I'm still on that genre/alphabetical steez. For simplicity's sake, I keep my genres pretty broad:
rap
funk/soul
rock
jazz
And then I have an unorganized section called "oddball" which is all that other stuff--children's records, spoken word, comedy, those "Steel Drums of the Caribbean" type joints, etc.
That's for albums and 12s. For 45s, there are exactly two groups:
stuff I would play at a gig
stuff I would not play at a gig
And there is no organization whatsoever within those two groups. I somehow just know roughly where everything is.
I have my collection sectioned off on my shelf by genre for the most part.,
soul/funk/R&B
Jazz
Rock
Hip-Hop
Those are all sorted A-Z
Then I have 4 boxes on the ground filled up. 3 boxes with new finds to go through before they are filed away, then the last box is for records I found a sample on I want to use.
Also under my table setup I have a crate filled with spoken word/random samples records. There are also some random stacks of classical/country/random whatever records in random parts of my record room. Those are out of the way since they don't get as much attention.
In my living room I have a big shelf filled with more popular records or doubles of all genres. That shelf doesn't have really any organization whatsoever.
At times it seems like it's just a huge mess in my record room, until I try and clean everything up and realize I'm fine with the way its all set up.
I like the idea of an empty space for Norwegian Death Metal. It's like an empty plate for Jesus at the dinner table. Just in case he shows up, allthough you secretly know he never will.
My filing system:
1. Genre
2. Country
3. Labels (organised on catalogue number re: Blue Notes and Impulse)
4. Artist (depending on quantity)
5. Reissues and comps (any genre) are filed seperately
my system was along the lines of Stacks' - genre -> big name artists together, then small artists bunched by style/sub-genre. Makes it easy to find things based on what you feel like listening, and also made it easy for friends who came over and wanted to thumb through and see what else I had in a specific style, like samba or forró. Alphabetical wouldn't work for me as makes no sense to have Lightinin' Hopkins and Lightning Bolt next to each other.
the whole system came crumbling down when I moved a few years ago, and I attempted to re-organize but a cleaning lady came over one day and did a mega shuffle in an attempt to clean behind the records. Things have been a mess since then, the only discernible piles being stuff I've been listening to recently and the triage of things I pull when digging which I split into keepers, things to sell, and things to swap back with the dudes I buy from.
I guess the genre dividing makes sense if you are dealing with tens of thousands of records, my collection is "only" around three thousand 12" & LP's and I'm not a record store so it doesn't seem that hard for me to find stuff when I want it (although the other day I was trying to remember which comp I have with "Water Get No Enemy" on it and got stumped). I kind of like the idea of artists intermingling anyway, I can look on my shelf now and see Adam Ant into Anthrax into Antibalas into Apollonia 6 into Arctic Monkeys into The Arsonists and that seems to make sense as a reflection of my tastes.
My eye is twitching just from reading this thread. I was going to say that I am more or less organized with an 'alphabetized cannon' that dominates the vast majority of records but then realized all of my caveats - dance 12's, hip-hop singles and LPs, soundtracks, classical, then like four shelves of unorganized-in-waiting for me to move all the letters down in the alphabetical section to make room. Still the general idea, I think, works - in that I have a large section of most kinds of records where a normal person could chance upon my albums and find what they were looking for.
Hey all -- lurker here, who was interested to read what you folks do with organizing the collections.
I thought my setup was relatively simple but when I typed it out it seems more complicated.
Here's how mine's organized:
Box sets
Jazz/other instrumental (alphabetical)
Japanese jazz (alphabetical)
Brazilian (alphabetical)
Other non-rap (soul/funk/rock/etc.) (alphabetical)
Rap
-dudes I have lots of records by (grouped by artist/group -- includes records by other artists that I associate with one of these dudes, e.g. they produced/remixed a track)
-Canadian rap (chronological)
-other (alphabetical)
"Neo-soul" (cringe at that genre title) (grouped by artist/group)
Comps (excluding Brazilian/Japanese/Canadian rap, which are in those sections)
7"s/10"s (not many of these)
Records I had to move out of the living room (no organization whatsoever -- the shelves are full, so anytime new records come in some records have to go out -- I revisit these about 2x/year to see what's worth keeping/what I won't miss)
- Avant/Classical, alphabetical by composer
- Soundtracks/Sound Library/Sound Effects (mostly bird songs), not in any order.
