Alright alright, everyone has their own little system, and I'd love to hear yours.
Mine:
For starters I have culled my collection to a fraction of it's original size, and now only keep 4 or 5 star tracks. This saves me loads of time in wasted data entry for mediocre tracks, and also allows me to always be certain that no matter what track I play, it will always be a favorite.
Next I have divided my collection into a number of genres and sub genres, and thus far have keyed out over half of my collection (all my psytrance is done, now I am moving into my progressive house, progressive beaks and then finally my downtempo collection). I have focussed on the comments section of the traktor database, and worked out a methodical description process that allows me to on the fly find exactly the type of track I am looking for, without any focus on the name of the track itself, or even who produced/remixed it. Here is a sample:
- kick/low end descriptor, major theme, minor theme, minor theme, vocal elements, unique element
For each of those first four parameters, I have a specific terminology (slang), so that when I arrange the comments column alphabetically, it all arranges itself in a very usable fashion (this example is with regards to my psy collection):
- parameter one: plodding, driving, gallop, stutter, stutter gallop, straight
- parameter two: minimal, minimalish, busy, full
- parameter three: rhythmic, melodicish, morning
- parameter four: techy, dark, trippy, eerie, bright
I know this may not entirely make sense the way I have written it here, but my entire goal is to be completely free to explore my music collection on the fly an have each mix harmonic, and be in complete control of my artistic expression. I have only had the chance to try it out once or twice, and I can say that I am ruined now and can never turn back. The only major downside is that I really really hate having to haul around my laptop, with all the glitches and extra cables etc.
So far from the start until now, I have gone through over 4000 tracks and am down to 1000, 500 of which are completely entered properly. This process has taken me approximately 300 hours.
Yes, I admit, I am a music geek. =)
All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom. - Albert Einstein