how are your records organized?

2»

  Comments


  • covecove 1,566 Posts
    Poorly!

  • edulusedulus 421 Posts
    autobiographically

    seriously, i tried by city/region of the world. it sucked. i think im moving to alphabetical by artist with some just grouped together by label.

  • By region, style, Hammond 45s, a couple of hundred 45s in rotation for DJ-ing and several piles used for mixes/podcasts that need to be refiled.

  • Funky16corners, why by region?

    I sort. Genre, artist, title. All alphabetical. I'm wondering about Faux Rillz & artist broken by date. It must give a nice perspective for the artists you have a lotta records. But it seems like it'd be easier subfiling alphamebetimackally than hunting for a date.

    My genre categories are quite broad. Since everything gets entered into the database, misfiling can usually get sorted out w/ a control-f.

  • Funky16corners, why by region?



    I have significant amounts of 45s from New Orleans, Philadelphia and to a lesser extent Chicago. I also have James Brown and related crates and a couple of boxes of nothing but Hammond 45s.

  • RerogRerog 569 Posts
    Hip Hop 12"s (the biggest chunk) are divided

    pre 83
    later major releases
    later indy releases
    Early-mid 90's boom bap bugger artists
    early/mid 90's boom bap indy and minor artists
    mid-late 90's indy
    Crate that Chad hates (anticon and other weird rap)
    and a section for artists with one quality 12" worth keeping (think Omnescience-"Amazin")

    rest is filed:

    Hip Hop LP's all together
    Jazz
    Latin
    Soul
    Expensive Shit (all non hip hop genres)
    Reggae/Dub etc
    Rock

    and my 45's are completely fucked except somehow all reggae/dub has remained together for the most part. Seen.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    By genre, then by artist, then by release date.

    + a few hundred unsorted on the floor.

    This has been my style for the past year or so, but in the present reorganization, I'm going straight a to z with a few exceptions:

    *various artists sorted by genre after z
    *nature records sorted by sound source (birds, frogs, humans) after various artists
    *Indian records sorted alphabetically after nature records (I have a gang of them from the 1960s, but I don't know enough about the artists or films to find them again if I filed them alphabetically)

    In the above scheme, the spoken word records are being filed where they fall in the alphabet...but there are always problems. Such as...

    ...Jean Shepherd Reads Poems of Robert Service (Folkways) -- File under Shepherd or under Service?

    ...Born to Live, compiled and edited by Studs Terkel (Folkways) -- File under B for Born to Live, under T for Terkel, or under Various Artists and under B?

    Sincere advice appreciated.

    Thanks,
    JRoot

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    PS - Records with different track sequence than listed on the LP jacket get the GASFACE.

  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    Rock and Country
    Jazz
    Soul
    Reggae and Latin
    OST
    Classical

    it all used to be alphabetized
    but since I play out every week, that became unlikely-lots of stuff in crates and the floor

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    the spoken word records are being filed where they fall in the alphabet...but there are always problems. Such as...

    ...Jean Shepherd Reads Poems of Robert Service (Folkways) -- File under Shepherd or under Service?

    File under Shepherd, since he's the one doing the talking.

    ...Born to Live, compiled and edited by Studs Terkel (Folkways) -- File under B for Born to Live, under T for Terkel, or under Various Artists and under B?

    So, there's several people on this album, and Terkel just compiled?

    Various artists, if it were me.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    the spoken word records are being filed where they fall in the alphabet...but there are always problems. Such as...

    ...Jean Shepherd Reads Poems of Robert Service (Folkways) -- File under Shepherd or under Service?

    File under Shepherd, since he's the one doing the talking.

    THIS ANSWER HAS BEEN ACCEPTED.[/b]

    ...Born to Live, compiled and edited by Studs Terkel (Folkways) -- File under B for Born to Live, under T for Terkel, or under Various Artists and under B?
    So, there's several people on this album, and Terkel just compiled?

    Various artists, if it were me.
    Right, it's basically a radio documentary that Terkel made. I have a feeling I might have one or two other Terkel records, which might make a little room in the T section between Teresa and Tes.

    The contemporary analogue would be if "This American Life" made records, would they be filed under T for "This American Life" under G for Ira Glass or under Various Artists?

    THIS ISSUE REQUIRES FURTHER STUDY.[/b]

  • Options
    By genre, then alpha (artist).

    45s have their own box based on genre as well.

  • RerogRerog 569 Posts
    Honestly, my records are organized based on drinking.

    As in, if I was really drunk, where would have I put this record at?

    Usually the answer is in the jazz section, with the sleeve sideways and the record scared, lonely, and cold somewhere near the couch.

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    ...Born to Live, compiled and edited by Studs Terkel (Folkways) -- File under B for Born to Live, under T for Terkel, or under Various Artists and under B?

    So, there's several people on this album, and Terkel just compiled?

    Various artists, if it were me.

    Right, it's basically a radio documentary that Terkel made. I have a feeling I might have one or two other Terkel records, which might make a little room in the T section between Teresa and Tes.

    The contemporary analogue would be if "This American Life" made records, would they be filed under T for "This American Life" under G for Ira Glass or under Various Artists?

    THIS ISSUE REQUIRES FURTHER STUDY.[/b]

    Is Studs Terkel the main voice we hear? Then I'd put it under "T" for Terkel.