- Crusty Anglo/Euro Rock, alphabetical with certain scenes having their own section.
- Non-Anglo Rock (mostly psych/hard rock), by country with chunks of certain artists together
(for example all of my Luis Alberto Spinetta related together)
- Latin, not alphabetized
- Brazilian, not alphabetized but all Bossa is together and favorites like Marcos Valle have their own section.
- African, not alphabetized but comps and Fela have their own section.
- Bollywood, not alphabetized
- Jazz, Alphabetized
- Ethnographic/Field Recordings, not alphabetized but certain countries separated. Should probably redo by label
- Blues/Folk/Country, not alphabetized but certain artists have their own section
- Reggae, not alphabetized but Dub, Lee Perry and 60's each have their own section
- Soul, Alphabetized w/ P-Funk, JB and Meters each have their own section
- Weird
- Three shelves and numerous boxes of unsorted stuff yet to be filed
- 45s by genre/country or unsorted.
In the sections not strictly alphabetized, I tend to put certain 'moods' together, hence Bossa or Dub being separated so I can find things when I want a certain feel.
Total around 7000 LPs and 2000 45s. Would like to trim down by at least 30%.
i do it like big stacks the exception being that when i do a mixtape all those records stay grouped together thereafter
I've currently got a wack of these piles I need to file back uggh. Same with Djing or radio, I pull and then they stay out unless they go right back in, pain in zee butt. I actually turn down playing out sometimes cuz I can't face the chaos. I must be getting crusty.
Alphabetical order by genre. I try not to be too anal about it.
Rock
Blues
Reggae
Rap
Jazz
Soul/Funk
Punk Rock
Latin/Brasil/Other
Comps
The Rest/Oddball
Plus the few hundred that are unsorted [my favorite pile]
Same deal with the 45s except for the random ones that I have by my turntable.
I'm with Loopdreams about djing out because I would have to destroy my organization. If I had more room for my records I wouldn't care as much. I HATE not being able to find one of my records though. Very frustrating.
in genres . soul funk lp's alphabetical , jazz lp's alphabetical , libraries , soundtracks , disco funk 12"s , hip hop 12"s , hip hop lp's , easy listening , rock , latin , soul funk 45's are in boxes alphabetical label ..
I have no real "system" for organizing my records and I don't know how many I actually own. I use only the old school milk crates for storage. Some of them have the metal rings that went around the top to make them sturdier. I currently have 20 crates, only two of them are being used as bases for my "speaker stands" (that are actually just a cheaply made breakfast nook barstool on top of a milk crate) Anywhoo, that leaves me with 6 stacks of 3 milk crates stacked on each other. 2 on their sides and the top one facing upward, and 2 crates worth of records on the floor. Historically, I would group together by artist and then genre, but I got lazy and the collection was arranged by when they were purchased. That meant that instead of looking for an alphabetized list of names and categories, I would have to remember that I bought my copy of Herbie Hancock "Sunlight" when I went to Cuba on holiday because that album isn't with my other Herbie stuff. (It's an Areito Records pressing that I bought at that, "now made famous by Gilles"Havana Cultura" Peterson" dig spot on Calle Neptuno, in Havana. I dug there mere MONTHS before he did back in 2008, or 09. Found ONE mention of the spot in a travel blog or something while doing research before my trip. All the guy said in his post from 2004 was that he had stumbled upon the place while walking in downtown Havana, away from the touristy stuff.) You get it? If I go back to the Sault to visit the family for Xmas or some shit, I'll go to my fave dig spot that I went to when I lived there and the stuff I bought then will stay grouped that way regardless of genre or artist. That's if I don't shuffle them in some random way whilst moving into a new apartment or after a purge (still have to actually purge, but they are all in the same crates and location in the stacks) or like Kala, after making a compilation mix or playing out, staying grouped by that moment in time that I last listened to them. I realize now, that I have adopted a type of "High Fidelity" autobiographical organizing system.
