In my endeavours to put our LPs onto CD I am very much aware that while a typical LP lasts some 50-55 minutes, the CDs I’m using can hold 80 minutes of music. It should therefore be possible to fit 3 LP-sides on to one CD in many cases. How should I do it?
My principles have in general been:
- match by composer where possible. There are relatively few composers in the collection so this isn’t too much of a constraint, though I have broken it particularly to accommodate some minor composers.
- not to mix orchestral with solo/chamber music.
- match some or all performers where possible. Because we both have certain favoured performers this has been practical quite a lot of the time. And of course it works for boxed sets.
- to put on one disc works that one might want to hear in one go. Some works just don’t sit easily together.
- conversely, not to break the integrity of certain kinds of discs, such as song recitals, by splitting them between CDs.
Some composers – I’m thinking of Tchaikovsky in particular here – irritatingly like to write pieces about 45 minutes long, so that you can’t put two on one disc. Our Shostakovich discs, on the other hand, contain works of a variety of lengths so that you can make a jigsaw puzzle out of fitting them onto CDs. Inevitably there are pieces that risk being orphaned, either because the rest of their LP has gone elsewhere, or because they are on a very short LP. My rule of thumb has been not to create a CD of less than 50 minutes if I can avoid it, but I really can’t think what I’m going to do with our short LP of Gershwin or the Glagolitic Mass.
There are of course pitfalls. Differences in recording level (though with the use of the equaliser I can usually eliminate these), sound quality and pitch (particularly noticeable on a CD of assorted Bach).