more on music

[moominmolly]

OK, so, WHEN do you listen to music?

I've finally arranged my life to make it SO annoying to drive to work that biking is Obviously The Laziest Choice. This is wonderful for my health and well-being, but I feel a bit adrift, because the car has been my main music-playing device for several years. It turns out that while I love being intensely involved with the music I'm listening to, I am extremely bad at having that kind of music playing while, say, other people are in the room trying to talk to me, or while I have to think. Driving was perfect, but now that I'm not driving -- now what?

Sometimes I will set my phone to play at max volume and stick it, speakers up, into my bra, when I ride. This gives me music on my bike while still letting me listen to the traffic at full fidelity. But I can't always hear the music on busy roads, and... and it never quite works the way I want it to. I don't listen to music while I'm falling asleep. I rarely listen to music when hanging out with people, unless our activity is Listening To Music. I will sometimes put on music while cooking or puttering in the kitchen, but this leads me to put on different types of music, and so I get a lot less focused listening time than I used to.

It's confusing! How can I suddenly like different things just because I don't use the car as much? It's easy(ish) to find time to listen to old standards and things I love to sing along to. Wordless things I can listen to at work while working -- they help me focus, but, well, I don't exactly have a huge store of music that I've accumulated for the purpose of helping me focus.

So, hey you! When do you listen to music? At work? While socializing? When do you listen to NEW music, and how much attention do you give to it?


BTW: My list of things I feel a little adrift if I don't have: Graceland, some Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks, Nashville Skyline, whatever), and Gorecki's symphony no 3. This is by no means a comprehensive list of stuff I want to have with me, or even the stuff I listen to most often, but if I don't have those three things I get confused somewhere deep in my heart.

Comments

[contessagrrl.livejournal.com]

Well, so, I'm an anomaly in that I listen to music 24/7 and it does not prohibit me from focusing on what's going on. I can listen, and talk to you. Or listen, and work. Or listen and do some other task.

I listen to music: at home (always), sleeping (always), in the car (always), on the train (mostly - sometimes I'm listening to podcasts instead), at work (always), when socializing (mostly - unless someone else asks for there to be no music).

When I get new music, I make time to do nothing but listen to it. This generally involves laying down, putting the music on, shutting a door (if necessary) and listening. This is, however, time privilege that not everyone has.

Recently I had to "lay still for 45 minutes" for medical reasons and discovered I can do this while listening to Lady Gaga, which the medical personnel all found rather amusing.

[khedron.livejournal.com]

Well, so, I'm an anomaly in that I listen to music 24/7 and it does not prohibit me from focusing on what's going on. I can listen, and talk to you. Or listen, and work. Or listen and do some other task.

I used to be able to do that -- not anymore, at least not with newer music. :( I'm getting worse and worse about being able to listen to music with words while writing or programming. So, I envy you this.

[twoeleven.livejournal.com]

When do you listen to music? At work?
Yes, and to address music for helping to focus, I have ~30hours of Baroque music for that purpose, mostly Vivaldi string and woodwind concerti, followed by lots of Bach.

While socializing?
Very rarely, because...

When do you listen to NEW music, and how much attention do you give to it?
All of it. And sometimes I'll listen to it several times in succession to make sure it sank it. In addition to my few shelf-meters of unread books, I have a stack of CD liner notes to go with my unlistened-to music.

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

sometimes I'll listen to it several times in succession to make sure it sank in.

Yeah, I get that.

Not very helpful

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

I almost never listen to music from outside my head! I enjoy it, but like you, am bad at half-listening, and it turns out that these days, when I'm driving or walking, I usually want to think either more (audiobooks, podcasts) or less (headphones on with nothing playing through them) than I do when I'm listening to music.

This has some upsides: if I'm working on creating a melody or doing witchy things about listening (which I often am!), it seems to be useful to me not to be in an environment too richly saturated with other music. (I'm trying to think about what this means for writing: would that be better if I were in an environment less richly saturated with words?) But I'm also missing out on something I really enjoy.

So that's no help at all except on the sympathy front!

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

* Biking
* Working around the house: cleaning, watering, cooking etc.
* At work (but, like with socializing, instrumental music is much better for this)
* Going to sleep, sometimes, if I'm very restless

I don't listen to music while driving as much since the CD player broke in my car. One of these days I'll get around to replacing it with an iPod-ready stereo.

