How do you organize your library?

[RobDeLarge]

This topic is giving me a major headache right now, I think genres is the only way to go though, and just use "mixed in keys" (for me that is).

I guess it's like Ean says, we just gotta find our own individual ways of organizing.
I do prefer to keep the library small though and get rid of stuff I'll never play, not throw away since it costs money, but just store stuff in a separate folder that you don't use.

Any new points on this, guys n' girls?

Best regards

Rob

[psyEDk]

This topic is giving me a major headache right now, I think genres is the only way to go though, and just use "mixed in keys" (for me that is).

That's more or less the system i use

I have my mix folder sorted into \psy, \tek, \trnz, and \brks, with all tracks tagged with key and bpm. For the most part i rely on letting KEY and BPM guide me as to what will mix well, and from there my knowledge of the matching tracks lets me decide where to take the mix.

I think any further organisation would just get in the way for me.
I'd stop actually mixing music and instead begin playing specific tracks in an order based on some kind of archaic sorting criteria.

[TABS]

Mine is... Random, Club Shit, Radio Shit, Club RMX, Hood RMX.

Like stated earlier...it's organized in my head not on the computer.

[tauket2]

i sort my music strictly by BPM. I have the following folders:

under 100
100-110
110-120
120-130
130-140
140+

i let my ears do the rest.

[theory28]

mine is kinda like
playlists based on genre
a playlist called 'gig music' (in other words top 40 type stuff)
a pre planned set or 2
and a 'frequently played' playlist

then i click on the bpm to sort them like that
i tend to associate my music to its bpm. for example i might have played song x an hour ago, but i cant think of the name because i dont play it much, well i can remember that i played song x when i was in the 130 range, so i go there and look for it

this works well when i play stuff from the 'gig music' folder/playlist

EDIT: i absolutely hate when i accidentally move the location of a song!!!! i also might think 'oh yeah, i cant remember the name of song x, but it was right next to song y.' but if it got moved....

[MiL0]

I've tried various methods over the years and settled on this one:

I have my mp3s split into four folders:

Complete albums
Singles
Current
Incoming
(I also have a "mixes" folder but this isn't relevant to the discussion)

The first two folders ("Complete albums" and "Singles") have folders for each genre ("electronica", "dnb", "hiphop", "house/techno", etc) followed by subgenre and then 26 folders for each alphabet letter (Prodigy go in the "P" folder etc). These two folders have the entire bulk of my mp3 collection and are used as a storage library for my entire music collection.

The 2nd two folders ("Incoming" and "Current") are setup differently. They both have folders with month and then year (April 2010, May 2010, etc). Incoming is temporarily used for music that's recently purchased/downloaded and that needs to be sorted. Current is where I store my Traktor collections. Within "Current" I'll have the following folder structure:

Current
- April 2010
-- Genre
--- Artist - Title.mp3

Within Traktor I'll have my "Current" folders setup as playlists. I usually use iTunes, mp3gain, mixedinkey and various mp3 tag editors to setup the playlists beforehand.

Finally, I also have a "wanted" folder where I keep mixcuts, lofi previews, etc of tunes that I need to find/buy.

What I wish is that Microsoft had created Win-FS as they had promised all those years ago. Windows seriously needs a relational database style filing system... it's impossible to properly manage your files these days imo.

[completej]

With iTunes, folder organization went out the window. Tag your files, dump them into the normal iTunes folder, then just create smart playlists based off of everything mentioned already in this thread. Play your tracklist through traktor, or deviate using a search / sort, and you're golden.

I used to slap the key in front of the artists name, but when that screwed up adding additional tags / artwork, I moved those to comments.

edit: also, holy zombie thread batman

[BradCee]

how do you organize your library?

i don't

how do you find tracks instantly?

i guess


honestly

[K.LINE]

I've used the same method for awhile, although it works well, I have thought about organizing it a little more.

- I take all new tracks and listen to them (Obviously)

- If I think they are dance worthy but don't exactly 'blow my mind' then I put them in a general genre of "[ Dance ]"

- If the song is a 'banger' or I really like it then I put it in a genre I call "[ x Best ]" and I also put an x before the track name (so in Traktor, if I have a mixed playlist I can sort by name and all the x, best/favorite, tracks will group.)

example - "x Rock (Ft. Hot Pink Delorean)" With the Artist Name "Mustard Pimp"

Lately I have also been putting a general description in iTunes under the comments section and write something like 'Disco' if its a disco-type track. So in Traktor if I feel like throwing a disco-ish track on I can sort by comments and find what I need.

[keithace]

when it was vinyl it was easy...its location in the box...

when it was CDs it was easy also...just number everything...

i am a new convert...its broad terms now "beach house" and "club" and "club2" thats it...i can fish for everything else...i can also sort by bpm or otherwise on the fly...dont make it harder...