# Do you Catalogue or have a Database of your collection?



## DanielFullard (Dec 6, 2006)

I was just wondering how you organise your collection, not only in terms of storage, but in terms of having some sort of written/computerised record.


----------



## ezydriver (Sep 30, 2006)

[tongue in cheek on]
Go to classic fm.com, look at the 100 most wanted, thats my collection summed up
[tongue in cheek off]


----------



## Topaz (Oct 25, 2006)

DanielFullard said:


> I was just wondering how you organise your collection, not only in terms of storage, but in terms of having some sort of written/computerised record.


*Daniel*

On my PC I keep a "My Music" folder within "My Documents". Within "My Music" I have an alphabetic list of composers. Within each of these I have sub categories like: "Symphony", "Piano Concerto", "String Quartet", etc.

With a new CD I will rip it using WMA lossless, and place a copy of each piece in the appropriate folder. With a download, it goes straight into the relevant folder. I never download anything below 192 kbs.

I select what I want from these files. It plays through a Creative Labs Xi-Fi sound card into an integrated "Cambridge Audio" amplifier and out to a pair of "Monitor Audio" bookshelf speakers. I use the Creative Labs "Organiser" to play files. The "Organiser" can generate playlists of which I have several. It has a speed adjustment facility, a sound enhancer (called "EAX"), a glitch/noise remover, and a device for trimming the length of files to get rid of applause and such-like. It gives hi-fi quality sound. I never use any of these facilities except applause removal!

Occasionally, I may instead use a conventional set-up in my lounge where the amp/speakers are even better: Mission Cyrus pre/power amplifier, Arcam CD player, floor standing Spendor speakers. It's all British, and superb for classical music.

If I ever feel like playing any non-classical (like Pink Floyd) I switch to a NAD amplifier which is far more bass forward, and sounds a lot better.

Topaz


----------



## Mr Salek (Apr 11, 2006)

For sheet music my dad keeps a Word document.


----------



## Saturnus (Nov 7, 2006)

I keep it all in the "my music" folder. I divide it into five folders with the names: Early/Renaissance, Barouqe, Classic, Romantic/Lyrical, 20th century.
In each folder I put foldres with the name of apropriate composers, and that folder divides into more folders, one for each CD. If it is a CD with many composers on it I make shortcuts and put one in each's composer's folder on the disc. 
I do not download music from the internet, although I never buy CDs blindly. In the CD-store I buy my CDs you can listen to them before you choose wether to buy them or not. 
I rip every CD I own into the computer. WMA lossless. I wont have it copy-protected, because I like to send music to my friends over MSN, otherwise I'd have to borrow them my CD's (that I sometimes do) but MSN is much more handy. 

I keep my sheet music in a big pile on my desk...


----------



## MungoPark (Feb 15, 2007)

*I've got so much music*

that I actually keep a database of the pieces that I don't have and remove them as I acquire them. I'm probably going on somewhere near 2,250 CD's now.


----------



## Evan Roberts (Apr 20, 2007)

I rip all my CDs as high quality level ogg vorbis files. As the tagging from CDDB is pretty much useless for classical music, I then retag all my music so that:

Composer => composer's name
Artist => name of assemble (or conductor's name)
Album => name of work
Track => movement

Not so much as a database of CDs as much as a database of works. If I'm using my computer I then listen to this music using a decent pair of comfortable headphones, or if no one else is about, on my computer speakers (stereo is not very good on headphones)


----------



## zlya (Apr 9, 2007)

I had a bit of a nightmare with my music collection, which I'm still trying to sort out.

For a while, I kept all my music in .ra (real audio) files. Not really sure why I did that, I think it was the default in windows or something. So I accessed everything through the Realplayer music library. Then, last year, quite randomly the music titles started changing around. I mean, I would click on Chopin and get Count Basie. It was really odd. I went into the file structure, and saw that lots of the files were just named "unknown" (I guess that's what I get for keeping the defaults). Anyway, this was clearly a continuous process of deterioration, so after a few months about half my music was named something else. 

So now I'm using Linux, all my music is in my home folder (I generally don't bother with searching through files and folders) and I'm about as disorganized as you can get. I still have a ton of unknown music, which I'm slowly going through and trying to identify by ear. Somewhat harrowing. 

Oh, and if anyone knows how to convert .ra files into ANYTHING else, (mp3, ogg, whatever) please let me know.


----------



## Stringiamano (Jan 10, 2007)

I don't, the Amarok player does it for me ;-)


----------



## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Great to meet to other Linux users who love classical music, or the other way round, if you prefer.  I use Amarok, too, but I don't rip and listen, I just use it to listen to online radio stations. I have most of my CD's ripped, though - album-wise - at 128kbps!

Ubuntu 7.04
Amarok 1.4.5

zyla, google is your friend.


----------



## Evan Roberts (Apr 20, 2007)

Annother Linux user here, using Amarok 1.45 and Kubuntu 6.10. Should probably get around to upgrading to 7.04 soon.


----------



## zlya (Apr 9, 2007)

I know google is my friend, but technical terminology, unfortunately, is not. I tend to have trouble understanding many of the sites google throws up, most of which seem to be advertisements for non-free software. Didn't know if there was a sort of imagemagick equivalent for sound.


----------



## The Purple Wasp (Apr 19, 2007)

Listen a piece of music is an encounter with a performer at a precise moment. It depends also of the performer’s feeling and yours at that very moment.

So, I can’t listen many times the same CD. And when I listen some once, I try to forget it, in order to rediscover it afterwards. Consequently, a catalogue is unthinkable for me: Music is a living art.


----------



## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

This is the place in which I keep records of the cds I have (see attachment).

I used to have an .xls file created as database of the works and cds I have, but all of the sudden they made so many that the time lost actualizing that list is a lot. (Not only they are more, but the growth rate is also positive... ).

Now I have a bit more than 1900 cds and information of all them is only in my head.


----------



## Evan Roberts (Apr 20, 2007)

1900 cds must take up a lot of space!?


----------



## Chi_townPhilly (Apr 21, 2007)

I have a very "low-tech" solution. Multi-disc sets involving multiple composers/eras to the left, multi-disc sets devoted to single composers (e.g.: symphonic cycles) not quite so far left, then operas to the right of that. Finally, single (and some double) discs are placed in rough chronological order by era, with works by the same composer always grouped together. BUT (and here's the rub), they are ordered according to _my impression_ of their chronology, and not by actual time-line. The system's worked for years.

I don't have a 4-digit total of discs (yet), but I have hundreds. No real trouble finding anything yet.


----------



## Manuel (Feb 1, 2007)

Chi_town/Philly said:


> I don't have a 4-digit total of discs (yet), but I have hundreds. No real trouble finding anything yet.


I tend to remember everything I have, my problem is just finding it.

The day Rostropovich died I felt like listening to his Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante. I couldn't find it, so I added it to my list of things to purchase. Revising that list a days after that I realised I do have that recording (a Russian Revelation disc); it was only part of a pile I don't frequently visit.


----------