I usually keep records that have been bought on a certain trip or dig together for a few months. That will become one of the piles of records sitting around the living room. I have never thought seriously about keeping my whole collection this way, for obvious reasons. But I do feel a bit of sadness when I have to split them up and shelve them.
I respect your impractical but highly personal system!! :D
Alphabetical organization is kinda lame to me, but for some people doin it that way works perfectly.
My stuff is mostly organized by geography (modern nation-states), then by labels within each country, and within labels by catalog number. This gets a little tricky sometimes, but overall not really an issue for the type of stuff I collect. Haitian and Reggae things are in their own sections, even if they were recorded in New York or Florida or what have you, so I guess those are exceptions. There are also some genre sections as below...
NYC Salsa
Major Label Latin Jazz
California / Arizona / NM / Texas / Midwest / NYC / Florida
Cuba / Haiti / DR / PR / Reggae
Mixed Caribbean
Mexico / El Salvador / Nicaragua / Costa Rica / Panama
Colombia / Venezuela
Peru / Bolivia
Brazil / Uruguay / Argentina
European Jazz / Kraut / European Ethnic
African
Turkish / Mixed Middle Eastern / Iranian / Indian / Mixed Asian
Eastern-style Jazz / Impulse Jazz / Blue Note / Etc jazz
Rock / Psych / Punk / Ska / New Wave / Post Punk
Jazz Funk / Soul / OSTs
Rap / Disco 12"s
I sorta envy you dudes that have use for such specific sections!!
If my completionist collectro game was stronger I would probably get into dividing by labels or country. It makes a lot of sense. Especially as a way of showing off the breadth of your crates!
I organize by genre. I place associated artists together (e.g., Rotary Connection is placed behind the Minnie Riperton LPs, same with Junie Morrision and the Ohio Players). I have the following scheme to organizing my records:
1. Jazz is organized by instrument. The sections are broken down as follows: Sax/other woodwinds, trumpet/trombone, piano traditional, piano progressive, organ, guitar, bass/strings, vibes, drums/percussion, jazz groups, jazz vocalists.
2. Soul and R&B are broken down as well:
-Male vocalists ('My favorites' like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, etc.).
-Male vocalists ('Traditional soul' such as David Porter, Wilson Pickett, etc.).
-Male vocalists ('R&B' like Leroy Hutson, DJ Rogers, Clifford Coulter, etc.).
-Female vocalists/groups ('Traditional soul' such as Aretha Franklin, Betty Everett, Fontella Bass, Honey Cone, The Patterson Singers).
-Female vocalists/groups ('R&B' such as Evelyn 'Champagne' King, Deniece Williams, The Emotions).
-Male groups ('My Favorites' such as Parliament/Funkadelic, The Ohio Players, War, etc.)
-Male groups ('Traditional soul' like The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Originals, etc.).
-Male groups ('R&B' such as Pleasure, One Way, Zapp, etc.).
16. Blues (thanks for the cue, PCMR, forgot this category).
17. Children's records.
18. Classical.
19. Gospel.
20. Compilations.
21. 45's.
I do not have the LPs alphabetized as I am too lazy to do so.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
:face_melt:
Impressive. After I filled my first Expedit (4x4), alphabetically by artist last name / group name, I stopped trying. My other Expedit shelves afterwards are roughly sorted by 12" singles, albums I've already listened to, and albums I haven't listened to yet.
Big_Stacks"I don't worry about hittin' power, cause I don't give 'em nuttin' to hit." 4,670 Posts
rain103 said:
Big_Stacks said:
Hey Raj,
I organize by genre. I place associated artists together (e.g., Rotary Connection is placed behind the Minnie Riperton LPs, same with Junie Morrision and the Ohio Players). I have the following scheme to organizing my records:
1. Jazz is organized by instrument. The sections are broken down as follows: Sax/other woodwinds, trumpet/trombone, piano traditional, piano progressive, organ, guitar, bass/strings, vibes, drums/percussion, jazz groups, jazz vocalists.
