I’ve put up my first entry to Musicbrainz, trying to add something to the data I use every day when I play music. However, I may have confused composer and artist. Could someone see whether I did this well enough before I do another one? I did have a bit more information, like recording date, but couldn’t figure out where to put that. chttps://musicbrainz.org/release-group/0871de98-e016-43fb-a239-5c86f333b7e3
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Mind these:
https ://musicbrainz.org/release-group/…
https ://musicbrainz.org/release/…
https ://musicbrainz.org/artist/…
https ://musicbrainz.org/track/…
https ://musicbrainz.org/recording/…
Also be aware that Classical mode has its own style guide, differing from all else. Read first, top tabs “Documentation”.
Bach is correctly set as track artist, but you have him also in track title (in an unnecessary repeat along with the ‘live […]’ extra title information (ETI)).
Sato should be recording artist, and (because of CSG differing, you have to initially enter some AC incorrectly, to fix afterwards) all 36 recordings now should be edited to change Bach → Sato, which can be done in batch by outhand script:
When you do this (the 36 recording edits), they go pending yellow.
From beginner’s perspective, it is not apparent where to put recording date only, because as an MB relationship attribute that is a loose end: The Recording is considered an Entity to be linked by Relationship to other Entities. Typically, for this case, you goto “Edit relationships” tab, choose all 36 recordings, then “Batch-add a relationship to recordings” to set Place = St. Mary’s Cathedral, Tokyo. You can search for the place by name (may need to delete last characters to have search kick in) or just paste this link: 東京カテドラル聖マリア大聖堂 - MusicBrainz ; and at this point you set the date. The same for Recording : Artist = Haruma Sato, Recording : Work = Cello Suite no. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: I. Prelude [live], and so on. MB wants date on ~all relationships, and they can be seeded from one to another later on, to lessen manual work.
Since you created the release, you have a window to edit certain stuff without the edits pending for a week, so have a go, and welcome!
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@Griomo has given you good advice for your questions, but I have a question for you: Is the release the same as https://open.spotify.com/album/6nx6ep1IuFIkkIQPuAB9ct or https://www.deezer.com/es/album/1052123822? At a glance they are the same, but they actually have different barcodes.
I think this is probably beyond my capabilities. I used the track titles as they came, rather worried about changing anything. I would like to do a few more things but I ran into trouble with the first I considered because the conductor is only registered as a singer and confused to some degree with a conductor and violinist who is long gone. So I’d have to fix that first. Life would be easier if composers and artists had separate lanes and everyone had a unique name. However, I will read documentation again and see if it is less difficult than I expect. I buy albums from Qobuz or Presto or Highres audio. Is it, by the way, allowed to put up entire booklets? They seem to have disappeared from the internet archive.
No worry, you are not expected to do everything. I just gave some starting tips. Another one: Beware of klotski/sokoban (as the conductor one you described) and rabbit holes. The main basic for MB is to identify and discern between releases, and that can be done without filling its every outermost relationship in complete. (That said, MB requisite is correct data, not fancy looks for tagging.) Do what you deem fun and useful, it’s all appreciated effort. You can leave harder bits to posterity or revisit yourself later. I see the release has now been gone over by @VBZPPlNQyJ with edits pending.
About booklets, have a look around here in the forum (e.g. search “CAA”). Uploading entire booklets, cannot say; that is, CAA has had legal worries and I haven’t followed that. Upload certainly works MB-wise, and maybe CAA has drawn the line at out-of-the-download files. I tend to upload only own scans/photos, but don’t keep their tracks either. Others in here have better answers.
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Yes, I think I have filled in most of the details, other than linking the works. Thanks to @palisander for providing enough details to do so with confidence 
Saah, such a lot of new words, terms, ideas. I will persevere, staying out of the weeds (the puzzle) as best I can. Thank you for the support and help.
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I looked for models and decided to erase Clérambault in the title, add Clérambault to Artist with a semicolon after, and keep Ensemble Sébastien de Brossard and Fabien Armengaud separate. I added an entry for Ensemble Sébastien de Brossard.
In the tracks I was puzzled. They are automatically entered all under the ensemble as artist, but in the tracks made by Harmony the singers are noted. I myself like to know who is singing. So I stopped there to ask.
My other question is that my entry for the album appears to be inadequate, not having included all the places/forms the album is in. I can’t figure out how to fix that.
Thank you
Guessing you are now trying to add another release, but haven’t entered any edits for it yet.
First, at musicbrainz.org check the top tab Documentation \ Beginners guide, Style guidelines (SG; also Classical (CSG)), How tos, FAQs.
MB has an elaborate data structure (= high treshold) that needs to maintain its form in order for anyone to then use it (add/fetch data by automated process). Therefore, MB needs data to be correct and ordered. If you are not certain on detail, add an annotation with what you know, but don’t aim at perfection & completion from start. You can keep track of things by using collections (things of same entity type, that is: cannot add a Work to a collection of Release Groups). For testing stuff, you also have a sandbox at test.musicbrainz.org .
For starters/comparison, pick an easy release: one you know, with single composer, few tracks & artists with everything the same for each track; i.e. Bruckner symphony – but hey, there are way too few Clérambaults here, so …
Your try at AC we cannot see here, but cf this Schönberg Str4 1–4
2CD release, 4 works for unvarying ensemble except for Str4 2 that has soprano on the last 2 of its 4 movements (tracks 1.7—8).
