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

[Gurn Blanston]

They look from IKEA to me. 
I think these are specifically to store CDs. Because you need an awful lot of them to store any decent amount of CDs, I use the ordinary book cases with extra shelves.

Q

Oh, is each just one swathe wide then? I thought they looked like 3 or 4 wide. Well, yes, it would take a whole lot then!

[KeithW]

My collection these days is in two forms - physical and digital.  The physical collection (4,000+ discs) has been ripped to digital form (lossless) and is housed in IKEA (can't beat then!) white storage boxes and kept in a large cupboard.

The discs are arranged primarily by period - Early/Baroque/Classical/Romantic/Modern - and then by composer.  Thereafter, if necessary, discs are arranged broadly into orchestral/chamber/instrumental/vocal/opera.  Some performers have their own boxes - no hard and fast rule but these tend to be individual artists (Argerich, Richter, Hahn etc) or vocal ensembles (Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen) and not orchestras or conductors.  This approach allows me to find something quickly, usually to refer to booklet or liner notes.

The digital collection is stored on a 6TB external storage drive (RAID system).  Physical CDs are ripped into Apple Lossless; these days, where I can buy lossless quality downloads (FLAC in the main) I do so in preference to a CD.  I am a librarian and have spent too many hours trying to perfect my tagging and "cataloguing".  Everyone here will appreciate that iTunes, and most similar systems, are not designed for classical music.  I have tried to work with the overall system rather than swapping things around (so I use the composer field for composers, artist field for artists and so on - I know that many classical listeners exchange these).    I do try to use consistent tags for artists and composers (so LvB will always be Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) for example).  I also tag individual movements consistently - so the first movement of the Emperor Concerto will be I. Allegro.  I also use the album field to describe the work, irrespective of the album from which it came - e.g. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, Op. 73, "Emperor"  To keep track, I add a comment which details the album name, and the Amazon ASIN code for later reference.  But this is straying too far off topic, I fear, and sounding scarily organised which, if you could see the area around my desk right now, is not the case!

[Renfield]

KeithW's system is almost ideally 'clean'. For me, however, it's still a two-state arrangement, with the second state consisting of two sub-states - sort of like a middle-period Mahler symphonic movement, I suppose.


In essence, I have a Pile. You know the one. That's state 1. CDs in the Pile transition into state 2,  via ripping the CDs (Apple Lossless), then (2a) divesting the disc of their plastic box, and moving them to one of several large CD wallets, or (2b) if it's a box set, finding a place for it on the shelves. In practice, due to time/space issues (not this kind!), there is a fourth state, a kind of 'limbo', for CDs that have been ripped, but are still in the Pile, awaiting physical transfer.

All in all, the ripped portion of my collection and the box sets are definitely organised. The rest is not.


For the ripped music, I use iTunes to catalogue and access it, and my indexing principle of choice is 'by performer'. In other words, it's the list of conductors/orchestras/soloists I browse when selecting what to listen, rather than composers.

For the box sets, I arrange them by genre (opera, non-opera), composer (non-alphabetic), then conductor - except the Karajan shelf - with overriding principles of aesthetic presentation, and even weighting between shelves.

(I like non-ugly, non-broken shelves! )



At the moment, I have about 2500 CDs ripped, and 900ish CDs still in waiting, about 3/4 of which are in box sets.

In total (ripped and unripped), there's about 500 non-boxed CDs in the Pile. Bah.

[KeithW]

I agree with Renfield's identification of the two sub-states (Apple lossless on iTunes for ripped CDs and FLAC for downloaded recordings - both are listened to using Fidelia software).  If I was starting again I'd probably rip everything to FLAC.  That said, iTunes is a pretty good cataloguing system.  What I should do to keep everything neat is convert all my FLAC files into Apple Lossless and import them into iTunes.

I still have a "to-rip" pile, but at present that is down to some of those Brilliant Classics edition box sets with 150 or so discs at a time.

I should also have mentioned that individual CDs are removed form their cases and transferred into DiscSox sleeves before being stored.  The IKEA boxes are also home to all but the biggest box sets.

[Fëanor]

My collection these days is in two forms - physical and digital.  The physical collection (4,000+ discs) has been ripped to digital form (lossless) and is housed in IKEA (can't beat then!) white storage boxes and kept in a large cupboard.

The discs are arranged primarily by period - Early/Baroque/Classical/Romantic/Modern - and then by composer.  Thereafter, if necessary, discs are arranged broadly into orchestral/chamber/instrumental/vocal/opera.  Some performers have their own boxes - no hard and fast rule but these tend to be individual artists (Argerich, Richter, Hahn etc) or vocal ensembles (Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen) and not orchestras or conductors.  This approach allows me to find something quickly, usually to refer to booklet or liner notes.

