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

[DavidW]

Bigshot what do you use with your stereo to receive the stream?

[bigshot]

Apple Airports. They aren't cheap but they work perfectly. Also, I can control everything with my iPhone

[DavidW]

Apple Airports. They aren't cheap but they work perfectly. Also, I can control everything with my iPhone

Thanks I own a Macbook Air, Ipad Mini, Iphone and Apple TV.  That sounds like the perfect solution!

[stingo]

Since part of this thread mentions digitizing collections, may I ask a tangential question?

When you're working on a big compilation box set (e.g., Brilliant's Editions) do you enter the discs as individual titles, or combine them all into one album (e.g., Sir William Walton - Complete Works)?

[North Star]

Since part of this thread mentions digitizing collections, may I ask a tangential question?

When you're working on a big compilation box set (e.g., Brilliant's Editions) do you enter the discs as individual titles, or combine them all into one album (e.g., Sir William Walton - Complete Works)?

Individual discs, always, for everything, including, say, the odd 85-minute work on two CD's.

[Mirror Image]

Since part of this thread mentions digitizing collections, may I ask a tangential question?

When you're working on a big compilation box set (e.g., Brilliant's Editions) do you enter the discs as individual titles, or combine them all into one album (e.g., Sir William Walton - Complete Works)?

When I'm ripping discs everything I rip goes under 'albums' and it will look like the following:

Walton: Complete Works - EMI [Disc 01]
Walton: Complete Works - EMI [Disc 02]

And so on...

When I have box sets of the same composer's symphonies but a different conductor, it will look like this:

Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies - Haitink [Disc 01]
Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies - Haitink [Disc 02]

Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies - Kondrashin [Disc 01]
Shostakovich: Complete Symphonies - Kondrashin [Disc 02]

And so on....

BTW, by labeling something as [Disc 01], [Disc 02], etc. your box set will be completely in order. Trust me, I found this out the hard way when I would just label the box sets without the '0'. If I had a 14 disc box set, it would put the discs 10-14 right above disc 1. Thankfully, I figured out that if wanted everything in correct order that I must use a '0' in front of discs 1-9.

When I have individual recordings of works, I still like to use the conductor's name:

Weinberg: Symphony No. 4, Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes, Sinfonietta No. 2 - Chmura

If you have a discs but with multiple composers, then file under the composer who takes up the most time on the disc. I hope this helps.

[bigshot]

There's a tag for Disk X out of X. If you use that and tag everything with the same album name, the disks will be assembled in order under one cover.

But for me, I don't use albums much. I rip tracks joined into complete works... all of the movements of a symphony in one file. This makes it easy to find the particular work I'm looking for and have alternate versions listed right along side it. it also makes it possible to snuffle play.

[Karl Henning]

I no longer tag my files according to how they are packaged as CDs.  Each work is a separate "album" with as many tracks as that work is made from, with information about the performer/conductor as part of the title.  This way I can easily find various performances of the same work and am not limited by how the CD is titled.  I began this after being frustrated with tagging a CD that had music from several composers.  It was like a light going off to break it up according to each composer's works, and I have never looked back.

+ 1

[Parsifal]

I no longer tag my files according to how they are packaged as CDs.  Each work is a separate "album" with as many tracks as that work is made from, with information about the performer/conductor as part of the title.  This way I can easily find various performances of the same work and am not limited by how the CD is titled.  I began this after being frustrated with tagging a CD that had music from several composers.  It was like a light going off to break it up according to each composer's works, and I have never looked back.

If I were to use iTunes I would do it that way.  But since I like programming, I made my own peculiar database to suit myself

My database consists of a list of "releases," and each release is a list of "programs."  A program is a list of works all by the same composer and performer.   So "Brandenburg Concerti by Harnoncourt and the CMW" consists of a single release containing a single program, which contains 6 works."  But "Complete Solo Piano recordings of Martha Argerich" is a single release containing a list of programs, one for each distinct composer represented in the set.  This lets me browse at whatever level I prefer, works, programs, or releases.

[North Star]

I no longer tag my files according to how they are packaged as CDs.  Each work is a separate "album" with as many tracks as that work is made from, with information about the performer/conductor as part of the title.  This way I can easily find various performances of the same work and am not limited by how the CD is titled.  I began this after being frustrated with tagging a CD that had music from several composers.  It was like a light going off to break it up according to each composer's works, and I have never looked back.

I just browse WMP by composer, and hit the opus number (or sth else like the key or genre) in the search bar. 

[Madiel]

I no longer tag my files according to how they are packaged as CDs.  Each work is a separate "album" with as many tracks as that work is made from, with information about the performer/conductor as part of the title.  This way I can easily find various performances of the same work and am not limited by how the CD is titled.  I began this after being frustrated with tagging a CD that had music from several composers.  It was like a light going off to break it up according to each composer's works, and I have never looked back.

Similar. Sometime last year I came across a blog post where someone suggested how to rearrange the data on iTunes and I've been using it ever since. Main difference would be that I make the composer the first 'artist' and the performer the second 'artist' after a slash (/).

[stingo]

Thanks for the responses. I think the way I do it now most closely resembles the way Bigshot described. Some of the others mentioned are totally new to me and something I'd not have thought of (but might actually start to use going forward...)

[Octave]

One nice aspect to being totally lost in one's Pile is what just happened to me: I found that I owned two discs that I never remember acquiring, both of which I was just about to purchase, and one of which would have been rather spendy.  (Grisey's QUATRE CHANTS and a disc of Schnittke chamber works on Naxos.)  I've owned these a minimum of 6 years....never remember laying hands on them.   Bonus!   

Of course, the nasty flipside is accidentally re-purchasing something; but even that is just a prompt for giftgiving. 

I am scared about the number of bum discs lurking in the Pile, esp. in big-ass box sets.  I know I will live to regret dragging feet getting through all these.

#FirstWorldProblems

[lisa needs braces]

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.

But this isn't just with music if you have multiple interests. The progress of communications technology has cheapened access to all sorts of works and art, from music to literature to cinema to videogames. And that same technology makes it easier for amateurs to directly share their works with the rest of the world. Music recording companies were very concerned about about piracy well into the last decade, which did eat into their revenues, but look now...the catalogs of most popular music artists are freely available on youtube. I guess the artists realized that there is so much competition now that anyone can share their music that it was in their interests to share their music for free lest they be forgotten. The competition for your attention and time from artists and entertainers is more fierce than ever.

[Wakefield]

When I read the title of this thread I thought it was about music so overwhelmingly beautiful and significant that simply makes us to lose any sense of time and space...

But the topic was a little bit more concrete. 

On topic:Personally,  I'm seriously working in order to limit my choices. Not always more is better. We live in a world with so many stimuli and choices that if we don't limit our exposition to them, every day our knowledge will be a bit more superficial. More extensive, but without any deepness if we don't take a minute to "reflect" about what we are reading, watching or listening to... Not an easy task, of course. 

[Wakefield]

I agree and have been approaching listening in the same fashion over the course of the last year or so.  My focus has been on newer music, and will remain like that for the foreseeable future.  Limiting my focus, has had the effect of more intent listening, less "background music" style listening, and ultimately more fulfillment.

As always, YMMV.

That's exactly what I tried to say.

That said, new music is as valid as any other choice, but we'd hate to lose an intelligent PI instrument fan. 

[Wakefield]

No worries, just yesterday I was listening to Mozart piano sonatas and concertos by Brautigam and Schoonderwoerd.

What do you think of those interpretations?

Personally, I never liked Brautigan playing Mozart's solo keyboard works, but I have gotten a favorable impression of the concertos.