2. Soul and R&B are broken down as well:
-Male vocalists ('My favorites' like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, etc.).
-Male vocalists ('Traditional soul' such as David Porter, Wilson Pickett, etc.).
-Male vocalists ('R&B' like Leroy Hutson, DJ Rogers, Clifford Coulter, etc.).
-Female vocalists/groups ('Traditional soul' such as Aretha Franklin, Betty Everett, Fontella Bass, Honey Cone, The Patterson Singers).
-Female vocalists/groups ('R&B' such as Evelyn 'Champagne' King, Deniece Williams, The Emotions).
-Male groups ('My Favorites' such as Parliament/Funkadelic, The Ohio Players, War, etc.)
-Male groups ('Traditional soul' like The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Originals, etc.).
-Male groups ('R&B' such as Pleasure, One Way, Zapp, etc.).
16. Blues (thanks for the cue, PCMR, forgot this category).
17. Children's records.
18. Classical.
19. Gospel.
20. Compilations.
21. 45's.
I do not have the LPs alphabetized as I am too lazy to do so.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
:face_melt:
Impressive. After I filled my first Expedit (4x4), alphabetically by artist last name / group name, I stopped trying. My other Expedit shelves afterwards are roughly sorted by 12" singles, albums I've already listened to, and albums I haven't listened to yet.
Thanks Rain103. Accumulation is inevitable since I have had records for 40 years and I'm still collecting. I have to keep it organized in some kind of fashion to keep it manageable.
Comments
rap
funk/soul
rock
jazz
And then I have an unorganized section called "oddball" which is all that other stuff--children's records, spoken word, comedy, those "Steel Drums of the Caribbean" type joints, etc.
That's for albums and 12s. For 45s, there are exactly two groups:
stuff I would play at a gig
stuff I would not play at a gig
And there is no organization whatsoever within those two groups. I somehow just know roughly where everything is.
soul/funk/R&B
Jazz
Rock
Hip-Hop
Those are all sorted A-Z
Then I have 4 boxes on the ground filled up. 3 boxes with new finds to go through before they are filed away, then the last box is for records I found a sample on I want to use.
Also under my table setup I have a crate filled with spoken word/random samples records. There are also some random stacks of classical/country/random whatever records in random parts of my record room. Those are out of the way since they don't get as much attention.
In my living room I have a big shelf filled with more popular records or doubles of all genres. That shelf doesn't have really any organization whatsoever.
At times it seems like it's just a huge mess in my record room, until I try and clean everything up and realize I'm fine with the way its all set up.
My filing system:
1. Genre
2. Country
3. Labels (organised on catalogue number re: Blue Notes and Impulse)
4. Artist (depending on quantity)
5. Reissues and comps (any genre) are filed seperately
the whole system came crumbling down when I moved a few years ago, and I attempted to re-organize but a cleaning lady came over one day and did a mega shuffle in an attempt to clean behind the records. Things have been a mess since then, the only discernible piles being stuff I've been listening to recently and the triage of things I pull when digging which I split into keepers, things to sell, and things to swap back with the dudes I buy from.
I thought my setup was relatively simple but when I typed it out it seems more complicated.
Here's how mine's organized:
Box sets
Jazz/other instrumental (alphabetical)
Japanese jazz (alphabetical)
Brazilian (alphabetical)
Other non-rap (soul/funk/rock/etc.) (alphabetical)
Rap
-dudes I have lots of records by (grouped by artist/group -- includes records by other artists that I associate with one of these dudes, e.g. they produced/remixed a track)
-Canadian rap (chronological)
-other (alphabetical)
"Neo-soul" (cringe at that genre title) (grouped by artist/group)
Comps (excluding Brazilian/Japanese/Canadian rap, which are in those sections)
7"s/10"s (not many of these)
Records I had to move out of the living room (no organization whatsoever -- the shelves are full, so anytime new records come in some records have to go out -- I revisit these about 2x/year to see what's worth keeping/what I won't miss)
Some of you dudes got a lot of records.
EDIT - And clearly SKEL wins for best approach.
