Finding time for music

[sdolezalek]

A comment Chris just made regarding finally getting time, after all the site upgrades, to just sit back and listen to Pearl Jam, made me wonder: What do other CA listeners do to find the time to actually enjoy their music?

 

In this crazy, busy, hostile world, music has the power to bring people together and put things in context, but only if we find the time for it.  In my world a number of CEO's have turned to meditation, on a daily basis, to reduce stress and allow them to better focus when they are working.  I struggled with it, but I find I can achieve much of the same results with 30 minutes of listening to a great classical recording.

 

What are your secrets for finding/making time to really listen? 

[Booster MPS]

For me, I might casually listen from the laptop/phone during the day sometimes while working.  For more focused listening, it is certainly in front my two channel system in the evenings.  I certainly go in phases where I will listen more than other times, and sometimes that cycle is coincident with new releases or a lack of them.  It's often after dinner  during the week where I will use music to unwind if I want to do some listening.  Also, early Sunday mornings almost always find me in front of my stereo with music.  Life does get in the way for all of us from time to time, and it's probably easier for me being single with no kids.  Another thing that I get a lot from is that when I am sitting down for more focused listening, it is with an album start to finish.  I just like taking that journey and it makes me want to come back again and again.

[StephenJK]

8 hours ago, sdolezalek said:

(Snip)

 

What are your secrets for finding/making time to really listen? 

I listen to music each and every day.  The stereo is turned on as soon as I get home from work, and music plays while my wife and I get supper ready.  We have an open concept house, and can continue to listen to music while enjoying our meal with a couple of glasses of wine.  

 

After supper we sit around the table talking and playing music.  If I'm working around the house on weekends I turn the stereo on and play it using my iPad as a remote control.  

 

But, there is something that we don't do - and that's watch television.  That got cut off many years ago, and neither of us misses it.  We do have a TV in the basement, but it's used only to watch DVD movies.  

 

Perhaps that might work for you?  I don't mean cutting off the TV signal, but maybe alternating between the two.

[Jud]

Wish I knew the answer, it's been probably a good week or more since I've played some good music at more than "don't wake my wife" volume.

 

I work from home a couple of days a week and will work exclusively from home by this fall, but I can't listen to music while I work.  Too much of my attention goes to appreciating the music.

[Fyper]

We can always make the time for what really matters to us.

If we don't find the time to listen to music, it's because other things matter more.

And that is true even in this world when we sometime do what we want to do, and the rest of the time we do what we have to. :-)

[paul_riordan]

I don't listen to music any where near as much as I should (and would like to).  Most of my actual listening occurs on a plane or in the car using an ipod, I don't see much point in investing heavily for listening in those environments. Since I moved home and now have a dedicated room I think I have probably listened to 10-20 hours in total over the four years I have been in the house.  Admittedly it did take about three of those four years to get the room setup and all the kit installed, it was the last room to get done in the house.  Hopefully over the coming months I will get the opportunity to do some more dedicated listening but I suspect it will still be mainly in the car and on a plane. 

[sdolezalek]

2 hours ago, Jud said:

Wish I knew the answer, it's been probably a good week or more since I've played some good music at more than "don't wake my wife" volume.

 

I work from home a couple of days a week and will work exclusively from home by this fall, but I can't listen to music while I work.  Too much of my attention goes to appreciating the music.

 Jud: I too can't listen while I work.  I actually tried the little Magnepan Mini desktop system for a while -- problem was that the sound was so good and detailed that I kept stopping work to listen.  

[sdolezalek]

I'd love to hear from some of the folks who have dedicated a meaningful portion of their disposable income to their sound systems. Do you have more time than the rest of us to enjoy those systems or is it more like having an exotic car in the garage that you drive rarely, but enjoy hugely in those rare moments?

 

Separately, the responses so far justify the popularity of ear buds and hand-held systems.  If the main time you get for listening is during travel (whether commuting or on planes), then, by definition, the focus of the audio world will continue to shift toward delivery systems that maximize that trasitory experience.  

