Help, thoughts, suggestions, ideas et al please.

[Excalibur]

OK folks, partly due to an enforced spell at home, I'm attempting to create a clean, error and garbage free Hard Drive. I connected it to a Cortex a couple of nights ago, and the increased sped was staggering, since the files were only one folder deep, not three or more.

My problem is now categorising stuff. I've just about done the easy bits, like 70's, Rock 'n'Roll, Xmas etc.

Where oh where do I put the stuff I can't pigeonhole? :daft: :daft: I've got an 00's folder, I think I'll have to start a 10's or teens folder as well.
I hate classifying music at the best of times, but this has just about beaten me! :eek: :eek: :daft: :daft:

What do I do? A folder called Grabage? Bilge? Assorted?

Help please, I'm tearing out what's left of my hair.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Freaky! I've been doing the same thing for the past few days.

[Excalibur]

Well the creation of Male Vocalist, and Female Vocalist has created a home for some of the ones I'm struggling with. :D

[TONYTIGER]

OK folks, partly due to an enforced spell at home, I'm attempting to create a clean, error and garbage free Hard Drive. I connected it to a Cortex a couple of nights ago, and the increased sped was staggering, since the files were only one folder deep, not three or more.

My problem is now categorising stuff. I've just about done the easy bits, like 70's, Rock 'n'Roll, Xmas etc.

Where oh where do I put the stuff I can't pigeonhole? :daft: :daft: I've got an 00's folder, I think I'll have to start a 10's or teens folder as well.
I hate classifying music at the best of times, but this has just about beaten me! :eek: :eek: :daft: :daft:

What do I do? A folder called Grabage? Bilge? Assorted?

Help please, I'm tearing out what's left of my hair.

Hi Peter post a few tracks that you are struggling with to give us a clue,i just looked at my folder titles and have 30 odd always found a home for everything.

[Excalibur]

Hi Peter post a few tracks that you are struggling with to give us a clue,i just looked at my folder titles and have 30 odd always found a home for everything.

Thirty? Thirty? :eek: :eek: In an hour's time, I'll have around a hundred, and I'm still baffled. :daft:

I'm having the greatest problem with the modern stuff, and I'm contemplatingf having a Modern Folder to shove 'em in until I decide where to put them.

Katy Perry for instance. Pop? Female Vocalist? Other?

[Sapphire Disco]

I have categorised

Reggae

Motown ( yes I know it's not )

Rock

70s/80s Club Classics

Northern Soul

Cheese

Swing

And few others

[Excalibur]

I have categorised

Reggae

Motown ( yes I know it's not )

Rock

70s/80s Club Classics

Northern Soul

Cheese

SwingAnd few others

Hmmmm, I suppose my Cheese is Party, but I haven't got a Swing folder. Guess where Mr Bubble's going now. ;) :D :D

[deltic]

it's all well and good changing things about peter,but i find the hardest bit is not clasifying thing.............but remembering where i moved them to,thank god for keyboard search,just need to brush up on the spelling.

[Excalibur]

it's all well and good changing things about peter,but i find the hardest bit is not clasifying thing.............but remembering where i moved them to,thank god for keyboard search,just need to brush up on the spelling.

Fortunately, I almost always string search. Numark and Cortex do the hard work, I just have to pick the correct version. ;) :D

Some of my drives have drivers folders, backups, symbols and gibberish. If I only get rid of them, and the untagged tracks, I'll be more than happy.

My drives have always been compiled by letting the tracks go off and find their own little corners unaided. Time to apply some long overdue crowd control I feel.

[soundtracker]

These are what I use:

Alternative Rock
Background
Ballad
Bhangra
Blues
Brit Pop
Christmas
Classical
Country
Comedy
Easy Listening
80's
80's Disco
50's
Folk
Funky House
Garage
Grunge
Halloween
Hip Hop/Rap
Indie
Irish
Jazz
Latin
Metal
Musicals
90's Dance
90's Pop
Noughties Dance
Noughties Pop
Northern Soul
Party
Punk
Reggae
Rock
60's
70's Pop
70's Disco
Soul
Swing
Urban
Wedding

[Excalibur]

That's a big help Pete. thanks. Each post gives me the odd category I've missed,or could adapt. One way or another, I'll get there.

[soundtracker]

That's a big help Pete. thanks. Each post gives me the odd category I've missed,or could adapt. One way or another, I'll get there.

Its not perfect mate, infact I've just amalgamated jazz and swing , and I may split rock into 70's rock, 80's rock etc.

[Excalibur]

Its not perfect mate, infact I've just amalgamated jazz and swing , and I may split rock into 70's rock, 80's rock etc.