Release artist: composer; ensemble, soprano
Track artist: composer (for every track)
Recording artist (in italics, under track title): ensemble, soprano for tracks 1.7—8 only (i.e. not for all 4 movements)
Recording relationships: ensemble + ensemble’s individual members, soprano for tracks 1.7—8 only
(Also, there is at least one faulty MB release Release “The Complete String Quartets” by Arnold Schönberg / Neues Wiener Streichquartett / Evelyn Lear - MusicBrainz that needs cleaning up, which may affect the above one to have parts turn yellow for pending edits from “outside”.)
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Are you trying to add https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/clerambault-motets-a-trois-voix-dhommes-et-symphonies-ensemble-sebastien-de-brossard-fabien-armengaud/dnwa7vjktp78a?
It sounds like you are on the right track. Questioning Harmony’s data is good; it doesn’t always conform to our style guidelines.
The track artist should be the composer (Clérambault), but the recording artist should be the performers, usually including the soloists like singers. The easiest way to accomplish this for the situation you described is to create the release with Harmony’s data, then correct the track artists later.
You can also add performers to relationships on the recordings. You can do this after you have created the release by clicking “Edit relationships”.
Before I saw your answer, I put up an album https://musicbrainz.org/release/a464accd-ae03-4061-9544-3ab25cb072bc I hope it is okay. I read the classical guide but it is going to get easier to understand with practice. I wanted to finish what I started but will take a break now. I would very much appreciate it if you could check it.
I thought the first album I did (Bach’s Cello Suites) should be easy, but it needed a lot of help, and I didn’t know this one would be as hard as it was. I am happy enough with what I get with Roon when I can identify an album. It is those that have messed up displays that bother me, so that means tackling some obscure albums, thus this one.
I hope I didn’t muddle up the style. I was more afraid of mistakes of mine than of Harmony’s.
I will try to spend some time adding the artists to the tracks using “relationships” because I really like the singers and want their names to appear in the credits. I hope that is what I am supposed to do.
I did put Clérambault first under album artist. That might be a mistake.
Thank you!
Looks good! Much better than most people’s first attempt at a “classical” release.
Composer first is correct; no mistake there.
Adding the relationships is good. I don’t know how Roon works, but you may also have to change the recording artists if you want the performers to show up there.
PS: I also left a couple of comments on your edits.
Thank you. How do I add the spaces after semi-colon and comma?
At release, hit top tabs Edit; then, by Artist, hit Edit. In rightmost field “Join phrase”, add space for each artist (except the last one); also check “□ Copy the release artist credit to the release group” before saving.
Looks good, your’e well underway!
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Thank you, it was the screen “Edit” I wasn’t finding. So I did that.
Is there anything further I can do to make the Bach Cello Suites I did earlier better? I have a couple of days. Someone kindly removed Bach from the track title and added the recording site as “relationship”. Should I still remove the recording site from the track titles? There was also this-- which I don’t understand. I think an elf fixed this for me.
Well, in Edit #153533013 - MusicBrainz @VBZPPlNQyJ added Work to the 1st recording (/track) only. You could do well in adding the rest of them.
Then there is always the minutiae of ℗, ©, non-musician ACs, production data, …; and of course other identifyers (ISRC, Fingerprints) if you’re already into that. Or leave this release for now to add some others, so repetition itself makes for an easier revisit, when you have an own hang of things.
A look at Edit #153610351 - MusicBrainz shows @VBZPPlNQyJ did track titles too, leaving recording site (MB: Place) because ETI (Style / Titles - MusicBrainz), so no, don’t remove.
(For every MB entity, you have right-pane links to Open edits & Editing history.)
Yes, the Bach → Sato switch is an easy one, but 36 ones. The same with linking works to recordings, though relationships are all done from the same edit page. Manually a pain, they can be done in batch with certain scripts, but then those must be installed, and for that you need … (klotski/sokoban).
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It’s me; I am the elf 
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My thanks to the elf!
I guess I am learning a bit, but my heavens it is complicated. I looked at what you did to connect the first track of the cello suites to the “work” as a relationship. I have no idea why to pick the Fournier, nor any idea what effect adding this has.
It is very nice to be involved with our history. Too much is lost too readily.
But at present, with the Clérambault album, do the ensemble and the conductor I have put in on the main page for the release as a whole present automatically in the track credits? If they don’t, do I enter “ensemble” as orchestra? Doesn’t seem likely, but I don’t see an option for “ensemble”.
I have problems which have bothering me for years: confusion of artists. The countertenor Carlos Mena is confused with a rap artist and another musician of the same name. Martin Luther McCoy is occasionally confused with Martin Luther as a lyricist. Alexander Schneider the singer and conductor is confused with the older Alexander Schneider the violinist and conductor. Are these things I can fix?
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I don’t understand - what do you mean by “the Fournier”?
No, they don’t.
I think “instruments” would be a good choice.
Yes, these are things you can fix. You already made a good start.
Probably that when relating recording to work, system default search proposals show performers already related, which may confuse beginners.
@palisander: goto work page instead, in another browser tab/window, copy subwork links from there and just paste into relationship-editor’s work field (either of the two main columns).
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