently playing
song. Large format album art is displayed along with album information. On high definition
televisions, Harmonium takes advantage of the high-def picture when displaying album art.
The currently playing song's title and
artist are also displayed along with a progress bar indicating the song's length and what
portion has been played.
Using Playlists
You can add individual tracks to a Harmonium playlist, or larger collections can be added
like an album or album artist.
Just browse to the the screen for the item you'd like to add (be sure to use the
Select button), and select Add to Playlist from the menu. The resulting screen will allow you
to add the music item to an already existing playlist, or to create a new playlist that
contains that music item.
You can browse your collection of playlists and choose one to play, or you can edit the properties of a playlist. Individual preferences can be configured for each playlist. Additionally, Harmonium playlists can be given a description, and they can be edited on screen if you choose to delete or reorder members of the playlist
