[woodsyi]

I just spent a whole day reorganizing my classical records.  I had them sorted out by genre and alphabetized within each genre.  My wife complained that my classification of each genre was getting too esoteric and she couldn't find LPs anymore.  She wanted to find a copy of the Play of Daniel, a medieval liturgical drama.  I had it under vocal, non-operatic, religious.  She coudn't find it and asked me to alphabetize the whole damned thing so she can find what she wants like we do with pop and rock.  So here I am, destroying my system of deliniating vocal (opera and operettas vs. non-opera) Baroque, Romantic, Modern (separated by French, German and Slavic roots) postmodern etc. etc.  I liked my system better since I could go to a specific section to listen to a music that I was in the mood for without knowing what particular LP I wanted.  Now the more obsecure works won't come to my attention as much...  How do you sort your music?

[jeffreybehr]

I physically sort my classical and film-music stuff by composer 1st, then size of piece.  So the Brahms cello sonatas are on the left, then the concertos and Serenades, then the symphonies.

Collections are last on the shelves.

I'm with your wife--I'd go crazy trying to find anything in your system.  But we're all different, huh?!?!

But you asked how we catalog them.  I use MS access.  I built a table very easily and find it NOT burdensome to enter everything I buy.  I'll send you a copy of the file if you wish.

[Gordy]

I only have about 300 or so classical recordings, so alphabetical by composer is still very practical!  About six months ago I condensed all my other genre's into, basically, one mega grouping I refer to as pop/rock and includes jazz, blues, rock, folk, singer/songwriter... anything generally referred to as 'popular' music.  I only have one other grouping now, which includes world,ethnic,new age, space, ambient and, um, etc.  There are a lot of blurred lines, but it's all catalogued on a cross referenced, but dated, software system "Keep Trak".  Someday I really need to upgrade to one of the barcode scanning/internet linked systems  

I also have a couple hundred cd's that lay about in wood crates and boxes as there's no room at the inn.  Time for another cabinet...

[woodsyi]

I physically sort my classical and film-music stuff by composer 1st, then size of piece.  So the Brahms cello sonatas are on the left, then the concertos and Serenades, then the symphonies.  Collections are last on the shelves.

Well, I do that with each composer as well.  It's just that I like to keep similar music together -- it leads to listening to albums that wouldn't ordinarily pop into your head.  I would appreciate a copy of the table.  Thanks.

[woodsyi]

I only have about 300 or so classical recordings, so alphabetical by composer is still very practical!  About six months ago I condensed all my other genre's into, basically, one mega grouping I refer to as pop/rock and includes jazz, blues, rock, folk, singer/songwriter... anything generally referred to as 'popular' music.  I only have one other grouping now, which includes world,ethnic,new age, space, ambient and, um, etc.  There are a lot of blurred lines, but it's all catalogued on a cross referenced, b ...

Cross referenced catalogue -- that's what I need.  As of now, I have alphabetized Classical Vocal,  medieval and Baroque instrumental, Post-Baroque instrumental, Rock-pop, Country/bluegrass and Jazz/blues. I just can't imagine combining more......

[PhilNYC]

For me, the ones I play a lot are on top, and the ones I don't are on the bottom.  If I buy new ones, they sometimes go on top, too.

 

[Joules]

For me, the ones I play a lot are on top, and the ones I don't are on the bottom. If I buy new ones, they sometimes go on top, too.

Hear Hear !!!  

[Gordy]

Here is one of the catalog systems I was considering... http://www.collectorz.com/music/buynow.php   Since upgrading to a new system would basically be starting all over again, I really find the bar scan feature attractive.  I'm getting way lazy in my old age...

edit: Here's a host of info  
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Multimedia/Music_and_Audio/Software/Collection_Catalogers/

[bubba966]

I keep all of my media in an alphabetical order so that it's easier to find exactly what I want to watch.

I personally find genre style filing to be annoying as things often fit into more than one category. And one persons idea of where it should be placed is frequently different than another persons. Makes it a bitch to find things...

[MaxCast]

I use a 4'x6' shelf and group by genre.  cross genre go on the shelves in between.  Grouped by artist.
I go up to the rack with a genre in mind, scan the whole row(s) then go back and grab a couple selections.

For some reason I still have my HiRez stuff separate.

...and I can't wait till I find the bastard who leaves the stacks of CD on my equipment rack.

[woodsyi]

I use a 4'x6' shelf and group by genre.  cross genre go on the shelves in between.  Grouped by artist.
I go up to the rack with a genre in mind, scan the whole row(s) then go back and grab a couple selections.

I knew I wasn't the only one who sort things out by genre.  Max, what genres do you have?  I apparently was getting a little too quixotic with subgenres even though I thought it made perfect sense for me.  For example, Nutcracker would be Classical, post baroque, russoslavic, Tchaikovsky, ballet. Now all classical are alphabetized. The main genres for me are opera, classical, rock/pop, country/bluegrass/folk and  jazz/blues/gospel.  Any body remember High Fidelity?

