I'm generally always listening to music: car, walks, treadmill, work and generally serenade Bob while I'm showering. But I once worked with a woman who would lose her concentration if the phone wasn't answered on the first ring and God help you if you sneezed while she was trying to concentrate.
Having said that, do y'all like your shop quiet while you are working or are you listening to your favorite tunes? If you appreciate music, what is your genre?
I'm into classic rock but was taught by my father to appreciate Big Band and musical soundtracks (Oklahoma, Music Man, etc.). I'm not a C/W fan but do love Willie/Waylon/the Outlaws and really dig Shania Twain. Have zero appreciation for rap or hispanic music.
In the mornings, I listen to sportstalk radio. By 10 AM, I turn on a TV and leave the sound down low for the rest of the day. My daughter works nearby, and eats lunch with me everyday. During the lunch hour, we watch Family Feud. Then I flip it to CNN for a while. I like CNN better because they don't just show the same news clips on a continuous loop every 15 minutes. In the afternoons, I turn it to a rerun station (Father Knows Best, Dennis The Menace, etc.). The TV is mounted at the opposite end of my cutting table, so I can pay half-attention to it while I sew.
When customers come in, I turn it off while I'm talking to them. And sometimes after they leave, I forget to turn it back on.
I never could get used to listening to music (while I work). It's either too loud or too low, or a song that I'm sick of hearing, and I don't have time to keep fiddling with it.
Being a musician and growing up with parents who loved all kinds of music I am an avid music listener.
I always have the stereo playing in the shop. Always. One morning it maybe Motown and the afternoon it may be top 40 music or blues. Evenings ( if am working late ) it maybe big band or soul / R & B and yes I also listen to opera. ( My two favorites are the Phantom and La Traviata ).
I have over 1,200 songs on my ipod and my wife has over 3,000 songs on her phone and then I have a huge collection of CD's. My wife is a very accomplished musician ( guitar, piano, sax, clarinet, mandolin, violin, fiddle and bass ). She is amazing on all of them and I get to listen to her when she is in our studio playing.
Now here is the kicker and I know someone is going to say " no wonder you get bogged down in orders ". I have an acoustic guitar hanging in my shop as well as two blues harps in two popular keys. Sometimes a song will come on the stereo and I will pick up the guitar or a harp and play along. After the song I go back to work. Sometimes I just take a break and sit down with the guitar and play and unwind. :)
I could not imagine life without music.
Chris
Quote from: Mojo on November 07, 2014, 08:21:57 am
Now here is the kicker and I know someone is going to say " no wonder you get bogged down in orders ". I have an acoustic guitar hanging in my shop as well as two blues harps in two popular keys. Sometimes a song will come on the stereo and I will pick up the guitar or a harp and play along. After the song I go back to work. Sometimes I just take a break and sit down with the guitar and play and unwind. :)
I could not imagine life without music.
Chris
LOL! I don't play (other than the occasional air guitar or air drums) while I'm in the shop, but I've definitely stopped working on more than one occasion to move with the music when the mood hits me.
I don't listen to the radio in the shop. I have that little off-white Bose system (radio or cd) and purchased the Bose iPOD player that is one of the accessories for the system. I have an old iPOD given as a Christmas present from the owner of a spiney web site years ago when I was a mod on that site. Bob loaded it with my favorites right before we went to Omaha for my fusion surgery and I walked, walked, walked while listening to that thing. So I listen to the CD's in random order from my old iPOD. When we first got our cd player, I went a little crazy buying cd's. We have at least 800. I've often told people that I play a better variety in the house than most radio stations. Every once in a while I get sick of the iPOD tunes so I go into the store room and rustle around for a cd I haven't heard for quite a while. Bob is a technology freak and we bought a pc simply to load our tunes on. He has spent quite a bit of time developing different play lists off the cd's.
All four of us kids were required by our parents to learn to play a musical instrument. My brothers all played the trumpet and I played violin for 5 years. My instruction was always mad at me as once I got to Jr. High I didn't practice as much as I should have but was still able to maintain first chair. He knew that I was capable of more. Finally quit because I got tired of lugging that case around 3 days a week. Do kind of regret that but life goes on.
Virginia
my I phone has led zep, queen . beatles kinks to jimmy buffett john mayer buddy guy very varied if im repetitive like grommet I like muxic but if I really need to think like sewing a condole cover puzzle I turn it down off to concentrate on what im doing
Quote from: Virgs Sew n Sew on November 07, 2014, 09:15:40 am
Quote from: Mojo on November 07, 2014, 08:21:57 am
Now here is the kicker and I know someone is going to say " no wonder you get bogged down in orders ". I have an acoustic guitar hanging in my shop as well as two blues harps in two popular keys. Sometimes a song will come on the stereo and I will pick up the guitar or a harp and play along. After the song I go back to work. Sometimes I just take a break and sit down with the guitar and play and unwind. :)
I could not imagine life without music.
