diff --git a/combine.sh b/combine.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8dc527b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/combine.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+shopt -s globstar
+
+path="/home/$(logname)/pikaraoke-songs"
+combined="/media/unified"
+drive_list="/home/$(logname)/pikaraoke/list"
+cache="/home/$(logname)/pikaraoke-songs/song_cache"
+#ensure directories and files exist
+if [[ -d $path ]]; then
+  echo "$path exists"
+else
+  sudo mkdir -p $path
+fi
+if [[ -d $combined ]]; then
+  echo "$combined exists"
+else
+  sudo mkdir -p $path
+fi
+
+#get a list of external devices
+lsblk -o NAME | grep sd[a-z][0-9] > $drive_list
+sed -i 's/^..//' $drive_list
+
+
+for drive in $(cat $drive_list); do
+  echo "combining drives"
+  sudo mount "/dev/$(basename $drive)" "/media/$(basename $drive)"
+  sudo mount --bind "/media/(basename $drive)" $combined
+done
+
+#run plocate and get a list of all song paths in the combined folder
+bash /home/$(logname)/pikaraoke/create_database.sh
+
+#add songs to ~/pikaraoke-songs
+while IFS= read -r song || [ -n "$song" ]; do
+  if [[ ! -e "$path/$(basename "$song")" ]]; then 
+    BASE=$(basename "$song")
+    ln -sf "$song" "/home/pi/pikaraoke-songs/$BASE"
+  fi
+done < <(cat "song_paths")
+echo "" > song_paths
+#ls $path > $cache
diff --git a/create_database.sh b/create_database.sh
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cd0d2e8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/create_database.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+#make an updatedb specifically for /media/unified
+sudo updatedb -l 0 -U /media/unified -o /home/$(logname)/pikaraoke/plocate.db
+plocate media/$(logname) | grep -E "\.(zip|cdg|mp3|mp4)$" > song_paths
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index ce8fc2b5..63820b35 100755
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ if [[ $(cat /etc/os-release | grep -i debian) != "" ]]; then
   sudo apt-get install ffmpeg -y
   sudo apt-get install chromium-browser -y
   sudo apt-get install chromium-chromedriver -y
+  sudo apt-get install plocate -y
   if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "ERROR: Binary dependency installation failed with error code: $?"; exit 1; fi
 else  
  echo "Client is not Debian-based. Skipping binary installation. Please install ffmpeg and chrome manually.";