- Avant/Classical, alphabetical by composer
- Soundtracks/Sound Library/Sound Effects (mostly bird songs), not in any order.
- Crusty Anglo/Euro Rock, alphabetical with certain scenes having their own section.
- Non-Anglo Rock (mostly psych/hard rock), by country with chunks of certain artists together
(for example all of my Luis Alberto Spinetta related together)
- Latin, not alphabetized
- Brazilian, not alphabetized but all Bossa is together and favorites like Marcos Valle have their own section.
- African, not alphabetized but comps and Fela have their own section.
- Bollywood, not alphabetized
- Jazz, Alphabetized
- Ethnographic/Field Recordings, not alphabetized but certain countries separated. Should probably redo by label
- Blues/Folk/Country, not alphabetized but certain artists have their own section
- Reggae, not alphabetized but Dub, Lee Perry and 60's each have their own section
- Soul, Alphabetized w/ P-Funk, JB and Meters each have their own section
- Weird
- Three shelves and numerous boxes of unsorted stuff yet to be filed
- 45s by genre/country or unsorted.
In the sections not strictly alphabetized, I tend to put certain 'moods' together, hence Bossa or Dub being separated so I can find things when I want a certain feel.
Total around 7000 LPs and 2000 45s. Would like to trim down by at least 30%.
I've currently got a wack of these piles I need to file back uggh. Same with Djing or radio, I pull and then they stay out unless they go right back in, pain in zee butt. I actually turn down playing out sometimes cuz I can't face the chaos. I must be getting crusty.
Rock
Blues
Reggae
Rap
Jazz
Soul/Funk
Punk Rock
Latin/Brasil/Other
Comps
The Rest/Oddball
Plus the few hundred that are unsorted [my favorite pile]
Same deal with the 45s except for the random ones that I have by my turntable.
I'm with Loopdreams about djing out because I would have to destroy my organization. If I had more room for my records I wouldn't care as much. I HATE not being able to find one of my records though. Very frustrating.
Jazz
African
Reggae
Brazilian
Latin
Soul/funk
Krautrock
Rock
Post '85 Rock
Children's records
OSTs
Hip hop
Jazz is my largest section and I've been thinking about creating a japanese jazz and euro jazz section.
NWA
Eazy-E
Dre
Snoop
Ice Cube
Da Lenchmob
Del (Ice Cube's cousin)
Souls
Casual
Extra Pro
etc. (all the way down)
I respect your impractical but highly personal system!! :D
My stuff is mostly organized by geography (modern nation-states), then by labels within each country, and within labels by catalog number. This gets a little tricky sometimes, but overall not really an issue for the type of stuff I collect. Haitian and Reggae things are in their own sections, even if they were recorded in New York or Florida or what have you, so I guess those are exceptions. There are also some genre sections as below...
Major Label Latin Jazz
California / Arizona / NM / Texas / Midwest / NYC / Florida
Cuba / Haiti / DR / PR / Reggae
Mixed Caribbean
Mexico / El Salvador / Nicaragua / Costa Rica / Panama
Colombia / Venezuela
Peru / Bolivia
Brazil / Uruguay / Argentina
European Jazz / Kraut / European Ethnic
African
Turkish / Mixed Middle Eastern / Iranian / Indian / Mixed Asian
Eastern-style Jazz / Impulse Jazz / Blue Note / Etc jazz
Rock / Psych / Punk / Ska / New Wave / Post Punk
Jazz Funk / Soul / OSTs
Rap / Disco 12"s
If my completionist collectro game was stronger I would probably get into dividing by labels or country. It makes a lot of sense. Especially as a way of showing off the breadth of your crates!
:face_melt:
Impressive. After I filled my first Expedit (4x4), alphabetically by artist last name / group name, I stopped trying. My other Expedit shelves afterwards are roughly sorted by 12" singles, albums I've already listened to, and albums I haven't listened to yet.
Thanks Rain103. Accumulation is inevitable since I have had records for 40 years and I'm still collecting. I have to keep it organized in some kind of fashion to keep it manageable.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak