[bside123]

Greetings All,

The problem with having a respectfully sized record collection, which is certainly not as big as some of yours, is that many records don't get played and sadly, even more so, records in the collection get completely forgotten. Often it is even hard to pick which LP to play... believe it or not. 

I've recently begun a little game to keep my playlist fresh, recall what I have in my collection and to keep records in rotation. I've been cycling through my entire collection alphabetically... first I play an LP from the letter "A." The next disc gets played from the letter "B," and so on. When I get through the entire alphabet and all the categories, e.g., pop, rock, country, jazz, blues, etc., then I start from the beginning.

This quirky, little head game has had me actually look through my collection, get re-familiarized, spin LPs I haven't played in a long time... or well years for that matter, and has had me even pick records to get rid of... as I will probably never play them, they really aren't collectible and I don't care. This makes room for new LPs. Yay!

Of course, all rules are off if'n I'm in the mood for something in particular. Then, I spin what I like... when I can think of it.

I just noticed that so often, when choosing a LP, I would go "blank." I'd be standing there staring at the record shelf not really knowing what I have, what I want to play or what I'm in the mood for. Kinda like when your hungry and you don't really know what you want, so you go over to your 'fridge, open the door and stare into space. Nothing seems to hit the spot, even thought you're hungry for a snack. Lots of good food in there, nonetheless it's hard to pick. Maybe this never happens to you.

All of this is another good reason why I appreciate the AC threads such as:  "What LPs have you listened to recently?" "P-Mans "Rock and Roll" Vinyl LP page"    "Catch of the Day: Vinyl You've Recently Bought" and "What jazz ALBUM are you currently listening to?" etc. They help to keep things fresh and stimulate memories and ideas of what to play next.

I remember playing a similar game back in the days when FM radio first introduced free format, album play. Those days are sadly, long gone gone. The DJ would be spinning a tune (sometimes even a whole album side!), and I would think, "Ya know what would be just perfect as the next, follow-up song!?" Sure enough, he'd hit it, and I would have just demonstrated my telepathic powers... for a brief moment. 

What tricks do y'all use to keep familiar with your collection, rotate your records, keep your play list fresh, weed out unwanted vinyl, etc. OR... do you just say, "Screw it," and play music? 

[Devil Doc]

I use a similar system, but pick records from different shelves. I noticed that the bottom shelf records don't get played often. This forces me to bend over every 6 shelves or so.

Doc

[ArthurDent]

As we kind of knew, we are brothers of different mothers. Since I thinned out my collection back in the '80s to far less than you I still find I have that problem of what looks good What do I want to listen to I haven't heard in ages. Since my collection is rather limited I usually just choose the 'screw it' option and grab something. Given the amount of time currently available in the vinyl room, which is pretty limited due to work (which is good as it's nice to pay the bills), there are still many selections of that limited library that have yet to be played since the '80s. I just figure I'll get there eventually, then I'll have to start hitting the yard sales, and record shops as you, P-man, v_l, and many others do. Hopefully by that time there will still be some left, of course by then I'll probably be semi-retired and can just head east stopping at all my AC vinylphool friends and listen to their collections. 

[Elizabeth]

I pay attention to stuff when I am weeding to make room for new stuff.
I limit myself to what fit on shelves I own. I always find I own some cool thing i forgot all about while deciding what to toss..

[Don_S]

Dudes and Dudette,  Digital Music Server>Random Play>Problem Solved.   

[bside123]

Dudes and Dudette,  Digital Music Server>Random Play>Problem Solved.   

Geez... you're no fun. That would eliminate all of the hassle. 

[jimdgoulding]

Four albums filed under "T":

Robin Trower- Caravan to Midnight (Chrysalis);
Front 242- Headhunter (Wax Trax Records), well, 242 starts with a T;
Ralph Towner with Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette- Batik (ECM);
Bertram Turetzky compositions by Mingus, Joseph Julian, etc- New Music for Contrabass (Finnadar).