[fengshui.livejournal.com]

Biking: How? The wind noise always drowns out the music unless I crank the volume to damaging levels.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Belatedly: I pump the volume up to a level where I can hear it but where it doesn't drown out traffic sounds. The wind will still drown out the music when I'm going hella fast, but I'm usually riding at a more moderate speed. I don't get a high fidelity experience, but that's all right, I'm not listening to music then for the artistic experience, I'm listening to music to keep from getting hopelessly bored and trapped in my head.

Molly, didn't you find a set of earmuffs or ear guards that divert wind around the ear to improve hearing? Did you ever get those?

[the-xtina.livejournal.com]

* I listen to music at work, if I can get away with it.  During the day I listen to techno or other non-lyrical music, because I do support, and I can handle techno being interrupted much more than I can handle singing being interrupted.  After the calls drop off, I listen to my singalong music.

* I listen while on the bus.  Or I used to; I can't find my Shuffle.  :( :(

* I listen when I have my music dates with djdigit.  ♥s

I miss driving mostly because I miss listening to whatever music I wanted to, however loudly, for however long, with few to no interruptions.

I incidentally hear music while socialising, but I wouldn't say I listen to it, Bob.

I listen to new music when I have the focus to find new music.  And then I listen to it straight for like a fortnight.

the mississippi delta was shining like a national guitar...

[sunstealer.livejournal.com]

I love love a huge variety of music and really miss running a big music store. I listened to so much stuff and got paid to make sure there was a variety of new material from all genres playing :) Nowadays I'm like you- listen mostly in the car unless NPR has something I really like (Speaking of Faith has become one of my new favorite things).

I also listen at work though mostly to things I know already. I used to listen on bus rides but can't bus to work anymore so that's out for now (some of my favorite moments have been on pre-dawn bus rides with music playing, like I'm getting to watch a movie happening all around me).

I listen to new stuff mostly late at night now in the hour or so before I sleep. Not every night to be sure but at least some every week. It's more flexible time, if I feel not sleep-deprived then I can stay up longer and even when tired can often squeeze in at least a song or 2. I'll also take short breaks at work now and then and just pop something new in to take my mind totally away for a few minutes.

Not helpful either

[harimad.livejournal.com]

Mostly I don't. Generally I listen to the news during my commute and - till I figure out how to load music or podcasts on to my player - while exercising as well.

[ectropy.livejournal.com]

The only time I consistently listen to music is when I'm writing, and then I am pretty strict about only having no-word music that I enjoy. I don't generally go out trying to find new music (although Pandora has been very helpful), and I actually think that having music on while socializing is weird (parties excepted). But I may be a few sigmas away from the mean.

OTOH, I do like classical music, and want more, but have so little knowledge of the genre that I'm at a loss as to where to begin.

I have occasionally listened to music when riding (either pedal, or powered), but it's rare and as you pointed out, awkward.

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

If you'd like recommendations or CDs to borrow in the classical realm, I'm more than happy to help. A serious classical background is part of my secret superhero identity!

[ectropy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I would appreciate it. :)

[dancingwolfgrrl.livejournal.com]

So I'd suggest starting with a major composer from each rough period in order to get a sense of what kind of things you like. Try:
*the Bach double violin concerto (it's BWV 1043, which is just a number in a special catalogue of his works that uniquely identifies it)
*a Mozart piano concerto (I'm partial to No. 23 in A Major)
*A Beethoven symphony (not 9! Try 3, Eroica)
*A Brahms Symphony (I like 3 and 4)
*Mahler Symphony No. 10

Two things you can try listening for to help you grasp how it works: repetition and tension/resolution. You can also puzzle over the unanswered question of the ages: what about this music makes me feel this way? :)

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

During the 5pm-8pm witching hours when I am waiting for my husband to come home and keep me from eating the baby for dinner losing my mind.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

But really, mostly in the car, since I don't currently have a portable music device.

[bloodstones.livejournal.com]

My most consistent music-listening time is while working out. I find that I vary what's on my shuffle between, current favorites, new music that I want to listen to more, and music that I like specifically for working out to.

I always listen to music in the car. I almost always listen to music while at work. I often listen to music while at home. I like listening to music in the shower. When I get new music I usually listen to it on repeat for awhile, or in a very short playlist.

[kungfoogirl.livejournal.com]

I listen to music when I am just puttering about the house. And when I am on the train.

When I bike on the trails, I listen to music hardcore. That's the best. But I agree that listening to music while commuting by bike is scary.

I listen to classical when I am working as a soon-to-be lawyer. But I listened to punk when I programmed. It just seems appropriate.

