I downloaded a bunch and noticed it takes awhile to figure out which ones to use when creating music and wondered how y’all have your files sorted; if it’s under instrument type, likeability, or musical genre?
You’re talking primarely about samples, right?
That’s the only sensible way.
My folders are sorted by file type (wav, mp3 or else) and the subfolders by instrument type (kick/bassdrum, snare, clap, hihat/hat, percussion and else).
My VSTs are sorted in a similar way. The folders are sorted by bit type (32bit or 64bit) and the subfolders by instrument type (synth, bass, fx and else).
I don’t build many sample based Renoise instruments, the only ones I have are some old drum sampler setups that I don’t even use anymore. I just kept them in the default folder they saved to and opened up from, and I named them something sensible like “808 Kit”.
For samples in general, I just chuck them all into a folder called “Samples” on my desktop, and leave it at that. If I have a bunch of sample packs from a particular place, like Music Radar’s free samples, then they all go into their own “Music Radar” folder, and then that folder goes into the main “Samples” folder. I keep it quick and simple. Sample management is a pain and not why I make music.
Another thing I have is Loopmaster’s Loopcloud, it’s a sample management/manipulator app/plugin thing that works pretty well for organizing samples. You can get it with a free trial of the Loopcloud service, which is a great service if you end up using it a lot, but it’s subscription based and I didn’t use it enough to justify keeping it. BUT, you can keep the Loopcloud app to organize your samples even if you don’t keep the service, so that’s pretty cool. It’s worth trying out.