For the first time in a couple of years, I am caught up with filing my CDs and an attempt at a count of the collection. Over the last month I have been filing CDs in stupid piles and long trains on the floor into the potpourri of shelves - some of wood but most of the 4- or 5-tiered plastic variety - and now I have them organized, up off the floor and integrated into the overall collection, and THAT IS GOOD.…
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26 - Mark Saleski
i thought about doing it before "the rack".
North Country Audio sells some nice and quite inexpensive sleeves that open like old lps.
but then i couldn't figure out how i'd go through the cds on the shelves to find something...because the sleeves are sorta 'spineless'.
i caved and made "the rack"
27 - Craig Lyndall
Dude, assuming you are going alphabetical, don't bother buying new CD's. In order to put it in, you will undoubtedly have to displace discs. It's horrible.
28 - Eric Olsen
The "library" mentality still rules in the "old media" (ie physical existence) world. It's only drawback is space, all of the other solutions have even worse drawbacks.
29 - Jim Carruthers
Eric is right about the lack of packaging, but then, most CD packaging just plain sucks (CBS - early Sony and BMG, I am metaphorically kicking you in the nuts).
However, MP3s on a hardrive allow you to concentrate more on the music. Also, iTunes on the Mac has automagic importing of CDs.
Most of my MP3s are from emusic.com, and free downloads, plus conversion of bootlegs and mashups.
30 - Mark Saleski
when i loaded the thing up i left space on each shelf...so there's room for new stuff.
periodically, everything needs to be shifted around.
i figure i've got another year or so before the next crisis arrives.
31 - Eric Olsen
the "middle of the collection" insertion issue is why my shelves don't go in order: each shelf is internally in order, but moving from shelf to shelf, they jump around because of "insertions." My next project is to put them the shelves in th eright order, but that means moving every fucking disc around, in order. Damn.
How many CDs can you pick up and keep in order? I have gone as high as 50 or more if you can apply enough pressure to the ends of the pile, then quickly flip it upright, but if I screw up (at least 50% of the time) the whole pile goes flying all over the room, behind the shelves, down my shirt, and in my shoes. This is not worth the risk, so I end up with cautious piles that are in CC's "beginner orchestra tedious" range to move.
32 - ClubhouseCancer
Yeah, I know the insertion process would be a bitch, so I must admit I chose the first 1500 or so (actually about 1100, as I have nine of these 132-disc books) from among the "less likely to be played a lot" CDs. In other words, I'm putting only my C team in these sleeves.
By the way, I figure about 5000 CDs, about 300-400 LPs.
33 - James
It is good to know I that I am not alone in the world of music collecting. I have about 1400 CD's and 500 vinyl albums. I eventually want to get a huge wall rack like Mark's so I can put all the CD's in one place.
34 - Jim Carruthers
All these rekkid collectors gathering together just waiting for somebody to yell:
Wow, what a great rack!
35 - Craig Lyndall
I can grab about 35-40 CD's at a time, Eric, but I too have had the veritable explosion a couple times when I got too ambitious. This kind of thing is so counter-productive to the organizing process that I can't even tell you. I am officially on-board for this computer collection thing though. I may only have my MP3's ripped at 192 KBPS, but that is good enough for me for now in my current setup. Someday I will have my whole house wired with speakers and I will be able to call up music on demand from that server in whatever room I am in.
What are you laughing at? I will have that system one day. I WILL!
Just so you can guage one of the problems with piracy... I was telling my dad about my computer jukebox, and he immediately said to me, "Oh, so when you are done, you can just sell the CD's right?"
36 - Eric Olsen
Dads are logical, not me, but dads in general.
37 - James
I recently put in a new rack and ended up having CD's flying everywhere in the process of moving them. I no longer try to hold a massive stack of CD's.
38 - Eric Olsen
Now I just go with what I can securely grab in each hand, kind of following the breast theory.
39 - JR
I entered all my CD's into a database, including information like artist, label, release date, producer, and how many discs in the set (for multi-disc releases).
So I have exactly 1880 releases and 2295 discs, of which 13 are singles or EP's. However, there is some redundancy in that I have many remastered editions of previously purchased CD's, and even a few outright duplicates (that was why I broke down and made the database).
That total will be obsolete when my most recent internet order arrives next week.
40 - Eric Olsen
Rock out JR, thanks! You are sufficiently anal to receive my salute.
41 - Tim Hall
With a collection that big, how many discs are duplicated because you'd inadvertantly bought a CD you'd forgotten you already owned?
