What does your collection look like and how do you organize it?

[vandermolen]

I can't talk for CDs but for LPs it is practically always a sub-label, so Decca - Ace of Diamonds - Ace of Clubs - World Of, and so on.
I know for example Ansermet recorded for Decca and releases on all the sub-labels so relatively simple to locate the recording I am looking for. Also, if I want an Ansermet binge, or anyone else, it is convenient to have them all in the same place.

I like the idea of an Ansermet binge Lol. I also regularly buy CDs that I already own 

[Irons]

I like the idea of an Ansermet binge Lol. I also regularly by CDs that I already own 

[MusicTurner]

My collection is organized alphabetically after composer's names and secondarily after genre.

So for instance under Beethoven there are these genres:
1. Piano concertos 2. Violin and double concertos. 3. Symphonies 4. String Quartets 5. Other chamber music. 6. Missa Solemnis  7. Solo piano music.

I have ca. 2000 cds in IKEA's "Gnedby" shelves. On top of the Gnedby shelves I have fixed a long wooden board so that I can pile up box-sets all the way to the ceiling.

A much delayed "very nice" !

[Fëanor]

This how my collection is organized in practice ...

My entire collection is digitized to lossless FLAC or ALAC format and store (mainly) by performer and album on my Synology NAS where it can be accessed by any device with network access.

However the OS folder organization is fairly irrelevant because I methodically add or correct metadata which is what I use to find what I want via my Foobar2000 music player.

[accmacmus]

A mess. I started with the usual «by period» which is fine when you have few recordings. The more the collection grows and the more I feel I should have done that alphabetically + some sort of paper index «by period».

[Que]

A mess. I started with the usual «by period» which is fine when you have few recordings. The more the collection grows and the more I feel I should have done that alphabetically + some sort of paper index «by period».

That's the way to go IMO. 

I started out alphabetically by composer + instrunental & vocal recitals by performer.
After the collection grew and I developed a taste for Early Music & Baroque, I subdivided into periods, and the latter categories also on region (English, Franco-Flemish, Austro-German, Italian, etc.)

Q

[Biffo]

That's the way to go IMO. 

I started out alphabetically by composer + instrunental & vocal recitals by performer.
After the collection grew and I developed a taste for Early Music & Baroque, I subdivided into periods, and the latter categories also on region (English, Franco-Flemish, Austro-German, Italian, etc.)

Q

This is the nearest to my rather ramshackle dis-organisation. At first I just arranged my LPs chronologically, I always thought having them in alphabetical order pretty useless, even when I had far fewer discs than now.

Perversely, my downloads are in alphabetical order only - for the moment

[Pohjolas Daughter]

I realized today whilst struggling to put away some Bach and Beethoven, that the way that I have things set up/stacked, that the case is too high.  Well, it wouldn't be that bad if I hadn't decided to put CDs on TOP OF THE SHELVING UNIT.  Most of them are in smaller cardboard boxes (to keep them from falling over), but man, are they ever hard to see what is what, grab the boxes down to add something to them, etc.!     Must talk to friend soon to see if he might be able to help me devise a better setup.  He's handy with carpentry!     My other cases are just as bad (though in one area, I've put bigger boxed sets:  one area is alpha by composer, then followed by sets of musicians.  These at least are easier to read up high.

Nice problem to have, I know.  Shouldn't complain!

PD

[Mirror Image]

I realized today whilst struggling to put away some Bach and Beethoven, that the way that I have things set up/stacked, that the case is too high.  Well, it wouldn't be that bad if I hadn't decided to put CDs on TOP OF THE SHELVING UNIT.  Most of them are in smaller cardboard boxes (to keep them from falling over), but man, are they ever hard to see what is what, grab the boxes down to add something to them, etc.!     Must talk to friend soon to see if he might be able to help me devise a better setup.  He's handy with carpentry!     My other cases are just as bad (though in one area, I've put bigger boxed sets:  one area is alpha by composer, then followed by sets of musicians.  These at least are easier to read up high.

Nice problem to have, I know.  Shouldn't complain!

PD

At least you have your collection put up on a shelf (even if they are on top of the shelf), you're already halfway there. The majority of my classical recordings are in our basement in large plastic Rubbermaid-like containers. From picking over these for a couple of years now, I have a general idea what's in each container, but it's still annoying. Basically, our basement has turned into a storage facility. There's heaps of audio equipment down there along with DVDs/blu-rays films/TV box sets and there's a separate room for guitars and for us (my dad and I) to play together.

[BWV 1080]

Keeping your digital files on pieces of plastic is dumb

[Pohjolas Daughter]

At least you have your collection put up on a shelf (even if they are on top of the shelf), you're already halfway there. The majority of my classical recordings are in our basement in large plastic Rubbermaid-like containers. From picking over these for a couple of years now, I have a general idea what's in each container, but it's still annoying. Basically, our basement has turned into a storage facility. There's heaps of audio equipment down there along with DVDs/blu-rays films/TV box sets and there's a separate room for guitars and for us (my dad and I) to play together.

I trust that you have a dry basement and run a dehumidifier or a/c?   

