Off-Topic: Cataloging your collection?

[monafam]

I was curious how you catalog your classical music collection?  Now that I have both a CD and growing MP3 classical music collection, I think I need to start getting all of these works in some sort of spreadsheet/database.

How do you keep track of yours?

[TerraEpon]

I have everything by individual piece in an OpenOffice Base file.

[Alan Howe]

Alphabetical order on my shelves does it for me - I know where everything is (just about). But I know I should catalogue my collection - someday...

[Amphissa]

 
I use a spreadsheet. I have to, because I have music collections in so many formats (CDs, LPs, SACDs, DVDs, and VHS videos) located in 3 different rooms. I try not to duplicate recordings by getting them in more than one format. So my spreadsheet not only lists every piece of music, but also the format and room.

The one thing that I failed to include in the spreadsheet and now regret is the label of the recording. There are times I want to identify which recordings I have on a particular label (like Russian Disc or Melodiya). And I do end up at times with more than one recording of the same work on different labels.

Another issue I have now confronted involves concert recordings (streamed on the web or radio broadcasts) that are collecting on my computer. I added a large hard drive just to accommodate these electronic files, but as yet, I've not decided whether to enter them into my spreadsheet. If I do, I fear the spreadsheet will explode!
 

[Peter1953]

I have a very simple Word document which lists all works on CD by composer in alphabetical order, and by opus number (first the opus number, or any other catalogue number like KV or D, followed by works without opus number). If I have more than one recording, I mention both.

Just an example (you can see that I also use my own language):

ALKAN, Charles-Valentin (1813-1888)

Concerto da camera in a, op. 10 nr. 1 (Marc-André Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins)
Concerto da camera in cis, op. 10 nr. 2 (Marc-André Hamelin, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins)
Grande fantaisie sur Don Juan uit de opera Don Giovanni (Mozart) pour piano à quatre-mains (Duo Alkan = Alberto Baldrighi en Anne Colette Ricciardi)


ALNÆS, Eyvind (1872-1932)

Pianoconcert in D, op. 27 (Piers Lane, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton)


And so on....

[Hofrat]

For years I have been looking for a nifty application/software that would catalog my CD collection.  I am still looking.

[mbhaub]

I created a large spreadsheet with pages for A - Z, then others for things like Collections, Conductors, Wind Band, and other harder to classify. For each entry in the normal composer section I have the composer's name, title of work(s), label, stock number, performer/orchestra/conductor and finally purchase date. I enter the material manually before putting on the shelves which are orgaized identically. It works fine for me, and I can also transfer the file to my Pocket PC which I travel with so I can consult it when I'm in cd shops.

I have tried a custom built data base program (Classi Cat?) but it didn't organize the same way I do and the way my brain works. When I started collecting cds I wrote my own data base using DbaseIII but soon it became apparent that this wasn't working either, so I switched to Excel and have updated and maintained it the same way since. Cataloging classical collections is a difficult and personal choice, and we all probably have the same issues on iPods.

We also tend to catalog based on the ways shops stock cds. My method is no doubt modelled after Tower Records or HMV. For a long time I even kept operas in a separate section, but no more. One friend who has amassed some 15,000 cds modeled it after the larger Wherehouse Records style: by labels, then numbers. Doesn't work for me at all, but he likes it.

[John H White]

I personally, operate a sort of random access system. It can turn out to be quite an adventure attempting to locate a particular CD from various shelves and hiding holes scattered around my house! Of course, I do have a rough idea in my head where most of them are and I do try as best I can to group pieces by the same composer or of the same type together.

[Kevin Pearson]

The easiest and best method I know of is from Colectorz.com. You can easily add your entire library to the database. You can then upload your database in html to the internet or upload it to your I-phone as a music application. When you enter a title the software searches onlune databases and adds the title and album images to your data. The cost is very reasonable too! I think you can even download a trial version so you can see if you like it. I own the movie version too and they provide free updates through so many versions of the software.

http://www.collectorz.com/music/

Kevin

[mbhaub]

The problem with that is that there are so many older cds not in these online databases. Sometimes the database comes up with nothing, but what's worse is they come back with information that's totally wrong. Same thing happens when my Zune updates automatically. I had an old cd that I had no cover art for, which was fine. On the last auto update, it gained cover art: but I don't think Dancin' to the 80's Hits was quite fitting for Sibelius' 5th.

[Kevin Pearson]

Well, one thing Collectorz lets you do is view the data before you enter it into the database. That way you can make sure you have the correct title. Seems to work pretty well as far as I can tell and I have some old CDs in my collection.

Kevin

[TerraEpon]

I hate the inclination to catalog toward "albums", because with classical music, the "album" isn't the point. It's MUCH easiler to know what I actual have when all individual pieces are seperate, and it allows for a lot of info (instrumentation for instance) that any sort of online database simply won't have.

Incidently, I *do* keep a very simple listing of all my CDs (classical and not) in the order they are on the shelf, but that's nothing majorly detailed, and it's mostly for letting me decide what to listen to, and to be sure I don't buy a duplicate by accident (which I'm happy to say I've only ever done once)

[Ilja]

I've sort-of bypassed the problem by making the physical CDs an irrelevance. The problem for me used to be that CDs only constitute a part of my music collection; much is radio dubs or other forms. All my music is now in iTunes, and I consider the original CDs to be a form of backup (although I keep a digital backup as well). They're safely stored away in a location I don't look into that often. Exporting a list from iTunes is not ideal but it does the job. It is crucial to keep your ID3 tags consistent, though.

[monafam]

As always thanks for all the posts.  It's interesting how many different methods we all employ.   I get a little miffed at the way many of my MP3s are based on the conductor or performer.  While these are important facets, ultimately the composer is the most important to me -- so sometimes I have to mess around to get it in the folder or catalog that I want.