42 - Eric Olsen
Although I do do that from time to time, there aren't any dupes in there now because I just purged them all (just had a nice trade - always trade, never cash - of dupes) as I was doing this filing. I'm sure there still some in the 2003 pile, however.
43 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
Eric, You should have a garage sale. There has to be some whack shit you don't listen to.
44 - Eric Olsen
There's lots I don't listen to, but as a historian, discographer, journalist, author, DJ, collector, fan, I want to keep everything I have now, more or less.
45 - Dwaine AKA Scooter AKA D.J.
Hey, whatever man.
46 - Jeff
I have been inspired by The Great Rack. My CD collection momentarily sits at 700-ish, LP's around 100 or so. I have the racks that stack vertically, with a SEPERATE slot for each disc (plus a couple 'double spots' in the middle). Sure, tidy, but the age old new CD in the middle dilemma haunts me. You would have to actuallly move every single disk following the new entry! So now I impress my friends with my locating ability. That is until I can build a new Great Rack.....
Is it just me, or does anyone resist d'loading full albums, so as to have the original? Perhaps I'm nostalgic, or just not frugal, but I am compelled to complete my collection with authentic case, artwork(?), etc.
Although sheepish to admit, I have d'loaded a CD prior to release date, Then bought the actual when it came out. I know, you thought nobody actually did that.......
47 - Jeff
Oh yeah. I too have a rule about never getting rid of music.
Whilst in college I sold off portions of my collection for beer & similar necessities. I regretted it more & more as time went by.
You know that someday, someone is going to say to you "do you have XXXXXXXyz?". You walk over - pull a disc - blow the dust off, and say "yup". The alternative is, " well, i used ta, I think". The beer is long gone but those tunes are lost forever.
48 - Tom Johnson
I'm having to become like you, Jeff. I stand at somewhere around 1500 CDs currently, and it would have been a LOT higher had I not spent the last 15 years trading in things I thought I'd gotten "tired" of - many of which I have come to realize I would have cherished having just for the autobiographical sake. So in the past year I've pretty much stopped trading things in because, for one, I tend to make pretty informed decisions about music and so rarely pick up a real dud, and two, I like owning everything. I generally don't download at all - if I'm curious, I'll find sound clips somewhere, whether on a band's site, Amazon/CDuniverse/etc., but on the rare occasion I'll get desperate and download a track or two, but never the full thing (with the exception of Radiohead's Hail To The Thief because I was curious what the pre-release versions would sound like. Listened once and never again, then deleted it after I bought it so I can't even say whether they did indeed sound different or not. Oh well.)
I drool at the thought of Mark's Rack Of Much Bigness. I need this. I need this.
49 - Eric Olsen
These ruminations do my heart good - thanks all!
Speaking of storage: I have a friend with a, perhaps, 50,000 piece collection who had CD-height floor-to-ceiling shelves, separated into fairly small sections to avoid the "insertion dilemma," put in all along his second-floor hallway, which spans the house. It is a beautiful, impressive sight, makes for very easy access and filing, and is only about half-full even now.
When we can afford to finish our basement, I am going to do something like this.
50 - Tim Hall
I find there's very little music I've "grown out of"; my tastes have broadened over the years, but I find I still like almost all of the stuff I liked twenty five years ago. Even Iron Maiden.
The only records I don't like are the ones that were duds in the first place. Every collection has to have a few; the first (and only) album by Angelwitch?
I even have three or four LPs of train noises....
51 - Eric Olsen
I have been fortunate to have grown out of very little as well - my priorities may have rearranged along the way from time to time, but I can still appreciate what I liked about something in the first place.
52 - Mark Saleski
a coupla things:
-i've only gotten rid of one cd since 'the beginning' and that was this thing called Harlequin by Lee Ritenour. i don't get rid of anything because, well, you just never know when you might like it in the future...but this one cd: i had just read an article about ritenour and thought to myself, gee, a great guitarist and i've got no recordings. so i went to the store and picked "Harlequin" up. one single cd taught me so much. i learned of the evils of both GRP records and Dave Grusin.
-have any of you "large collection" people ever accidentally bought a duplicate?
53 - Eric Olsen
Part of why I finally got motivated to file the stuff from the last couple of years is that I picked up about FIVE used CDs I already had - that really made me sit up and take notice.
54 - jacco
dear sir, please email the mp3 album canto by los super seven to me at [Deleted in line with BlogCritics Comments Policy. Comments Editor]