Have You Ever Just Been So Overwhelmed With Music That You're Just Lost?

[Mirror Image]

I don't really know why I'm starting this thread, but it seems at the moment that my listening pile almost quadrupled when I got home from work tonight. So much fine music, so little time! I'm starting to wonder maybe it's time to just stop buying for awhile. I know I've been done this road before, but I'm pretty overwhelmed tonight. Who knows tomorrow I could be okay? Breathe, John, breathe.

What about you guys? What's on your pile(s) and are you feeling the way I am right now?

[amw]

Not having the space for or ability to haul around a large physical collection, my "pile" is almost entirely digital at the moment. I use iTunes (Mac user alert) for organisation purposes (and because the colours for albums with artwork are cool looking ) so my only self-imposed restriction is that the "Recently Added" playlist, which automatically fetches everything added in the last six weeks, is not to exceed 1000 tracks.

Currently it's sitting at 930 so I've got room for a few more CDs this week

[Pat B]

I don't really know why I'm starting this thread, but it seems at the moment that my listening pile almost quadrupled when I got home from work tonight. So much fine music, so little time! I'm starting to wonder maybe it's time to just stop buying for awhile. I know I've been done this road before, but I'm pretty overwhelmed tonight. Who knows tomorrow I could be okay? Breathe, John, breathe.

What about you guys? What's on your pile(s) and are you feeling the way I am right now?

I was going to bump my Pile thread, then I saw this.

Yes. (Edit to clarify: yes, I have been buying too much, but I wouldn't say I feel "lost.")

I had gotten my Pile down to 5, but over the past couple of weeks it has ballooned to -- I just counted -- 31 (!), with 10-disc set and a 14-disc set on the way. (There's also about 150 unlistened discs in big boxes but I don't really need to listen to them.)

I need to take a break from buying, but of course that's easier said than done.

The good news is, I enjoy listening to almost everything I buy.

[Mirror Image]

Not having the space for or ability to haul around a large physical collection, my "pile" is almost entirely digital at the moment. I use iTunes (Mac user alert) for organisation purposes (and because the colours for albums with artwork are cool looking ) so my only self-imposed restriction is that the "Recently Added" playlist, which automatically fetches everything added in the last six weeks, is not to exceed 1000 tracks.

Currently it's sitting at 930 so I've got room for a few more CDs this week

The amount of space you save is the only advantage to having a purely digital collection. But, for me, I value the tangible, which is why I have a large collection. I also still love the compact disc. I know you can download CD quality and lossless audio now, etc., but there's nothing like putting a CD in a player and blasting it through a good stereo system. Quite the aural sensation.

[Mirror Image]

I was going to bump my Pile thread, then I saw this.

Yes. (Edit to clarify: yes, I have been buying too much, but I wouldn't say I feel "lost.")

I had gotten my Pile down to 5, but over the past couple of weeks it has ballooned to -- I just counted -- 31 (!), with 10-disc set and a 14-disc set on the way. (There's also about 150 unlistened discs in big boxes but I don't really need to listen to them.)

I need to take a break from buying, but of course that's easier said than done.

The good news is, I enjoy listening to almost everything I buy.

Well, I can see why you would feel overwhelmed, but, like you, I enjoyed listening to almost everything I buy as well. Sometimes I'll listen to a recording more than two times and even more if it has impressed me.

[amw]

The amount of space you save is the only advantage to having a purely digital collection.

Well, not the only advantage. Depending on platform, the interface can definitely be shinier. >.>





0:)

But, for me, I value the tangible, which is why I have a large collection. I also still love the compact disc. I know you can download CD quality and lossless audio now, etc., but there's nothing like putting a CD in a player and blasting it through a good stereo system. Quite the aural sensation.

I do also prefer the tangible, and high quality stereo, but it's not always an option—particularly since it's vinyl rather than CDs I'm attached to, and retain the largest collection of (despite being a child of the CD generation, born '91, I grew up with vinyl—and cassettes, but the record player was the one linked to the stereo—so CDs were never quite as exciting for me). Now that I'm living on the other side of the world from my collection and much-abused USB turntable, digitisation is the way I've gone and while it's perhaps a less intense experience now, I do definitely listen to music more often (and a wider variety of it) so it's a bit of a trade-off.

I add things from a "wishlist" of sorts (it's not really a wishlist, more a list of links plus occasionally things I've actually downloaded if money/time/bandwidth was available but not yet "unzipped"/cue-split) which currently contains ... uh ... 111 albums. Some of which would be 2 CDs in physical media, one of which would be 4 and one of which would be... something like 20? (Poulenc Intégrale) I'm not sure I'm actually going to buy that last one, it would use up all of my "Recently Added" space

[jut1972]

Well, I can see why you would feel overwhelmed, but, like you, I enjoyed listening to almost everything I buy as well. Sometimes I'll listen to a recording more than two times and even more if it has impressed me.

For me this is the real problem with hundreds in my listening pile I dont gave time to give each recording a fair hearing.  "Difficult" music doesn't stand a chance.   I also find it hard to remember which performance impressed me the most so am always suprised when people csn compare one recording to another with such certainty!

[flyingdutchman]

For the life of me, I don't understand why you people mass buy so much and then complain about the "pile" you have to listen to.  Why in the world do you buy so much?  Why are you then reduced to having to listen to your "pile" of discs.  Enjoy what you have and quit amassing so much.

[DavidW]

I used to have that feeling, but then I diagnosed the underlying problem and made it go away.

Forming a queue out of your purchases... is a mental construct and not necessary for enjoyment of your purchases.  It is built upon the fallacy that you need to get your moneys worth... but your money is already spent.  Shelf your cds randomly old with new and pull out cds as you feel like listening... and enjoy your collection. 0:)

[jut1972]

I used to have that feeling, but then I diagnosed the underlying problem and made it go away.

Forming a queue out of your purchases... is a mental construct and not necessary for enjoyment of your purchases.  It is built upon the fallacy that you need to get your moneys worth... but your money is already spent.  Shelf your cds randomly old with new and pull out cds as you feel like listening... and enjoy your collection. 0:)

Thanks David that's useful advice

[Parsifal]

Forming a queue out of your purchases... is a mental construct and not necessary for enjoyment of your purchases.  It is built upon the fallacy that you need to get your moneys worth... but your money is already spent.  Shelf your cds randomly old with new and pull out cds as you feel like listening... and enjoy your collection. 0:)

I have a similar philosophy.  If I decide to listen to, for example, Brahms' 2nd symphony, I enjoy having several options at hand to pick from.  I get a certain amount of indirect pleasure even from the recordings I did not listen to on that particular occasion.  What tends to happen to me is that I get interested in a new composer, and in my enthusiasm pick up other recordings of music by the same composer, which are held in reserve until the urge to listen to that composer returns.  The thing that can annoy me is getting to the point of thinking I "should" enjoy composer 'X' and spend fruitless time trying to appreciate it.  On the other hand, there are composers that I hated at first and came to enjoy. 

[stingo]

The amount of space you save is the only advantage to having a purely digital collection. But, for me, I value the tangible, which is why I have a large collection. I also still love the compact disc. I know you can download CD quality and lossless audio now, etc., but there's nothing like putting a CD in a player and blasting it through a good stereo system. Quite the aural sensation.

What about higher bit rate downloads, like 24 bit studio masters?

[kishnevi]

I used to have that feeling, but then I diagnosed the underlying problem and made it go away.

Forming a queue out of your purchases... is a mental construct and not necessary for enjoyment of your purchases.  It is built upon the fallacy that you need to get your moneys worth... but your money is already spent.  Shelf your cds randomly old with new and pull out cds as you feel like listening... and enjoy your collection. 0:)

Sound idea, except for me:
1)I've got far more CDs than shelf space, so if I didn't segregate new purchases they'd simply be lost in one or another carton on the floor.  As it is,  I've discovered at least a half dozen recordings that I've bought twice because I didn't remember purchasing them the first time around.  (And I've got so many CDs that forming any useable database would require weeks, perhaps months, of effort.)

2)Most of my purchases are recordings I'm interested in hearing as soon as possible.

My solution is not to completely stop purchasing, but to limit them relatively severely.  At the moment,  I'm only ordering recordings that are new releases from performers I truly like (for instance, a new one from Rachel Podger is in the shopping cart), or that seem like unmissable bargains (the DRD Haydn box is a good example of the latter).  This means the Pile has gone down perceptibly, and the largest sector is a whole bunch of operas (including three Rings); the next biggest is the Hanssler Complete Bach, of which I've already completed part and now aim to go through the rest, starting the the cantatas.

Once I've gone through the non operatic part of the Pile,  there is some stuff I'll purchase, but G-d willing I'll have the willpower not to go overboard again.

[Mirror Image]

One of the things I plan to do over my next vacation is to cull my collection. Make room for new recordings and donate older recordings that I never listen to anymore to my public library.

[kishnevi]

One of the things I plan to do over my next vacation is to cull my collection. Make room for new recordings and donate older recordings that I never listen to anymore to my public library.

just make sure they're not recordings that you'll decide six months later that you should have kept and then have to repurchase them!  Although I suppose you could always check them out of the library if you wanted!

I only give away duplicate recordings (for instance,  if I buy a box set that has recordings I already have, or the aforementioned unintended duplications) to the library.   About the only CD I've given away because it was terrible enough that I knew I would never ever listen to it again was by Cameron Carpenter.

[flyingdutchman]

I know of no public library who accepts cds anymore from patrons.  The space thing is an issue for them still.  More likely to be resold at their public sell times.

[Mirror Image]

just make sure they're not recordings that you'll decide six months later that you should have kept and then have to repurchase them!  Although I suppose you could always check them out of the library if you wanted!

I only give away duplicate recordings (for instance,  if I buy a box set that has recordings I already have, or the aforementioned unintended duplications) to the library.   About the only CD I've given away because it was terrible enough that I knew I would never ever listen to it again was by Cameron Carpenter.

Obviously, I'm not going to get rid of everything, but I would like to at least narrow down what I give away to 100 CDs. There are some things that WILL NOT be given away and those are from any of my favorite composers, but duplicates will be culled for sure.

[Mirror Image]

I know of no public library who accepts cds anymore from patrons.  The space thing is an issue for them still.  More likely to be resold at their public sell times.

If this is the case, then I suppose there's always Goodwill and similar places.

[Mirror Image]

Narrow it down to 100? From what, like, 5,000?  Or do you mean to give away 100?

Narrow down what I give away to at least 100 CDs. Just re-read what I posted above and, yeah, that didn't make any sense. Edited now.

[DavidW]

Jeffrey it sounds like you have a storage problem that needs solving.