Decisions, decisions. :daft: :D :D

[TONYTIGER]

Thirty? Thirty? :eek: :eek: In an hour's time, I'll have around a hundred, and I'm still baffled. :daft:

I'm having the greatest problem with the modern stuff, and I'm contemplatingf having a Modern Folder to shove 'em in until I decide where to put them.

Katy Perry for instance. Pop? Female Vocalist? Other?

Katy Perry in my case would just go in charts 2010and so on.Some useful folder titles , Kids Party,Action Dances, + 18 for any bad language,Country and Western & line Dance, Ska,Strict Tempo,Northern Soul,Film and Show Themes, are a few of the more fringe ones.

[Excalibur]

Katy Perry in my case would just go in charts 2010and so on.Some useful folder titles , Kids Party,Action Dances, + 18 for any bad language,Country and Western & line Dance, Ska,Strict Tempo,Northern Soul,Film and Show Themes, are a few of the more fringe ones.

Helpful also. Hmmmmm, an X-rated folder for explicit ones.Now there's an idea. :D

[Booche]

Pete i need mine doing and i have been putting it off for the last 3/4months lol

Fancy doing another :sofa:

[Excalibur]

Pete i need mine doing and i have been putting it off for the last 3/4months lol

Fancy doing another :sofa:

:Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: No!

[Booche]

:Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: :Censored: No!

:eek: :eek: :ner: :rofl:

[StarZSoundS]

I thought this was a good idea.....

I created a


Platinum
Gold
Silver
and Bronze Folder( 4 folders)

In each I put 500(approx) of the top 2000 tunes we need to do regular functions!!

When I load up BPM I then use the folders accordingly.I need Platinum for all functions...(We Wiil rock you,Reach.A Town Called Malice ETC) and depending on the vibe i'm getting from the function I load.....Gold ,Silver ,Bronze etc.....

Anything out of the ordinary I search for and play on VLC MEDIA PLAYER.The Modern Stuff I play directly from the ITUNES player....

[Megamix]

Pinched from a rival forum...
40's
50's/60's
70's
70's dance
80's
80's electro
80's dance
90's
2000's with 2000, 2001, 2002 etc sub folders
at the end of each year all the songs from that year go into the year folder.
Month/year with Chart, R&B & dance sub folders
Classical
Comedy
Children
Country
Dance
Electro
Halloween
irish
International (Foriegn songs)
Indie & Rock
Jazz
Kids
Love songs
Latin
Motown
Pop (mainstream commercial stuff)
R&B
Rock
Samples
Showbands
Soul & Rap
Xmas

[Jason]

Most of these hardware players allow playlists. I'm sure the D2 will, and I make use of the DDS playlists.

So- I have 4 top-level folders;

-NowCDs (Now thats what I call...)
-Various (Compliations)
-Albums (Artist Albums)
-Singles (Ad-hoc Singles/Remixes)
Good Old ABBA will have their folder under Albums, with the various ABBA albums below that.

I then have playlists that are;
Action Songs (YMCA/etc...)
60s
70s
80s
90s
00s
Rock
Rock and Roll
Club - House
Club - Trance
Ska
Reggae

etc.

So - I don't move files around. For me, if people want modern, I'm looking the recent NowCDs, ProDiscs and sometimes artist CD's.
I use the DDS playlist as help - these have been prepared/added over time, and contain mostly great tracks specific to their genre.
The other good thing, is I could have "special brew" in Ska playlist, but also 80s playlist, both pointing to the same file.
(not to say I probably don't have multiple copies from various compilations! lol)

[Corabar Steve]

Don't your players read genre or year tags?

[Excalibur]

Don't your players read genre or year tags?

Is that addressed to Jason or me, Steve? I don't use year tags, but I do use Genres, eg Tamla Motown....................:sofa: :sofa:

Martin, a more difficult way of working, I have yet to see! :eek: :daft:
Dave, I'm running along similar lines.
Jason: OI! I'm still working on the HD. Playlists are sooooooooo next year. :eek: :eek: :D :D :D

[Booche]

Think i might do mine when i get to London and get a good friend to sort it :sofa:

[Corabar Steve]

Is that addressed to Jason or me, Steve?
I'm seeing all these replies saying I use this folder, I use that folder, surely if they are tagged correctly then all you need to do is type in the year or genre et voila!

Or am I missing something?

[deltic]

I'm seeing all these replies saying I use this folder, I use that folder, surely if they are tagged correctly then all you need to do is type in the year or genre et voila!