Chris
LOL! I don't play (other than the occasional air guitar or air drums) while I'm in the shop, but I've definitely stopped working on more than one occasion to move with the music when the mood hits me.
years ago a good friend used to hang out at my canvas/ bait shop and he would take care of bait customers to help me out. well one day he was down at my canvas end and I had ac sc plating and he was really getting into a air giuitar riff when he turn arounf and there was a lady looking at him in the bait shop I was outside the door and he goese hey mike you want to help this lady. I used to sing making up my own words and many time sure enough id turn
around to someone
Can't live without my classic rock. But I love everything from swing to Louis Armstrong, soul, R&B, reggae - everything but rap (yeah, it has rhythm but no melody) and elevator music because it puts me to sleep. I can read music and play the piano but only because I was forced to learn as a child. No real talent in that regard.
June
I literally have everything from AC/DC to Zamfir in my personal library with the exception of rap. * Depending on my mood I might toss in an old cassette of dalcimer music or C/W or ???. at work though, I have the radio on to a local station that has talk shows,swap and shop etc... between their Country music but never hear a word of it ---it's just background noise. Grandma always chastised us teenagers for playing our music too load because we were afraid to be alone with our thoughts LOL.
*One of the on air personnel at said radio station is also a working musician. I loved his quote---"rap is to music what etch-a-scetch is to art"
Quote from: Darren Henry on November 08, 2014, 04:49:05 am
*One of the on air personnel at said radio station is also a working musician. I loved his quote---"rap is to music what etch-a-scetch is to art"
In the early '80's, one of our favorite bumper stickers read as follows:
"Listen to disco ... put 5 musicians out of work"
Virginia
Quote from: Darren Henry on November 08, 2014, 04:49:05 am
I loved his quote---"rap is to music what etch-a-scetch is to art"
ox-y-mo-ron
[ok-si-mawr-on, -mohr-]
Word Origin
noun, plural oxymora [ok-si-mawr-uh, -mohr-uh] (Show IPA), oxymorons. Rhetoric
a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in "cruel kindness" or "to make haste slowly."
OR: "Rap music"
I'm amazed at how we pretty much all seem to agree that "rap is crap" : )
I do not have any disco cd's but readily agree that the late Donna Summer had a fabulous set of pipes and always listen to her tunes if I'm listening to Sirius sounds of the 70's in my car. I also have a fondness for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack with the exception of a few tunes on it. Again, not in our collection but if I hear the beegees and most of the other songs from that movie, I'll not turn to a different station. I get all reminiscent when I hear that soundtrack I think but loved the early BeeGees.
Virginia
Quote"rap is to music what etch-a-scetch is to art"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/12/etch-a-sketch-anniversary_n_3581395.html
Quoteeverything but rap (yeah, it has rhythm but no melody) and elevator music because it puts me to sleep.
I listen to the elevator music: New Age, Ambient, all instrumental, with a healthy mixture of electric guitar to keep me aware. (Santana, Walter Trout, Atkins, BB King, Thompson, Beck, Vaughn, etc.
I love it when I start to mellow on Enya or Yanni and then Eric Clapton wakes me up.
gene
Quote from: gene on November 08, 2014, 07:09:14 am
I love it when I start to mellow on Enya or Yanni and then Eric Clapton wakes me up.
gene
Are you old enough to remember the "Clapton Is God" thing. My ex had a t-shirt with that imprinted on it. I thought his dad was going to backhand him when he walked into his parents house wearing it. ; ) In retrospect, it might have been a good thing if his dad had backhanded him. LOL.
Virginia
Quote from: Virgs Sew n Sew on November 08, 2014, 07:00:18 am
I'm amazed at how we pretty much all seem to agree that "rap is crap" : )
Well naturally. What do you expect from a bunch of white people?
A black friend of mine says that blacks really don't even like Rap. They only invented it to get back at white people for Country & Western.
I bounce around but usually it's Mark Simone early, then Heraldo - followed by Curtis + Kuby - Mark Levin, Hannity or Dr. Savage - and for music - the weekend when no talk radio is available it's oldies.
SA
Quote from: sofadoc on November 08, 2014, 10:35:51 am
They only invented it to get back at white people for Country & Western.
Now that is funny!
However, I think among {ahem} younger people, crap, er I mean rap is more accepted. I have a 20'ish niece and she has rap on her iPOD. My brother does music for wedding receptions and he has a fair amount of rap loaded on his equipment.
Virginia
I love rap, not allowed to listen to it in presence of missus. Rockabilly too, a lot of music I turned up my nose at when I was younger, I really enjoy now. Then there is the standard Midnight Oil which I blame my tinnitus on.
Darren , when I was a grom I went to an AC/DC gig at my mates school social, wild times. The real acadaca, with Bon Scott.
Quote from: sofadoc on November 08, 2014, 10:35:51 am
Quote from: Virgs Sew n Sew on November 08, 2014, 07:00:18 am
I'm amazed at how we pretty much all seem to agree that "rap is crap" : )
Well naturally. What do you expect from a bunch of white people?
