[ooh]

Hello all,

I'm trying to figure out how I should organize my classical music. There's so many ways to do it--how do you Head-Fi-ers do it?

I'm most interested in how someone who has multiple recordings does it.

For example,

Ashkenazy recorded Chopin's Ballades in a box set on London
Kissin recorded Chopin's Ballades in a single disc on RCA
I'm sure someone has recorded a Ballade as part of a live disc (Horowitz?)
I'm sure also someone has recorded Chopin and perhaps Liszt on a single disc?

I wasn't sure where this would go, but after thinking about it I feel like this forum was the best.

Part 2: In Electronic Form

Also, when you throw CDs onto electronic files, how do you name your folders?

Ashkenazy Chopin Ballades
Chopin Ashkenazy Ballades

Chopin Kissin Ballades, Bereceuse, Scherzo
Chopin Kissin Ballades and others

Or what? I hope someone has an organized system for this. I'd just be interested in how people do it.

Thanks

 

[Dj.Evi*]

I have a folder for each composer, and inside each one, there is a folder for each CD recorded of that composer's works. Simple, but I've never had a problem with it. Usually I just have it all in a playlist on foobar anyway.

 

[steviebee]

Not much help, sorry, cos I'm lazy: all my classical/orchestral/opera vinyl is filed by composer alphabetically, with boxed sets at the beginning and end of the shelf. Different releases of the same piece sit next to each other.

CDs: I don't have too many classical so it doesn't apply, but my Puccini operas sit next to each other, as does my Sibelius stuff.

Tags for my DAP - never had to use use em as I rip w/ WMP 11 & it does em for me, then I just file under a Classical folder on the player.

 

[Aaron622]

For CDs, I go Composer>Opus number>primary artist alphabetical (for multiple recordings of the same work). Most people would think it's pretty anal to go by Opus though.

For my iPod (I just use iTunes), I go Composer>Album (the name of the work, alphabetical, then by Opus)>Song (individual movements). I don't browse by artist, but it in the final screen it will show up (composer won't however). If I have multiple recordings of the same work, I'll put the primary artist (conductor, soloist, etc) in parenthesis after the work name. Here's an example:
Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897)>Sym Op 68 (1) c (Haitink)>mvts
Brahms, Johannes (1833-1897)>Sym Op 68 (1) c (Schuller)>mvts
I also have a standard set of abbreviations and punctuation (mainly for the artist field).

 

[hembergler]

My folder organization is rather abysmal, but once all loaded into Foobar, it becomes much more neat. I have 4 columns: Composer, Artist (Performer), Title, and Album.

 

[Bunnyears]

Sorted alphabetically by composer, then by soloist, then conductor, then orchestra or ensemble. I have a separate section devoted to albums by artists with more than one composer (such as Horowitz recitals). If I have a series of albums such as the Gardiner Bach Cantatas, they are also arranged by volume number.

It's constant work keeping everything in order, so much of the time I have smaller boxes with the cds I'm currently listening to in no particular order out on the shelf by the sound system.

Getting a good database system helps me keep tabs on what I have, but it's constant work keeping that up to date as well. It includes thumbnail pictures of the albums, so that's a big help locating favorites.

Here's what an entry looks like in the simplest list form:

Schubert, Franz Peter -- Impromptus D.899, 935; Orkis, Lambert (Fortepiano).

 

[vcoheda]

I just use default settings. They seem to work well enough.

 

[hciman77]

I have an Excel Spreadsheet, I sort by Composer then by individual work I also keep CD details such as label, serial #, date then performer details i.e conductor, orchestra or other entourage such as choirs then finally named soloists or all instrumentalists if it is a small outfit. The only purpose all this has is to stop me buying stuff I already have

 

[binkgle]

I use iTunes, so I have a smart playlist called "Classical" which has all my music with "Classical" in the genre tag. Then I have the movement name in the Title, conductor or main performer in the Artist tag, the album name in Album, the piece/work name in Grouping, the composer name in Composer (Last name, First name (DOB-DOD)), then the other artists in the comments box. Here's an example:



I then have four columns in the Library view window: Movement, Grouping, Composer, and Artist. This bit's not as neatly laid out as I'd like it to be, so I'm still working on it.