Or am I missing something?

no you are not missing something i think you are pretty much bang on the money

nothing wrong with having a well organised drive,just in case the keyboard or search knob fails,at least then songs are easily found manually

[StarZSoundS]

Martin, a more difficult way of working, I have yet to see! :eek: :daft:
Jason: OI! I'm still working on the HD. Playlists are sooooooooo next year. :eek: :eek: :D :D :D


Apologies....I already thought you were at this stage.....Nightmare Job!!;) ;) ;) ;) ;)

[Megamix]

Most of my searching is done trying to sort the wheat from the chaff - so I'm going to start to give the 'winners' a 5 star rating

[Excalibur]

Don't your players read genre or year tags?


I'm seeing all these replies saying I use this folder, I use that folder, surely if they are tagged correctly then all you need to do is type in the year or genre et voila!

Or am I missing something?

Well yes. And then again, no. Mere mortals like myself, especially when so many grey cells have atrophied due to age and alcohol, need a little help. Thus a nice list of songs in a similar vein to what's working at the moment, is a vital aide memoire.

Why do you think I've got a laptop with Media Monkey running full screen? Come on mate, I'm a DJ of very little brain nowadays. :o :o :o :o I had one once, but I lost a lot of it along the way somewhere. :daft:

Yeah those nights when the punters are on the ball, up for a good time, and every request they give you imediately brings two more to your mind are wonderful.:D :D
Sadly they're also sporadic. :( Regularly you're searching for inspiration, with no :Censored: idea what to play next, very often.

[Corabar Steve]

Well yes. And then again, no. Mere mortals like myself, especially when so many grey cells have atrophied due to age and alcohol, need a little help. Thus a nice list of songs in a similar vein to what's working at the moment, is a vital aide memoire.
Well, yes.

Type in Ska for example & once you've hit enter you get a nice list of songs by Toots, Desmond, Buster, the Skatalites etc.....

Or at least that's how it works for me.

The only drive maintenance I do is the occasional de-frag

[Excalibur]

Well, yes.

Type in Ska for example & once you've hit enter you get a nice list of songs by Toots, Desmond, Buster, the Skatalites etc.....
Or at least that's how it works for me.

The only drive maintenance I do is the occasional de-frag
Indeed, and so will mine. I just need more lists, and in bigger fonts. :o :o :o

[StarZSoundS]

My Biggest file would be......

Mindless Crap that I'm never going to use unless my Business takes a totally different or Gary Glitter gets a reprieve!!!

I'd have about 20,000 in that!!!

[Charlie Brown]

No folders for me or my laptop.

Why do people need them? What's wrong with memory? :lol:

[TONYTIGER]

no you are not missing something i think you are pretty much bang on the money

nothing wrong with having a well organised drive,just in case the keyboard or search knob fails,at least then songs are easily found manually

Yes spot on i find it nice to be able to browse folders certainly when im doing a certain type of music night just gives me ideas of tunes that will fit and have forgotten .
I still always run my ooodj as a back up and the search system is amazing just type in with out selecting any track or artist or such like and its there in a second .
How i don,t know and i have put thousands of tracks on it over the last 7 years never tagged any and never have had a failure.

[deltic]

as for me old school dj trying to master modern equipment with failing eyesight

i remember identifying songs by the label or thumb prints/marks on the cardboard sleeve,you even had the choice of the A side or the B side.
and knew instantly if i had a requested song or not.

[Excalibur]

No folders for me or my laptop.

Why do people need them? What's wrong with memory? :lol:

You wanna have a go with mine? Do I come here often? :confused: :confused:

Steve, Charlie: I reckon I've spotted the reason why I couldn't follow your paths. Let's say you buy NOW 347. You'd have to tag each track individually with a style/Genre. Stuff that for a game of soldiers! :eek: A nice folder with all the NOW albums split into either years or similar, much easier.

[Jason]

I'm seeing all these replies saying I use this folder, I use that folder, surely if they are tagged correctly then all you need to do is type in the year or genre et voila!

Or am I missing something?


Hi Steve, I'm actually too lazy to tag with the genre and don't trust them anyway. :p
The main problem is that the genre is really someone elses interpretation- is it pop-rock, 80's, rock or pop?
The ID3v3 spec only allows 1 genre from a list of up to 255 genres, and I also know its possible for a free-text entry (so "jasons chill songs" as a genre is possible.

But yes - if they were correctly tagged with the genre, the DDS could filter (as could most playback systems)
Sadly... I'm not geared up for that.