[LM]

My solution was fairly simple though a fair bit of work first up.  I catalogued mine.  I have two printed lists, one by genre and the other alphabetically.  If I'm in say a jazz mood, I troll through the genre list for a selection, if not I use the alphabetical by artist.

The reason I went to the trouble was I felt exactly as in the OP.  I don't have a huge collection, approx 600 albums, but once I'd gone past about the 100 mark (a long time back) where one could easily pull them out one at a time, browse through the whole lot in a few minutes and make a selection, I'd found I quickly lost track of what I had.  There was even an embarrassing moment where I bought and brought home a new record I'd wanted for some time only to discover I already had a copy I'd forgotten about.  I can't quite believe I've just admitted that!

CDs I've also catalogued though I have less of those and whilst they are easier to browse in a shelf than LPs, it's far nicer to go straight to the one I want in catalogue order and no duplicates.

[Wayner]

I have records stored in 4 different locations, 5 if you count CDs. The vinyl collection is split up with the favorites in the vinyl room, along with old rock classics (Zombies). In "the other room" are the seldom listened to stuff, like The Allman Brothers, Doobie Brothers, etc., all filed in alphabetical order (so I can find them).

The rotation is based solely on mood. Generally, If I feel like Genesis, I'll play two or three LPs and that is about it for that sitting. I always play both sides of a record. I too, seem to favor the top shelf and try to force myself to play from other shelves.

I don't think I could do the alphabetical playlist.

Wayner

[vinyl_guy]

Dudes and Dudette,  Digital Music Server>Random Play>Problem Solved.   

This is a Vinyl Circle thread so your suggestion is meaningless.

[Minn Mark]

Quote from: Don_S on 23 Sep 2013, 04:36 pm
Dudes and Dudette,  Digital Music Server>Random Play>Problem Solved.   

This is a Vinyl Circle thread so your suggestion is meaningless. Logged

+1

Mark

[vinyl_guy]

Din,

I fully understand your dilemma as I face it myself. Many times I stare at my 1,500 + or - collection and have no idea what to play. If I have some new records, I play them, but if I'm out of new records I draw a complete blank as though I had nothing to play. Many times I end up playing an old favorite or something I just played the week before.  I like your idea of starting in the A's and playing a record from each letter. My records are alphabetized by artist so this approach would work well for me. Since 100% of my collection is some form of rock, I don't have a category issue, it's all together alphabetically.

I also get ideas from postings in the various threads in this Circle which are much appreciated.

Laura

[J-Pak]

Has anyone here used collection software to catalog their vinyl? I can't really find one that is detailed enough for my use. I currently use a Google Docs spreadsheet, but it's not sexy... there's no album art 

[bside123]

Has anyone here used collection software to catalog their vinyl? I can't really find one that is detailed enough for my use. I currently use a Google Docs spreadsheet, but it's not sexy... there's no album art 

www.Discogs.com - works great, comprehensive, can be cross referenced, exportable, importable, etc.

[J-Pak]

www.Discogs.com - works great, comprehensive, can be cross referenced, exportable, importable, etc.

I will give it a try. I've used them in the past to look up information on pressings.

[bside123]

At this point, I have almost 1400 of my records inventoried on discogs. I still have quite a ways to go, but I ran out of steam, because it takes a big push to inventory a large record collection for the very first time. I intend to get back to it, but as this point, I make sure to immediately log every new purchase. The inventory is also accessible on a portable device such as an Android or iPhone. Handy when you're at a record store!

[pumpkinman]

www.Discogs.com - works great, comprehensive, can be cross referenced, exportable, importable, etc.

DaveyW suggested I do this about a year ago. But with all the records I have it's easier to occasionally duplicate an album
than to spend the hours necessary to log them all in. That and I'm lazy which doesn't help either. 

[J-Pak]

DaveyW suggested I do this about a year ago. But with all the records I have it's easier to occasionally duplicate an album
than to spend the hours necessary to log them all in. That and I'm lazy which doesn't help either. 

There is some sick perversion with cataloging stuff... see infamous scene from High Fidelity 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQvOnDlql5g