Well, that's just part of my music collection.  And I've basically turned many of my book shelves into CD shelves.  Verdi is a bit hard to get to and my bluegrass/country/folk/Cajun/blues are in awkward spot in a cabinet behind a speaker, so I have to carefully slide speaker forward (over old uneven floor) to get in there.  And rock/pop are in a separate area too.  BTW, to get to the top of my cases (and also in the pop/rock area) I have to use a stepstool....not a really tall one, but I foresee future troubles there! 

So, how can we turn your basement into (I don't want to call it a 'Man Cave') but more of a recreation room with decent cabinets or wall shelving so that you can have all of your music out?  Does Dad have his down there too?  And a comfy area for you two to play together?  The equipment sounds like fun, but (and don't shoot me for this) do you regularly use all of it?  Or, if so, possibly a better way to store it?  And maybe a bit of a purge through old VHS/DVDs, etc.  And no, I won't go there...I can already here you wailing, so I'll stop now. 

Best wishes,

PD

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Keeping your digital files on pieces of plastic is dumb

How compressed are the Amazon music files BWV?  And do they include all of the liner notes and librettos?

PD

[Mirror Image]

I trust that you have a dry basement and run a dehumidifier or a/c?   

Well, that's just part of my music collection.  And I've basically turned many of my book shelves into CD shelves.  Verdi is a bit hard to get to and my bluegrass/country/folk/Cajun/blues are in awkward spot in a cabinet behind a speaker, so I have to carefully slide speaker forward (over old uneven floor) to get in there.  And rock/pop are in a separate area too.  BTW, to get to the top of my cases (and also in the pop/rock area) I have to use a stepstool....not a really tall one, but I foresee future troubles there! 

So, how can we turn your basement into (I don't want to call it a 'Man Cave') but more of a recreation room with decent cabinets or wall shelving so that you can have all of your music out?  Does Dad have his down there too?  And a comfy area for you two to play together?  The equipment sounds like fun, but (and don't shoot me for this) do you regularly use all of it?  Or, if so, possibly a better way to store it?  And maybe a bit of a purge through old VHS/DVDs, etc.  And no, I won't go there...I can already here you wailing, so I'll stop now. 

Best wishes,

PD

Yes, I imagine if you continue to use a stepstool that there will be a bit trouble later on, which is why it'd be a good idea to get all of those CDs off from the top shelf. A 'man cave', eh? That sounds like a great idea, but the only problem is my dad isn't a spring chicken anymore and isn't as active as he used to be and I certainly can't lift some of these boxes by myself plus I don't know what he wants to do with all of this audio equipment that he's not using. It's just sitting there and he's such a pack rat and hoarder, that it would be difficult for him to part with any of it. I'm afraid I'm in a rock in a hard place. As for our music room, oh yes, there's no problems playing in this room --- we have chairs down there and my dad has a work bench so he can do some guitar repairs and so forth. Also, yes, there's AC down there and we run a dehumidifier as well, which I empty out on a daily basis. Georgia summers are quite unforgiving so we also have a dehumidifier upstairs in addition to several fans that we run throughout the day. Even thought we have central heat and air, it still does get warm in the house, but thankfully nothing like it would without it.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes, I imagine if you continue to use a stepstool that there will be a bit trouble later on, which is why it'd be a good idea to get all of those CDs off from the top shelf. A 'man cave', eh? That sounds like a great idea, but the only problem is my dad isn't a spring chicken anymore and isn't as active as he used to be and I certainly can't lift some of these boxes by myself plus I don't know what he wants to do with all of this audio equipment that he's not using. It's just sitting there and he's such a pack rat and hoarder, that it would be difficult for him to part with any of it. I'm afraid I'm in a rock in a hard place. As for our music room, oh yes, there's no problems playing in this room --- we have chairs down there and my dad has a work bench so he can do some guitar repairs and so forth. Also, yes, there's AC down there and we run a dehumidifier as well, which I empty out on a daily basis. Georgia summers are quite unforgiving so we also have a dehumidifier upstairs in addition to several fans that we run throughout the day. Even thought we have central heat and air, it still does get warm in here, but thankfully nothing like it would be without it.

So, it's your father's old audio equipment?  Neat!  Did he use to perform?  And that's cool that he knows how to do guitar repairs too!  In any event, well, perhaps you might get him thinking about what he might be able to do with extra money (selling some of the things that he doesn't use anymore)...maybe give him some ideas of what you could turn the basement into?  Maybe frame some special photos of his with his instruments and/or earlier days of him playing them and/or performances? And/or the two of you playing together? And put those up in the basement after a bit of going through stuff.  Give it a nice paint job/sprucing up first. Other thoughts:  passing along or selling equipment to someone else who really wants it and wants to use it gives a second life to the equipment and joy to the person using it?  Just some thoughts.  Also, maybe once things get better re Covid, you can deal with some of the heavier boxes?  Or find some means of using a dolly and or planks, etc., to help move things?

Anyway, sorry, hope that I'm not being too intrusive....just trying to help a bit.

