How to organize and tag classical music

[Alpina_Lux]

I would like to second David's point about the consistency of the tagging. I have now ripped and tagged a bit more than 1200 CDs (quite a few more to go, but I'm happy already with what there is) and it could not be more obvious that the intelligent browsing structure which MinimServer offers only works well if all tags are employed consistently. For example, if I would like to look up how many different versions of the 4th Beethoven piano concerto I have in my collection, this assumes that (i) the composer is always spelled identically (otherwise you have several entries when choosing the composer) and (ii) the composition is always spelled the same.

I have mentioned this in another thread, but what helps me immensely with keeping things consistent is the tagging software MusiCHI which has a standardised set of tags for composer and composition (at least for the main composers). As you only use MusiCHI's standardised spelling of each of these tags, there's no risk of a typo somewhere during the workflow which would later on mess up the consistency of the tags. If you have (like me) a rather substantial collection, this is well worth paying a few EUR for this tagging program. MusiCHI also has a ripping program but which I do not use (I use DBPowerAMP) as it does not have the AccurateRip verification.

I also second David's suggestion to think about how you choose your music - there's for example IMO no use in populating tags which you later on do not use when browsing your collection (such as opus numbers for example). I have (for now) for example refrained from populationg the "genre" tag as I do not really use it as a delimiting factor in my browsing.

Personally, I also have a lot of non-commercial radio recordings, the tagging of which is much more time-consuming as there are no preliminary tag sources available through one of the free databases. I have identified these in my collection through the "label" tag (or "organisation" as it is sometimes called) where I have inserted "Radio" or "AudienceRecording" in some cases. The name I attribute to these recordings usually starts with the artist name as this will be what I will be looking for when simply browsing through the albums (ex.: "Hamelin - 2014/6 Schwetzingen - Medtner, Schubert").

It might also be worthwhile mentioning that Hyperion allows you to download all their booklets from their website.

I am also using Kinsky (through my iPad) but have lately switched to Lumin - in case you also use an iPad this is in my opinion the better alternative. The Lumin app makes better use of space (you can configure the screen size which Kinsky can't) and it loads the whole database into the iPad which makes for much faster scrolling. Lastly, you can start a "rescan" of MinimServer directly from the app.

As a conclusion I cannot emphasize enough how much the result of having digitised my CD collection and being able to use it with a tablet functioning as a giant remote control has improved the use of said collection. The increase in usability and accessibility is tremendous, and the fabulous search / browsing capabilities of MinimServer are an important part in this.