    BUT...if it's a bunch of other people, and all Terkel did was produce it, or compile it, or announce it, or whatever..."various artists." Or "soundtracks," if you have a section for that. (Myself, I put what few multi-artist soundtracks I have - radio, TV, movie, whatever - in "various artists." Good enough for The Rolling Stone Record Guide, good enough for you and me.)

  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    Does Project 3, 101 Strings or Martin Denny type stuff get filed in Jazz?

  • By genre, then by artist, then by release date.

    + a few hundred unsorted on the floor.

    This has been my style for the past year or so, but in the present reorganization, I'm going straight a to z with a few exceptions:

    *various artists sorted by genre after z
    *nature records sorted by sound source (birds, frogs, humans) after various artists
    *Indian records sorted alphabetically after nature records (I have a gang of them from the 1960s, but I don't know enough about the artists or films to find them again if I filed them alphabetically)

    In the above scheme, the spoken word records are being filed where they fall in the alphabet...but there are always problems. Such as...

    ...Jean Shepherd Reads Poems of Robert Service (Folkways) -- File under Shepherd or under Service?

    ...Born to Live, compiled and edited by Studs Terkel (Folkways) -- File under B for Born to Live, under T for Terkel, or under Various Artists and under B?

    Sincere advice appreciated.

    Thanks,
    JRoot

    JRoot, I love the style of your collection. Just the notion that you have to have a section for critter records is rad to me. I have a small handful and love 'em.

    I'd file Terkel under spoken T. I assume that I'm going to want to grab the record because of Studs, not the depression era boozer/World War soldier he was interviewing.

    The Robert Service record gave me the same problem. I eventually went Spoken S.

    Again the database helps a bunch cuz you can just make an "extra data" cell for notes on hot tracks, producer you don't want to forget, or narrator name.

    I also have the problem you note with the Indian records. My country section includes some "international" that doesn't get the filing love because I'm unfamiliar. It's generally cover art recognition. Not sure what to do about that one.

    Good luck to all the people sucking down coffee in prep to play with records instead of going to work.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,954 Posts
    Rip 'em all and let the computer do the hard work

    b/w

    Spectral order.

  • high_chigh_c 1,384 Posts
    101 Strings

    in PSYCH broooooo

  • FatbackFatback 6,746 Posts
    101 Strings

    in PSYCH broooooo

    A Psych section would be a problem.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    Does Project 3, 101 Strings or Martin Denny type stuff get filed in Jazz?

    Quandaries like this, plus the nuisance associated with genre-specific expansion (e.g. if you outgrow a shelf in the jazz section, you then have to move the entire next section to accommodate the jazz section's growth), led me to abandon genre-specific filing in the current reorganization.

    I have enough problems with just alphabetical.

    Jean Shepherd Reads Poems by Robert Service is going under Shepherd

    The Studs Terkel production Born to Live is going under T in A to Z for now. I am contemplating the addition of a "History" section outside of A to Z, where Born to Live might end up making a permanent residence. The history section might be a problem genre, though ("Movement Soul" -- file under M in A to Z, in comps, or in history?), and I'm trying to get out from under problem genres. But the history section would be a good natural home for a few records (Life magazine 1968 year in review, Supersonics championship broadcast highlights, Man on the Moon, etc.). I'll have to examine the situation further.

    Any further advice or suggestions on the subject would be helpful.

    Thanks,
    JRoot

  • djsheepdjsheep 3,620 Posts
    I organize some records by country. Some stuff by label (CTI, Blue Note, etc.) Then I have your general US funk/soul, US jazz, 12"s, new funk, comps, hip-hop albums, 12"s, instrumental albums, etc.

    Basically, I think once you get to a point when you've got a crate or 2 worth of the same stuff of a similar vein, it's time to make a new section, makes life a hell of a lot easier, especially when you are pushing 15K plus....

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    Does Project 3, 101 Strings or Martin Denny type stuff get filed in Jazz?

    EASY LISTENING

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I'm wondering about Faux Rillz & artist broken by date. It must give a nice perspective for the artists you have a lotta records. But it seems like it'd be easier subfiling alphamebetimackally than hunting for a date.

    It's not usually that hard to find. And there aren't that many artists that I own more than two or three titles by.

  • JRootJRoot 861 Posts
    I'm wondering about Faux Rillz & artist broken by date. It must give a nice perspective for the artists you have a lotta records. But it seems like it'd be easier subfiling alphamebetimackally than hunting for a date.

    It's not usually that hard to find. And there aren't that many artists that I own more than two or three titles by.

    This is the right way to catalog the records by a single artist within an otherwise alphabetical system. The alphabet imposes order on the collection, but within a single artist, chronology is the proper way to file the records.

    As with all taxonomies, even chronlogy has its flaws. Do you file records by their release date? Or by the date that the music was recorded?

    Either way, it's not hard to find the records by a single artist when you file them chronologically within an otherwise a to z system.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I'm wondering about Faux Rillz & artist broken by date. It must give a nice perspective for the artists you have a lotta records. But it seems like it'd be easier subfiling alphamebetimackally than hunting for a date.

    It's not usually that hard to find. And there aren't that many artists that I own more than two or three titles by.

    This is the right way to catalog the records by a single artist within an otherwise alphabetical system. The alphabet imposes order on the collection, but within a single artist, chronology is the proper way to file the records.

    As with all taxonomies, even chronlogy has its flaws. Do you file records by their release date? Or by the date that the music was recorded?

    A good question.

    I go by when the music was recorded.

    My Whispers LP section would confound a novice.
Sign In or Register to comment.