I did something today I almost never do: I listened to music in the background, with my attention on something else. I pulled the board and the iron into my little listening room and ironed shirts (yeah, I know where the cleaners are, and I know this is weird, but I like ironing.) while Spotify, shuffled through their generous offering of Dizzy Gillespie recordings. I didn't change the toe-in of the speakers or tilt them up to my standing position or anything. I just let it play while I ironed a couple of weeks' worth of shirts. I obsessed over nothing. It it was fun.
i will say, i have music on nearly every minute in the house that i can. i often work long hours on the weekends in prep for the following week, and i really just enjoy listening to various music throughout the day. i push play and never let it go on infinite repeat...so i have to get up once an hour to change the CD to something else. Sonny Rollins, Deep House, Eric Clapton, Seal, Vivaldi, Bach...then same Bach played by someone else, or played harpsichord instead of piano. I always have 10% of my mind on just enjoying the sound of the system and the music, while 90% of my concentration is on my work. i get to enjoy the best of both worlds...work and my music. And with a girlfriend who does not mind having it on, it is really the best of 3 worlds!!!!!
I did something today I almost never do: I listened to music in the background, with my attention on something else. I pulled the board and the iron into my little listening room and ironed shirts (yeah, I know where the cleaners are, and I know this is weird, but I like ironing.) while Spotify, shuffled through their generous offering of Dizzy Gillespie recordings. I didn't change the toe-in of the speakers or tilt them up to my standing position or anything. I just let it play while I ironed a couple of weeks' worth of shirts. I obsessed over nothing. It it was fun.
for the last year i've allowed accumulated new Lps to stack up on the floor leaning against the walls. also; last year i purchased a large collection of classical Lps, and bought a couple of hundred early jazz pressings. these i did place on my shelves after i cleaned and listened to them, but i never alphabetized them into my groups.
it's been bugging me to not be able to quickly find stuff.
so last Saturday i selected my hirez classical on the music server and let it play thru, sat on the floor, and orgainized Lps. first i moved some other Lps out of the room, then went thru and alphabetized everything and then moved and organized all the Lps.
it took 6 hours, and some great music played while i worked. my work flowed along with the music.
other than my 'very nearly' 60 year old body rebelling against crawling on the floor, and moving Lps for 6 hours, i had fun.
i can't say i never do that. i do that all the time.....unless the work i'm doing is noisey, or it's not practical for some reason, i have music in the background when i can unless i'm outside....then i ilke the sound of the forrest where i live. even at work, we have music playing in the background, and i enjoy having it there.
Funny that you mention the forest, Mike. I always have the system on at home...but if i go running, i never, never, ever bring music. i like listening to the sounds around me while i run. i feel "cut off" from nature and the world, if i have music and earphones.
I always have music playing. Lately because of the burn-ins I'm doing with my tape electronics I'm turning the system on a 6:00 am, I kinda like it. Without music, my quality of life would not be the same.
Music is my ultimate mood modifier. I use it in that capacity all the time. Sluggish in the morning? Slap on some banging House while I do my morning routine. Feeling uptight? Vivaldi. Feeling beat down and old? Some music from my teen years. Guests for dinner at my place? Music from a country that matches the cuisine served. I listen to music more casually than I do seriously come to think of it. Yes, it IS fun.
I seem to be immersed in music much of the day, whether it's my wife blasting rock on the iPod dock, the kids with.....well......whatever it is they listen to these days, or the guys at the office streaming a little bit of everything. If the music isn't playing it seems as if something is missing.
None of that however compares to the quiet time spent in my dedicated room. No wife, no kids, no phone or computer, no distractions, only one seat in the whole room. For whatever reason it is a sanctuary where music is at it's best, and the few hours a week I do get to spend there trumps all else.