The digital collection is stored on a 6TB external storage drive (RAID system).  Physical CDs are ripped into Apple Lossless; these days, where I can buy lossless quality downloads (FLAC in the main) I do so in preference to a CD.  I am a librarian and have spent too many hours trying to perfect my tagging and "cataloguing".  Everyone here will appreciate that iTunes, and most similar systems, are not designed for classical music.  I have tried to work with the overall system rather than swapping things around (so I use the composer field for composers, artist field for artists and so on - I know that many classical listeners exchange these).    I do try to use consistent tags for artists and composers (so LvB will always be Beethoven, Ludwig van (1770-1827) for example).  I also tag individual movements consistently - so the first movement of the Emperor Concerto will be I. Allegro.  I also use the album field to describe the work, irrespective of the album from which it came - e.g. Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, Op. 73, "Emperor"  To keep track, I add a comment which details the album name, and the Amazon ASIN code for later reference.  But this is straying too far off topic, I fear, and sounding scarily organised which, if you could see the area around my desk right now, is not the case!

KeithW, great system!

I'm going to look into the IKEA storage boxes since my physical disc storage is presently a mess.

Looking at your digital storage, I'm encouraged that I'm on the right track.  However I use Foobar2000 as my player and access organizer. Foobar lets you define your own, multiple library lists, e.g. in my case my favorite lists are:

= Genre / Composer
= Genre / Album
= Composer / Album
= Artist / Album

Here 'Genre' means a broad category: Choral, Vocal, Orchestral, Concerto, Symphony, Chamber, Keyboard, Contemporary (i.e. if not easily place in one of the preceding).  Like you, I consistently identify Composer by Last Name, First Name(s) (born-died). For composition, I fully qualify each movement as Compostion Title [incl, Key; Opus; Nickname], Movement Number. Movement Name/Tempo. I'm experimenting with using the 'Grouping' tag to hold Composition Title.

Thorough, consistent metadata tagging is essential for digital access.  For tagging software, I mainly use Tag&Rename, but I also using Foobar2000's built-in tagging, and occassionally, MP3Tag.

Tag&Rename lets me export any portion, or all, of my digital library catalogue in various computer formats. I tend to use HTML which I can import into MS Excel; I have also used MS Access to further analyse the Excel content.

[coffee]

The posts gave me a new idea of ordering: ordering by listening frequency. The front of the row contains the last listened CD. After you listened a CD you have to put it to the first place. When you buy a new CD you put it to the end of the row. After a while the collection will be ordered by most frequently used CDs at the front section and lesser used CDs at the end section. 

I do this via iTunes. I have a playlist that is just all the classical music sorted according to last played. Really useful to me.

[Bulldog]

Currently, I organize my recordings in alphabetical order by composer.  The only exception is my "high priority" grouping of about 200 discs that consists of the most recently bought recordings plus some long-time favorites:

Mozart's Mass in C minor/Leppard/EMI
Bach's WTC/Tureck/Gould/Leonhardt
Beethoven's Cello Sonatas/Coin/Cohen/HM
Etc.

[classicalgeek]

Well, since mine is (mostly) digital, it's laid out on two external hard drives - one 3TB (half full) and one 2TB (90% full).  Recordings featuring one composer are stored under that composer's name.  Compilations (more than one composer) are grouped by Performer or as 'Collections' (if they have an overriding theme, i.e. Danish Organ Music), or under 'Multiple Composers' if they don't fit either of the other two classifications.  I have a separate folder for broadcast and concert recordings.  The 2TB contains my 'official' (catalogued) collection; the 3TB houses the large backlog of music that needs to be sorted and catalogued...

My (relatively) meager CD collection stands around 700 - it's housed in a wooden cabinet with glass doors.  Frankly, I'm quite jealous of those with gigantic collections of actual discs  - there's something awe-inspiring about just looking at shelf after shelf, floor to ceiling, filled with CDs and LPs.  My switch to downloading was part of an agreement with my wife (who, while she appreciates classical music, does not share my collecting obsession, needless to say) - if I cut back on CDs for both space and budgetary reasons, I could download as much as I pleased, within reason.  It's worked out well in terms of growing my music library, but I still miss the boxes arriving from Amazon, JPC, BRO et. al., and the thrill of poring over their contents

[classicalgeek]

Here are a few screenshots:

This is the base directory for classical (I have a small amount of jazz and rock - fewer than 50 albums):

Classical_Expanded

Composers are grouped by letter - here is 'A' expanded:

Letter_Expanded

Here is what the Beethoven folder looks like - numbers in brackets indicate the MP3 bitrate:

Composer_Expanded

Here is the iTunes library - I've been trying to replace iTunes; I really like MediaMonkey and Foobar2000, but both have limitations that are hard for me to work around:

iTunesLibr_2012-03-22

[mc ukrneal]

Here is the iTunes library - I've been trying to replace iTunes; I really like MediaMonkey and Foobar2000, but both have limitations that are hard for me to work around:

I find that they are all about the same in the end. There are some nuances and preferences, but in the end, I find they all seem to have their drawbacks that make them about even. I refer to those above and the many others I have tried.

