How do you organise different genres on your USBs?
Yay to having an expanding music collection, but the headache of organising this on my USB (in a way that lets me quickly and effectively navigate playlists when I’m mixing) has reached a point where I just need help.
I currently only have one USB, which contains 12+ playlists. Music is grouped into playlists according to mood and time of night (and genre for some), e.g. rugged, big room techno, deep and driving, hard and driving, peak euphoric, peak longing etc. This was fine when my collection was smaller, but I’m now finding it very hard to manage, especially because the genre spectrum I play with is getting wider and wider.
Should I be splitting genres onto different USBs then subdividing into mood? Should each USB contain a more limited selection? Is there generally a more effective way to organise this??
As always, warmly and humbly appreciating any advice.
I do file structure by date to start off with. YYMM or for this months example, 1803. This let’s me keep it all based on when I bought it. Then I transfer these folders into their own playlists. Beyond that, I’m in the middle of ingesting and reorganizing all my music, but almost done.
Once completed, I’ll have all my genre’s specified to how they fit MY definitions. On top of that, I’ll have keywords in the comment field via rekordbox’s system. Redundant, but I’ll enter genre’s a second time, if they have another genre they would mix well with or possibly fit in with, I’ll add that one in too. Then add keywords like vocal, lyrical, cover, warm up, peak, classic, etc.
Then, from there, I’ll do the same and create new smart/intelligent playlists pulling from my entire collection. Warm-up Soulful House, wind up/down Soulful House, Peak Soulful House, and keep going for all the genres I play. That should leave me with lots of playlists, but deep enough to give variety within them. Then with the current month, I’ll simply search by genre and see if the current months new purchases work. Then update my playlists at the end of the month with the new months tunes accordingly.
I tend to put mine in folders that fit my definition, and bring along a limited selection for the night (say 100 tracks or), with a backup/alternative or two in another location/usb/harddrive - that way you’re not overwhelmed with tracks, but have options for changing the mood.
If you can get the vibe of the gig down beforehand bringing all of your music isn’t necessary, but in your case I’d maybe start by seeing if you could cut down the playlist amount/split it up between two drives and go from there? It’s a tough call, because having the ability to play anything that comes to mind is nice too.
This is really insightful, thanks. I’ve not played around with Intelligent Playlists yet, because I’m yet to really understand the value of them. They simply automate the process, right? So you’re not always having to create playlists from scratch.
Are you keeping all of these playlists on one USB? Sounds like you have a comprehensive system, but it still feels overwhelming when all on one drive.
This is ace. Nice to have an exact number to aim for and to know that 2 drives is sensible. I guess the first drive would be what you think you’ll definitely be wanting to play, and the second is your wildcards? I find myself often in situations where the melodic/proggy stuff is relevant, so I can maybe shift this all to one, and have the other for everything else…or something like that?
It’s a mine field I’ve reorganised the drive about 3 times in the last 6 months, and each time it gets both easier and harder.
I’ve reorganised the drive about 3 times in the last 6 months, and each time it gets both easier and harder.