Music Collection
So, I was hoping for opinions: Is it better to have a large collection of tracks for mixing, but being less comfortable and practiced with all of them. Or, is it better to have a small collection you’re comfortable with and know like the back of your hand?
I personally have 5 days worth of cued and mixable tracks that i know well, and 7 days worth of tracks i have no clue about. some i haven’t even heard past the intro.
I think it’s better to have a smaller amount of tracks that you know well, but you’ll probably never know all of your tracks to the same degree. That’s where the comment filed and different rating methods come in handy.
Oh, and welcome to the site. 
Well think of it this way, when vinyl was almost the only format, most people couldn’t afford to buy loads of records so what they did have they knew inside out.
But that’s the problem with technology, people have mass music collections and only know a fraction of their collection inside out (if that!)
So my opinion is to have a smaller music collection and know the tunes like the back of your hand.
Im not saying technology and large music collections are a bad thing though. i have a friend who has a huge music collection, he spends a fortune on tunes. He probably has thousands upon thousands of tracks and to be honest he knows nearly them all inside out because he listens to music non stop.
So it is possible to have a large collection and know them inside out, but my preference is smaller the better.
Im one to forget what some songs sound like so I like having a small collection.
I like Armin’s way of his collection he brings to clubs, 1 track per cd and only brings 300 disks. Probably what I will end up doing.
I too had to figure out a solution to this and came up with just better organization…starting using itunes and added extensive “tags” into the genre field along with rated each song. here’s what i posted up on another thread:
[quote]I have found my techniques for music organization is ever changing and evolving…at this point I have ventured over to the dark side (itunes) yes the dark side lol and basically tell itunes to organize all of my actual folders. I go through all my music on itunes and get pretty creative with the genre tagging. genre/sub-genre/another sub-genre.
examples:
House/Electro
House/Electro/Progressive
House/Progressive/Funky
etc…
the real benefit of taking this approach is the use of dynamic or “smart playlist” where you can setup rules for a playlist. Songs which tags or other info which match these rules automatically get placed into the corresponding playlist.
So you make a smart playlist to say automatically fill this list with songs which have “house” and/or “electro” in the genre tag. Also only place songs with a rating better than 4 stars and a BPM of between 125 and 135…see where im going with this? This makes looking for a certain sound or style much easier and faster when I’m in the middle of playing a set and ultimately keeps you and your music much much more organized and easier managed.[/quote]
Thank you for the welcome 
big or small collection its all comes down to how you setup you music. Folders/playlist/crates always help me
I like that idea, it seems like i do that already. Except i rate the stars by mixibility (yes i made that up), which is nice because songs that have no breakdowns, complex beats, etc. are easily spotted. But it seems like if i was to narrow down my collection i wouldnt have to worry about it.
I dont want to part with my songs though 
I dont want my sets to suffer from it either.
The size of the collection doesn’t really matter imo. But, to be an effective DJ you must know your tracks inside and out.
I tend to be a month behind with my music for the most part now. I usually acquire 30 - 50 tracks a month and listen to those tunes on my commute to work, grocery shopping, dancing around at home with the kids… Really anytime Im listening to music it’s those 30 - 50 tracks 90% of the time. When Im mixing (usually about 2 hours a day when the kids goto bed some times an hour or so in the mornings before anyone is up) I use the tracks from the previous month…
This works out for me because I only play out once a year now (NYE) and stream live once or twice a month…
30 tracks you know inside out vs 6000 tracks you’ve never heard … hmmm
quality over quantity baby
^ This
While I have well over 40,000 tracks in itunes, with over 65% of them mixable tracks, I only have 1500 tracks in my Traktor library. I’m trying to be very selective about what I have immediately available in Traktor. It’s a DJ’s job to distill the myriad of tracks available nowadays down to the choice bits that help define your own unique sound.
I concur - problem is the ‘convenience factor’ @ beatport/juno et al. It’s too damn easy to ‘add to shopping basket’. I also find I have transient moments of madness - went on a Wighnomy Brothers/Kenneth Bager spending spree - NEVER played them since, but at the time they sounded essential.
in angry sensei voice
no collection.
by microphone and hum music.
no beatbox.
hum.
If you dont have an actual “emotional” connection to that track you just cued up…
How on earth do you expect to transfer your emotional energy to the crowd?
From what I have seen (and honestly how I started as well), those who start in digital with no collection of music in their genre of choice go about building their collection ALL WRONG.
They go with the:
Start with a huge volume, and filter down to the good stuff.
This never ends up working. You RARELY put in the effort to really filter out the stuff that means nothing to you (your like: maybe I will find some reason to use that track…)
Its like some kind of wierd moral obligation to that track you downloaded, like you are offending the artist by deleting it… I dunno, just random musing from how I had fealt.
I find it much better to start by LISTENING.
I really find Pandora has been a remarkable music research tool…
I start a station with a track whos feel real embodies the sound that I like, and wait for really good tracks to come on that I have never heard.
Then I stop, and write down the track name, artist, and release.
After a few weeks I have 20-30 tracks in that list, with 2-4 artist I had never heard of before, that produce music that is EXACTLY what I am into.
Then I start building my collection on those tracks that excited MY interest.
So now my collection is FULL of tracks that I have an actual viscerel connection to, and it is a truly unuiqe experience to navigate through such a playlist…
…as compared to a folder with 1000 tracks that I dont know.
Yai my first post reached 2 pages! :3
Lots of different opinions, very awesome.
most of the songs in my collection i have an attachment with and know well, but i do feel somewhat obligated and such to use the tracks i download. I need to get over that… hmm
TIME TO PURGE TRAKTOR!
A good mentality to have..
And you dont have to really get rid of anything…
Just start a new playlist, and start listening to your huge collection, and only put tracks that really make YOU go “Damn!” in your new play-list.
As you are working out track combos, you might get inspirations like:
O damn!!! That track I kinda wasnt really feeling is going to be the PERFECT duet couple for another track that just doesnt have enough energy by itself…
Thats when the fun really begins, your own personal preference in music starts triggering ideas in your head… And it realy takes time listening to stuff that you really “feel” to build that arsenal.
Good luck, and happy travels!
I totally get sidetracked though..
Ill be like oooh thatll go with this but then 10 other songs will to 
i know you cant put ten songs with one song. so idk, im definitely using the playlist ideal though