I actually use itunes for non-classical. Using two different programs allows me to separate the genres (in this case classical and non-classical). 

[ibanezmonster]

(click to view larger)

My system of organization has proven time and time again to work well for me over the last few years. Quick, and ease of access with large capacity. The only thing I've had to rearrange was the PDF folder, which I did sometime last year, sorting the e-books into Dewey Decimal System folders.

[Lethevich]

Mine, currently - the method of organisation is when one HD fills up, I buy another.

[snyprrr]

Mine, currently - the method of organisation is when one HD fills up, I buy another.

LOLZ !!!

I'm sorry, but that's the 'It's Alive!' of cd collections!! A face only a collector could love, haha!

[Lethevich]

I'm sorry, but that's the 'It's Alive!' of cd collections!! A face only a collector could love, haha!

I also have cats, so it's a hybridisation of obsessive collecting and extreme sports.

[Conor71]

Quote from: Lethevich on Today at 11:34:20 AM

Mine, currently - the method of organisation is when one HD fills up, I buy another.

>

Wow! - very impressive!  Do you download or rip CD's Lethe?.

[Lethevich]

Do you download or rip CD's Lethe?.

Everything humanly possible - dl, trade, library-hunt. I have yet to finally let my CDs go, but they are ripped and at the moment little more than space-consuming trinkets*

*This said will full awareness of the hypocrisy after posting that image, but in my defense, eventually those are all going to be stacked up inside a tower case server.

[Conor71]

Quote from: Lethevich on Today at 12:38:29 PM

Everything humanly possible - dl, trade, library-hunt. I have yet to finally let my CDs go, but they are ripped and at the moment little more than space-consuming trinkets*

*This said will full awareness of the hypocrisy after posting that image, but in my defense, eventually those are all going to be stacked up inside a tower case server.

Cool 

[classicalgeek]

Mine, currently - the method of organisation is when one HD fills up, I buy another.

That's impressive for the sheer number of hard drives alone!  A few questions:

1) Do you primarily have Lossless files?
2) Do you have a backup?
3) How do you do most of your listening?  Portable player?  At the computer?

Everything humanly possible - dl, trade, library-hunt.

Me too, though sadly I haven't met anyone locally to trade with .  And I've pretty much exhausted the selection of our local public library...

[ibanezmonster]

Mine, currently - the method of organisation is when one HD fills up, I buy another.

Are those Iomegas? That's what I use for my external hard drive storage for music, etc. (1 TB).
I have all of my music stored as mp3s, but I bet you have a bunch of FLAC files for top quality, which takes away a bunch of that space.

[Lethevich]

That's impressive for the sheer number of hard drives alone!  A few questions:

1) Do you primarily have Lossless files?
2) Do you have a backup?
3) How do you do most of your listening?  Portable player?  At the computer?

It's worse because there are a few more not in shot Only lossless bar a few important scraps (Karl's compositions for example) - I don't like the idea of having to upgrade later, so if I can only get hold of something in mp3 I tend to pass on it.

I am only partly backed up at the moment. I am currently in the process of building and transfering everything into a server (it took a while to find a cheap tower case with 9 bays), and the externals will all function as the backups after that (the five black ones are 2tb, so the server will have 5x2tb, and 4x3tb new drives which I'll gradually buy externals to back up to as the prices go down. The hd in the bottom right of the pic is a 2.5" one to be a low-power OS/overnight download drive for it.

3: 5-10% on a hifi (I don't have the ideal living circumstances to use it - too many friends around), 20% portable (I transcode to mp3 specifically for this, because it's fairly fast, and mp3s encoded myself from a reliable lossless source involves much less hassle than hoping whoever ripped them wasn't using terrible settings - this even applies to webstores a lot of the time) and 70-75% PC. As I am going to use the server as a media centre for movies eventually, I will probably do the same for music.

Are those Iomegas? That's what I use for my external hard drive storage for music, etc. (1 TB).

Yep, the silver ones are 1.5tb (there's one on top of the case too, although I lost its endplate and stand), although they will become fairly useless soon so I'll use them for storing non-music things like comics, etc.