A black friend of mine says that blacks really don't even like Rap. They only invented it to get back at white people for Country & Western.
ive got one rap song downloaded to my phone
http://youtu.be/rKTUAESacQM only because I liked disco and le chic le freak I actually like disco james brown and Chicago and never learned to apreacieate led zeplin and pink Floyd till years later
Quote from: SteveA on November 08, 2014, 11:33:23 am
- the weekend when no talk radio is available it's oldies.
SA
After reading all these posts. This week; turn off the talk and listen to more music. Classic, country and alternative. And relax.
Rap - ok I like "Who Let the Dogs Out", "Baby Got Back" and I've heard a couple of Salt 'n Peppa that sounded ok -- didn't catch the names though. Most of it-ugh.
I've never really listened to alternative -- I will put that on my list of music to check out.
Virginia
Allman Brothers Band on this Sunday morning coming down. I love me some blues based rock ; )
Kody -
You're right - I need to settle down to some Faith Hill or Carrie - I was too wired watching those mid-terms - now I can relax and get back to work - what did the Eagles say about those "Eyes"
SA
I refuse to listen to rap. To me it isn't music but synthesized crap. Hell the singers cannot even sing. It is just noise to me. I would rather listen to a Monastery chant group.
And this is a problem with alot of the music today. It is not generated by musicians who ply their amazing talents or by true singers with amazing pipes but instead it is all done by some geek with excellent computer skills. Did you know that when a vocalist goes into a studio they do not even need to sing in tune ? The computer software used in recording studios will make all the corrections and it will come out pitch perfect.
I am a bit of a music snob but it comes from spending countless hours in a studio doing take after take after take to put out a perfect track. We had no computer anything - every sound we got from our guitars, the blues notes I blew on a harp, the beat bass players and drummers laid down all came from talented people who busted their ass to hone their skills. Vocal work was tough as every word had to be in sync and on the mark.
I find it sad that computers now days generate our music and few musicians are employed anymore. You would not believe what these computer software programs can do in a recording studio now days. They are amazingly powerful and create excellent sounding music but the personal aspect is gone.
Chris
Yeah Chris and that's much what your parents said about Elvis and the electric guitar :)
We were watching Tom Petty's "Running Down A Dream" filmography and I think it was his original keyboardist left for that reason. At some point in Petty and the Heartbreaker's career, they quit recording as a group and each individual would record, it would go through the process Chris is talking about and when Petty was satisfied, they would be overlaid (or whatever the process is called). This guy felt that it was no longer recording and walked. Said it wasn't about money but about creating art (I'm paraphrasing). I didn't quite understand his beef then but after reading Chris's post, I think I understand it now and I have way more respect for the guy now.
Yup each generation says that the new music is going to ruin the profession and usually it's just a generational thing but if a computer can take out of tune warbling and turn it into a hit, I would think a new bumper sticker similar to the old "Disco" bumper sticker Bob and I used to love is in order.
Virginia
Quote from: scottymc on November 09, 2014, 05:32:20 pm
Yeah Chris and that's much what your parents said about Elvis and the electric guitar :)
Yeah, but my parents also thought that Abbot & Costello were funny.
"Who's on first?........What's on second?"............if my dad were alive right now, he'd STILL be cracking up at that routine.
Scotty:
You missed my point.
Elvis played an instrument. It may have been electric but he played an instrument and he had near perfect pitch control.
My point is this, alot of the music you hear today ( especially rap & hip hop ) is all done by computer nerds. They do NOT play instruments and are NOT musicians. They simply program software by hitting a keypad which generates sounds that mimic what a true musician would play. The singers have little vocal talent outside pitch control software
I remember watching a video which was an interview with Joe Walsh from the Eagles. He said the industry has changed to the point that it will never remain the same and new artists and bands will never make the money older artists made during their careers.
I just find it all so disheartening. I still attend concerts where the artists perform live and bring real life musicians with him. But I also know somewhere in that concert hall is a guy hitting a keyboard on a computer which is keeping this artist on pitch and in tune and some of those sounds are being generated via computer software.
Chris
And you missed my point mate, that your parents probably thought Elvis had no talent at all , just disgusting fella gyrating his hips and screaming, if good music is being made well there has to be some talent in there even if you don't like the way it was made.
I'm sure many classical guitarist thought the world was about to end the first time they heard Jimi Hendrix
NPR Morning Edition (MPBN) until 9AM. Sometimes I stay tuned and listen to the classical music show until 10 AM at which time I may switch over to NHNPR which is an all news format (Diane Rehm) if nothing interests me I'll switch to 92.1 (locally owned staion that is fun) but never before 10 AM because the morning DJ is a jerk who likes the sound of his voice too much and blabs over the music!
actually I prefer talk back radio these days
Back when I had my shop in Kenora I had a computer set up in the "office" corner. I used to listen to shoutcast radio on line. I could flip from genre to genre/ station to station etc...as my mood and their programming changed. I enjoyed listening to the "local" adverts., weather,accents,etc... Two of my favorites were 99.? out of Fairfield Texas and one that broadcast from southern US (Alabama ?/Georgia?) during our day and Australia in our night.