[MaxCast]

I use a very braud classifications

Classical- all classical, opera, ballet

jazz-classical, fussion, mainstream, female jazz singers.  some modern jazz at the end.

blues- blues, jazzy blues, contemporary artists from years back, folk

Rock-what remains of my hard rock, classic rock, top 40.

I find this very easy to walk up the rack go to the area I'm in the mood for and make a selection.

What I find interesting is sometimes I force myself to pick something (in the same genre) I really wasn't interested in listening to.  10 minutes later I'm glad I picked it...

[woodsyi]

I find this very easy to walk up the rack go to the area I'm in the mood for and make a selection.

What I find interesting is sometimes I force myself to pick something (in the same genre) I really wasn't interested in listening to.  10 minutes later I'm glad I picked it...

Exactly.  You can browse a genre and pick a music you haven't heard in a while or one you haven't heard at all.  After you play it you wonder why you don't listen to it more often.  Alphabetized is good if someone other than you want to find a specific album but genre sorting often delievers fascinating serendipitious music.

[Dave G]

I'm resurrecting this thread because I bet I'm not the only one who is organizing my collection differently with my Squeezebox than I did with my CDs.  I didn't bother responding to Woodsyi's initial post because I have my CDs broken out into just three broad categories -- classical, New Age (sorry, but we listen to a lot of that stuff), and everything else.  With the Squeezebox and the genre>artist>album subfolder system in the Music Folder on my hard drive, I find that it's easier to comprehend my collection and then to organize it the way that works best for me.  And the bonus I hadn't anticipated is how easy it has been to REorganize my collection, which I've done a few times since I started ripping my CDs.  

Anyhow, I currently recognize the following genres:  1) classical-instrumental, 2) classical-vocal, 3)country-including Newgrass, 4) jazz, 5) New Age, and 6) rock,folk, etc.  These are then further divided by artist and album, except that the "artist" for classical music is the composer.  I'm thinking of breaking folk music out of the rock-folk, etc. genre if I can ever figure out how to deal with artists like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell who started out as folk artists but then changed into something else.  

My CD collection?  It's in chaos, since I've been too busy enjoying my Squeezebox to put it back in order after taking everything out to be ripped.

Dave

[Gordy]

I have my CDs broken out into just three broad categories -- classical, New Age (sorry, but we listen to a lot of that stuff), and everything else.

That is exactly how I've mine now...

I'm thinking of breaking folk music out of the rock-folk, etc. genre if I can ever figure out how to deal with artists like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell who started out as folk artists but then changed into something else.

That's why I'm leaving things as they are, it just gets too confusing for me and I'm forever playing catch-up with cabinets and shelving as it is... subdividing even more would require a seperate library room which I just don't have...  

I guess I'm just not understanding how genre grouping adds to serendipitious music any better than an alphabetical one???  Personally, I find scanning quite easy this way...

On the electronic front, Santa did bring me one of these http://www.collectorz.com/music/ which really helps to satisfy my anal craving to sort and classify my collection   Eventually I want to upload my collection to a web page and link it here in my signature.  For educational purposes only, of course!

I've heard the SB's a few times now, including Vinnie's system in Denver, and I'm very impressed, but I'm just to old fashioned and untrusting of HD's to go that route.  Maybe when somebody comes up with a flash card that can hold 2-3k uncompressed cd's I'll revisit my thoughts/decision  

[miklorsmith]

One of my 16-month-old girl's favorite pasttimes is pulling all the CD's out of the rack, by the handful.

Thus, my CD's are in no order whatsoever.  She's very cute and I let her do it, but it can be frustrating.  Can't wait for my Squeezebox.

[Dave G]

Gordy wrote:

Dave G wrote:
I'm thinking of breaking folk music out of the rock-folk, etc. genre if I can ever figure out how to deal with artists like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell who started out as folk artists but then changed into something else.  


That's why I'm leaving things as they are, it just gets too confusing for me and I'm forever playing catch-up with cabinets and shelving as it is... subdividing even more would require a seperate library room which I just don't have...  

I couldn't agree more about reorganizing a CD collection.  Every time I've had the urge to do this over the last few years, it would go away as soon as I thought about what would be involved.  But with the Squeezebox, it's just a matter of creating new folders -- for instance, when I broke my classical music out into instrumental and vocal, all I had to do was rename the "classical" folder "classical-instrumental," create a new folder "classical-vocal," and then move the vocal files over to the new folder.  Took less than 5 minutes.  With CDs I would just never get around to it.  Of course none of this is a reason by itself to get a Squeezebox, but it's a pleasant side benefit I had not anticipated at all.

Miklorsmith:  I had to laugh about your little one's CD-grabbing habit.  Our youngest, now 9 years old, did the same thing to the books in our study back when she was a toddler and I STILL haven't put them all back in order!

Dave