[deltic]

You wanna have a go with mine? Do I come here often? :confused: :confused:

of all the things i have lost .............. it is my mind i miss most of all

[Corabar Steve]

You wanna have a go with mine? Do I come here often? :confused: :confused:

Steve, Charlie: I reckon I've spotted the reason why I couldn't follow your paths. Let's say you buy NOW 347. You'd have to tag each track individually with a style/Genre. Stuff that for a game of soldiers! :eek: A nice folder with all the NOW albums split into either years or similar, much easier.
Yep. Well tag them when you rip / download them. Artist, Title, Genre, Year. (Usually you only have to check spelling on the first 2 Genre can be a bit dubious & Year, unless you're filling some oldie gaps is invariably the present one)

If you buy new music on a weekly basis (to keep up with the charts) it only adds a few minutes to the process. As for whole albums, when was the last time you bought a CD that wasn't a genre compilation or a single artist album? They're a lot easier, you can usually tag the whole lot at once (although there are exceptions. For example although Shania Twain is a country singer, not everything she does is country "That don't impress me much" for example could not come under any other genre than Pop (if indeed that is a legitimate genre, but that's a whole other debate))


Hi Steve, I'm actually too lazy to tag with the genre and don't trust them anyway. :p
The main problem is that the genre is really someone elses interpretation- is it pop-rock, 80's, rock or pop?
The ID3v3 spec only allows 1 genre from a list of up to 255 genres, and I also know its possible for a free-text entry (so "jasons chill songs" as a genre is possible.

But yes - if they were correctly tagged with the genre, the DDS could filter (as could most playback systems)
Sadly... I'm not geared up for that.
Painstaking work when you first rip your CD collection & then easy peasy as mentioned above after that.

Once the first bit (ripping) is done topping up is a piece of cake

[Excalibur]

Yep. Well tag them when you rip / download them. Artist, Title, Genre, Year.

If you buy new music on a weekly basis (to keep up with the charts) it only adds a few minutes to the process. As for whole albums, when was the last time you bought a CD that wasn't a genre compilation or a single artist album? They're a lot easier, you can usually tag the whole lot at once (although there are exceptions. For example although Shania Twain is a country singer, not everything she does is country "That don't impress me much" for example could not come under any other genre than Pop (if indeed that is a legitimate genre, but that's a whole other debate))

The horns of my Dilemma Steve. Country? New Country? Female Vocalist? Singer Songwriter ( I don't know if she's written any, but you get my drift ) Country Rock? Pop? Pop Dance? Love songs? ( How many weddings has she been the first dance with Still The One ) ? Chart? 90's? Noughties?

I know where you're coming from Steve, I admire and applaud you, but I couldn't do it that way myself.

[Corabar Steve]

( How many weddings has she been the first dance with Still The One ) .
True & it's a Country Ballad :sj:







































I've just got that down as Country

[Jason]

Yep. Well tag them when you rip / download them. Artist, Title, Genre, Year. (Usually you only have to check spelling on the first 2 Genre can be a bit dubious & Year, unless you're filling some oldie gaps is invariably the present one)

If you buy new music on a weekly basis (to keep up with the charts) it only adds a few minutes to the process. As for whole albums, when was the last time you bought a CD that wasn't a genre compilation or a single artist album? They're a lot easier, you can usually tag the whole lot at once (although there are exceptions. For example although Shania Twain is a country singer, not everything she does is country "That don't impress me much" for example could not come under any other genre than Pop (if indeed that is a legitimate genre, but that's a whole other debate))


Painstaking work when you first rip your CD collection & then easy peasy as mentioned above after that.

Once the first bit (ripping) is done topping up is a piece of cake

Tell me about it :-(
I had 3 laptops, one with a 2nd external CD ripping my CD's.
I remember there used to a service where you could post your CD's, and they would provide return them with a your HDD containing the ripped versions.

I don't see a huge amount of value in the genres - if I want 70's disco, I know the popular songs, and invested time in creating the playlist - and can always navigate to the odd compilation album for inspiration if they need more than a 20min set. (I've got a 70's night next wednesday in a Hertford resturant...:banana: )

[Excalibur]

True & it's a Country Ballad :sj:


Aaaaaaaaargh, another folder!!!! :bang:

[Corabar Steve]

Aaaaaaaaargh, another folder!!!! :bang:
GOOD GOD MAN!! How bad is your memory????

Stick it in Country & remember the sub-genres

[Excalibur]

GOOD GOD MAN!! How bad is your memory????

Stick it in Country & remember the sub-genres

OK then Smartypants, here are a few which are troubling me.
Steely Dan
R.E.M.
Simply Red
Alan Parsons Project
B-52's
Doobie Bros ( we had this recently, nearly caused a fight, if I remember )
Wombles
Tina Turner.
Roibert Palmer ( From heavyish rock, a bit of soul, and loads more, including cheese)
Hace a go at that lot if you'd be so kind.