[nacht_musik]

I have a similar problem: I bike-commute whenever I can, and I can't actually listen to new music very effectively while working or socializing. I do listen to music often while working, but generally anything unfamiliar is distracting.

Lately, my most successful time/place for new-music-listening is while cooking and/or doing housework.

I had not considered the bra solution. Perhaps I will attempt it, though I expect it will be very difficult to hear my phone when it's in your bra. ;-)

I've occasionally considered trying these bone-conduction headphones (that ThinkGeek sold a year or three ago) for use while cycling, but I've mostly decided I don't need the extra distraction, and I'm not sure they're still available anywhere: the Vibe Body Sound Headphones.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Running, housecleaning (I am *dramatically* more likely to clean house with a well-stocked iPod). I fail to notice music if I am doing...basically anything else at all, so, like you, I need something pretty mindless or I don't hear the music. (Which means I don't listen to a lot of it, because I am seldom doing music-compatible activities. And Just Listening To Music is generally too antsy-making.)

Oh, and of course I'm in a choir during the academic year. And I randomly sing sometimes. And V has just now decided to listen through our entire CD collection, so we do that together some.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I almost never listen to new music outside of choir. nonnihil -- who can multitask music with other things, and lives on his iPod at work -- will occasionally introduce me to new stuff. But for the most part my collection is from the '90s, which was when I had regular sources of new music exposure. This is lame, but my music-listening abilities, per above, are not really conducive to encountering (and noticing) new stuff.

[dot_fennel]

There are definitely some kinds of work which are harder for me to do when listening to unfamiliar music. But that aside, I do listen to music at work a lot. Possibly it's an acquired skill. (Maybe tied to being able to assimilate new music faster in general?)

It's hard to listen to music with people unless, yeah, that's the whole point. I've found that video games are really the ideal co-listening activity for me, i.e. they take little enough of my attention that I never feel distracted from the music, but enough of it that I don't get fidgety (which just to focus on music 100% causes a lot).

[prosicated.livejournal.com]

In the past, I've often used music as re-contextualization between activity: social & alone, cooking & eating, just home from x/about to leave the house, etc.) but more often lately, I use familiar music to ground myself (while puttering, reading, fooling around, cooking, etc.) it serves to keep the extra voices in my head quiet and to keep me paying attention to my surroundings.
New music,in recent months, is listened to while drinking a pot of tea/glass of wine/etc. or drawing/knitting, (&, embarrassingly, while in the shower -- I turn the speakers from my laptop up waaay too high & stick them in the door of the bathroom), etc.... all of which is to say see fennel's comment about needing not to fidget.

[cuthalion.livejournal.com]

I listen to music while working, and while at home unless I am doing something that has an auditory component (video games, watching youtubes, etc). I have a ton of nice sleepy music that I listen to while falling asleep (e.g.) but also at other times too. I used to also listen to music while walking places but my earbuds need some maintenance, and I don't have anything else convenient to wear. Actually I find it much harder to work while listening to music on my backup headphones than I did on my fancy-pants (but currently broken) earbuds. It's harder still to work without listening to music though, since it's annoyingly noisy here.

[bolowolf.livejournal.com]

I listen to music at work, when I'm working out, chances are there's some on when I'm socializing/entertaining, when I drive, if I'm somewhere and I know there's going to be a wait, when I'm online, sometimes when I take a bath.

If I'm listening to new music and its something I'm interested in I tend to give it most of my attention. An album that I've been looking forward to will usually get a full listen to while I'm reading the lyrics.

[cacahuate.livejournal.com]

While reading, as long as they don't distract from each other, but they don't most of the time. Also, while cooking. But I mainly do my Intense Music Listening while running.

[artricia.livejournal.com]

When you're a teenager?

Seriously, I love music, but I don't manage to listen to it as much as a full-on adult. I also can't do mental multi-tasking like I used to: listening to music while doing schoolwork was a given before grad school.

[concrete.livejournal.com]

Doing dishes, working out, working. Last.fm on my iPhone introduces me to new music. Like fischerspooner: megacolon :)

[dnereverri.livejournal.com]

While cleaning house on Sundays, when I get out of the shower (if I don't have to rush off somewhere, like to work, so it's usually only on the weekends), occasionally while I'm at the computer. That's it. I find that most music both demands too much attention while at the same time not providing me enough to occupy my full attention, so I generally don't listen to it unless I'm really looking for a minor distraction.