Sorting through stuff here at this end too...sometimes too much of a good thing is a bad thing. 

Best wishes,

PD

[Mirror Image]

So, it's your father's old audio equipment?  Neat!  Did he use to perform?  And that's cool that he knows how to do guitar repairs too!  In any event, well, perhaps you might get him thinking about what he might be able to do with extra money (selling some of the things that he doesn't use anymore)...maybe give him some ideas of what you could turn the basement into?  Maybe frame some special photos of his with his instruments and/or earlier days of him playing them and/or performances? And/or the two of you playing together? And put those up in the basement after a bit of going through stuff.  Give it a nice paint job/sprucing up first. Other thoughts:  passing along or selling equipment to someone else who really wants it and wants to use it gives a second life to the equipment and joy to the person using it?  Just some thoughts.  Also, maybe once things get better re Covid, you can deal with some of the heavier boxes?  Or find some means of using a dolly and or planks, etc., to help move things?

Anyway, sorry, hope that I'm not being too intrusive....just trying to help a bit.

Sorting through stuff here at this end too...sometimes too much of a good thing is a bad thing. 

Best wishes,

PD

Some very fine suggestions. Actually, my dad and I have talked about having some kind of housing unit built with central heat/air just outside of the house and we would turn this into a 'man cave', but I don't foresee this happening until this pandemic is over with, which doesn't look like there's an end in sight right now...sigh. Once we can hire a contractor to build this addition to the house and have everything painted inside and outside, floors installed, etc. then we'll start moving some stuff --- in fact, we'll probably just hire some movers to get it out of there. The smaller stuff we can handle ourselves. But, like I said, once COVID is officially over with, we're not going to be doing a whole lot home improvements unless it's absolutely necessary. Yes, too much of a good thing can turn into something that is quite an ordeal. Thankfully, we can get to most of our stuff in the basement. I mean it's not like there are stacks of stuff reaching to the height of the celling.

[Mirror Image]

Keeping your digital files on pieces of plastic is dumb

Not nearly as dumb as keeping them on a hard drive. Plus, I like reading liner notes and looking at the cover art. You can't touch a music file.

[Mirror Image]

How compressed are the Amazon music files BWV?  And do they include all of the liner notes and librettos?

PD

I wouldn't worry about too much about what this member says as he probably thinks LPs are dumb, too.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Some very fine suggestions. Actually, my dad and I have talked about having some kind of housing unit built with central heat/air just outside of the house and we would turn this into a 'man cave', but I don't foresee this happening until this pandemic is over with, which doesn't look like there's an end in sight right now...sigh. Once we can hire a contractor to build this addition to the house and have everything painted inside and outside, floors installed, etc. then we'll start moving some stuff --- in fact, we'll probably just hire some movers to get it out of there. The smaller stuff we can handle ourselves. But, like I said, once COVID is officially over with, we're not going to be doing a whole lot home improvements unless it's absolutely necessary. Yes, too much of a good thing can turn into something that is quite an ordeal. Thankfully, we can get to most of our stuff in the basement. I mean it's not like there are stacks of stuff reaching to the height of the celling.

One question:  you said that your dad was a packrat, etc.  Is this addition really necessary?  Or would going through things (possibly throughout the house) and letting go of some of it, and also the basement be a better first step?  And then give a re-think to an addition.  You might still want to do it...perhaps sunnier, airier, etc.?  Just a thought.... 

PD

[Mirror Image]

One question:  you said that your dad was a packrat, etc.  Is this addition really necessary?  Or would going through things (possibly throughout the house) and letting go of some of it, and also the basement be a better first step?  And then give a re-think to an addition.  You might still want to do it...perhaps sunnier, airier, etc.?  Just a thought.... 

PD

Well, perhaps 'packrat' wasn't completely fair (or accurate), but I do feel he could let some of his things go, but who am I to tell him what to do with stuff that he bought with is own money? We still are considering that new addition because this is something that both of my parents have talked about for quite some time: 1. my mom would get her basement back and 2. my dad and I would have a place of our own to spend time in. So really it's a win/win for all of us. There would be no doubt that once all of this stuff is out of the basement that we'll repaint it and get it back into looking like it did before all of our stuff started to accumulate.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Well, perhaps 'packrat' wasn't completely fair (or accurate), but I do feel he could let some of his things go, but who am I to tell him what to do with stuff that he bought with is own money? We still are considering that new addition because this is something both of parents have talked about for quite some time: 1. my mom would get her basement back and 2. my dad and I would have a place of our own to spend time in. So really it's a win/win for all of us. There would be no doubt that once all of this stuff is out of the basement that we'll repaint it and get it back into looking like it did before all of our stuff started to accumulate.

Oh, now I understand.  I had thought that you were living 'just' with an elderly father.  And, yes, it's your father's decision...just trying to go by your descriptions, and yes, it's his choice what do do with his stuff and I am assuming that you're living in his home too vs. the other way around?  But also maybe a time to rethink 'clutter'?     I'm feeling more and more 'I want to own things vs. feeling the other way around".  Don't need so much stuff.

Anyway, good luck!

PD