 

[scompton]

I have about 400 CDs. In the racks I keep them in order by the following

• Composer - if all pieces are by the same composer
• Soloist - if more than one compose and the same soloist
• Conductor - if different composers and differnt soloists or no soloists
• Ensemble - for chamber groups

If a CD is total mixed, every piece by a different composer/soloist/conductor, it's just a judgment call.

Since I have few multiple versions of the same piece, I don't worry about order of CDs within the groupings above.

I use iTunes for my electronic music, which is how I usually listen. Each track has the following
The artist is the soloist, conductor, or ensemble.
The track name is the composer, the piece's name, and the movement.
The album name is the name of the album. Usually, I add the orchestra and sometimes artist information in parenthesis.

For multi disc albums, I include the disc number in the album name and the album name without the disk number in the grouping. I try to keep pieces that span disc listed as on one disk. For example, I just got a 2 CD set with Missa Solemnis and Mass in C. The first 3 tracks of disc 2 is the Agnus Dei of Missa Solemnis. I labeled them as part of disc 1.

For complete operas, I don't include disc numbers in the album name, since I usually want to listen to the complete opera.

 

[bperboy]

At least for my symphonies within iTunes, I usually have the artist field be Conductor; Orchestra, and then the track title is usually Composer: Nth Symphony -- Movement

For most other things, I usually leave what CDDB gives me, unless it is really horrendous, which does happen occasionally.

 

[ooh]

Thanks for the responses so far.

I hadn't thought to look into a different media player, but I don't know if Foobar works on different devices (iPod or otherwise). I'll look into it.

I accept what CDDB gives unless it's totally wrong.

My problem is, I don't think a folder called "Classical" would suffice.

It'd be a huge mess with several of the same concerto by different artists, just as one example.

And I like to know the original CD something came off of so I have an idea of what goes with what (this concerto was released with these other sonatas etc.)

So I have each disc as a separate folder.

But even that seems messy to me. I think it should be easier but I haven't found a way yet.

I would think it would get messy anywhere it can get specific. Like jazz, perhaps? Parisian jazz, American jazz, 40's jazz, Brazilian jazz...I wouldn't want all those in the same folder. If I had 300 cds of jazz, that'd be a lot of scrolling, wouldn't it?

Perhaps I missed a setting for tags that has rendered all of my mp3 files with only basic tags? Hmm. Because I don't think I have a lot of info about my mp3 files. I don't know how well that would help me organize if my media player doesn't support extended tags though.

 

[mbhaub]

I hope you find a good solution, because I sure haven't. Just keep adding albums as folders. It's especially vexing when I want to add a multi-disk work such as an opera. There are times when I really hate modern technology.

 

[zChan]

yeah, tagging them is a real burden.
I decided that won't care about which CD the track came from.

So I usually put
the composer name -> artist field
soloist, conductor, orchestra -> album field
performed / recorded year -> year field

 

[widmerpool]

I have a separate iTunes library for classical. It is divided by genre into classical, classical vocal (lieder etc.), opera and choral. I rip pieces as whole pieces rather than movements, because that's how I listen to them. Operas I rip by act. Then I have the name of the piece as the track name, the performers in the artist, and the composer and type of piece as the album, for example: Sonata Representiva - Romanesca - Biber: Violin Sonatas.

I use smart playlists a lot for listening while I am working, which I make either using titles, i.e. title contains 'piano' or 'concerto', or using various tags in the comments field such as 'classicalchamber', 'modernorchestral', 'solopiano'. So the piece above would show up on the violin, baroque chamber, and sonatas lists.