[Corabar Steve]

Generalising as opposed to individual tracks

Steely Dan Rock
R.E.M. Indie
Simply Red Crap
Alan Parsons Project ?
B-52's New Wave
Doobie Bros Rock
Wombles Novelty / Kids
Tina Turner. Past it
Roibert Palmer ( From heavyish rock, a bit of soul, and loads more, including cheese) Indeed

[Excalibur]

Generalising as opposed to individual tracks

Steely Dan Rock
R.E.M. Indie
Simply Red Crap
Alan Parsons Project ?
B-52's New Wave
Doobie Bros Rock
Wombles Novelty / Kids
Tina Turner. Past it
Roibert Palmer ( From heavyish rock, a bit of soul, and loads more, including cheese) Indeed
Well thanks a lot, pal! As much use as a chocolate fireguard. :p :D :D :D

[Charlie Brown]

iTunes tags everything for me.

Search it in iTunes - drag it to Numark Cue BOOM.

[Corabar Steve]

iTunes tags everything for me.

Search it in iTunes - drag it to Numark Cue BOOM.
BIG MISTAKE!

Have you seen some of the weird tags that iTunes gives things???

I once saw Altan (Google them if you don't know them) tagged as Reggae & that's just the one that sticks in my memory

[TONYTIGER]

Well thanks a lot, pal! As much use as a chocolate fireguard. :p :D :D :D

Sorry just don,t get this discussion if i typed in any of the above after the first 3 letters it would be there as long as it was on the hard drive quite simple or am i missing something.:confused:

[Corabar Steve]

Yes, we're talking genres not finding artists.

[Charlie Brown]

BIG MISTAKE!

Have you seen some of the weird tags that iTunes gives things???

I once saw Altan (Google them if you don't know them) tagged as Reggae & that's just the one that sticks in my memory

Perhaps but I never search by Genres? :shrug:

If I want any song...I'll type in the artist.

I don't understand why you guys are searching by genres? What's wrong with typing "perfect 10" in the search bar?

[Corabar Entertainment]

Sorry just don,t get this discussion if i typed in any of the above after the first 3 letters it would be there as long as it was on the hard drive quite simple or am i missing something.:confused:


Perhaps but I never search by Genres? :shrug:

If I want any song...I'll type in the artist.

I don't understand why you guys are searching by genres? What's wrong with typing "perfect 10" in the search bar?...


Mere mortals like myself, especially when so many grey cells have atrophied due to age and alcohol, need a little help. Thus a nice list of songs in a similar vein to what's working at the moment, is a vital aide memoire.

Yeah those nights when the punters are on the ball, up for a good time, and every request they give you imediately brings two more to your mind are wonderful.:D :D
Sadly they're also sporadic. :( Regularly you're searching for inspiration, with no :Censored: idea what to play next, very often.

[TONYTIGER]

...

Which brings us nicely round to the age thing again,Boom Boom :zip:

[soundtracker]

...

As Angela said RTFP!:D

[Corabar Entertainment]

Which brings us nicely round to the age thing again,Boom Boom :zip:

Hmmmmm....certainly with the tone of Peter's post - yes, but I do find it hard to believe that everyone wouldn't like a little bit of inspiration every now and again.

[Excalibur]

iTunes tags everything for me.

Search it in iTunes - drag it to Numark Cue BOOM.
Only one problem with that exceedingly cunning plan, young Charlie.
1)I use itunes as a method of absolutely totally and utterly the last resort.At present, I've bought 3 tracks from them, I believe.
2) Numark Cue? :confused: :confused: :confused: Is that like a posh
D2? :daft: :daft:


Sorry just don,t get this discussion if i typed in any of the above after the first 3 letters it would be there as long as it was on the hard drive quite simple or am i missing something.:confused:

Yes. You've got to know that you wanted them. Finding them's the laughably easy bit. It's knowing what to look for that's the problem.

Angela, you're worrying me again. Possibilities.
1) You missed something out of your post, which is why I'm baffled. :o :confused:
2) You're taking the mickey, and I'm still baffled, which is worse. :o :o
3) I have a sneaking suspicion, that you're explaining what I meant to Tony and Charlie, which is good. Carry on that person. Excellent work. :thumbs_up:

[Corabar Entertainment]

Option 3 :D

[Excalibur]

Option 3 :D

Ta.

[Megamix]

as you rip the CDs to Itunes wouldn't you check the genres - I always do