 

In my own case, I see the investment in my main system as a travel and distraction-free way to attend the symphony, a rock concert, etc.  By also making it a full surround system with high-end video, I have found that I enjoy staying at home more than going to a lot of sports events (I get the best seats in the house, no annoying fans, no hassles with parking or travel, food and drink whenever I want it and 90% of the experience level of the real thing).  

[astrotoy]

Before I retired, I had much too little time to listen to music. Now that I have been retired for approaching a decade, my music enjoyment fills much of my life.  It is a threefold enjoyment - going to concerts (about 70 a year), listening to music at home through my system, and playing the piano for 30min to one hour a day. It is also wonderful to have a spouse (of more than 45 years) who enjoys and appreciates music as much as I do.

 

Some wise person said about regrets as one approaches the finality of life, very few say they regret not spending more time at the office.

 

Larry

[jhwalker]

We've recently (this calendar year) taken to listening to at least one album each evening after dinner - not a rule or resolution, has just evolved that way.

 

I favor classical / jazz, and my husband likes classic rock / bluegrass, but there is a lot of overlap in our tastes, so with 6.5k+ albums on tap, we can usually find something we both enjoy quite a bit.

 

Has been very nice to set aside that time just to relax and enjoy our music + system.

[sdolezalek]

3 minutes ago, astrotoy said:

Before I retired, I had much too little time to listen to music. Now that I have been retired for approaching a decade, my music enjoyment fills much of my life.  It is a threefold enjoyment - going to concerts (about 70 a year), listening to music at home through my system, and playing the piano for 30min to one hour a day. It is also wonderful to have a spouse (of more than 45 years) who enjoys and appreciates music as much as I do.

 

If only we could have the quality of hearing at retirement age that we had at age twenty... Maybe good hearing is just another one of life's qualities wasted on the young?

[Fyper]

5 minutes ago, sdolezalek said:

 

If only we could have the quality of hearing at retirement age that we had at age twenty... Maybe good hearing is just another one of life's qualities wasted on the young?

Quite the contrary: the worse your hearing the best your chances of being satisfied with what you hear.

:-)

[astrotoy]

15 minutes ago, sdolezalek said:

 

If only we could have the quality of hearing at retirement age that we had at age twenty... Maybe good hearing is just another one of life's qualities wasted on the young?

"Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:"

Robert Browning from his poem "Rabbi Ben Ezra"

 

Written wearing my Oticon hearing aids!

 

Larry

[Jud]

54 minutes ago, jhwalker said:

We've recently (this calendar year) taken to listening to at least one album each evening after dinner - not a rule or resolution, has just evolved that way.

 

I favor classical / jazz, and my husband likes classic rock / bluegrass, but there is a lot of overlap in our tastes, so with 6.5k+ albums on tap, we can usually find something we both enjoy quite a bit.

 

Has been very nice to set aside that time just to relax and enjoy our music + system.

 

So who are his bluegrass favorites?  (Sub-question, what does he think of the O'Connor Band?)

[Jud]

1 hour ago, astrotoy said:

Now that I have been retired for approaching a decade, my music enjoyment fills much of my life.  It is a threefold enjoyment - going to concerts (about 70 a year), listening to music at home through my system, and playing the piano for 30min to one hour a day. It is also wonderful to have a spouse (of more than 45 years) who enjoys and appreciates music as much as I do.

 

Larry

 

I am jealous.

[jhwalker]

33 minutes ago, Jud said:

 

So who are his bluegrass favorites?  (Sub-question, what does he think of the O'Connor Band?)

 

Alison Krauss (of course!) + Union Station

Dixie Chicks (intersection of Bluegrass / Country / Pop)

Dolly Parton (current stuff)

Nickel Creek

Sarah Jarosz

Milk Carton Kids

Steve Martin / Edie Brickell / Steep Canyon Rangers

 

Not familiar with the O'Connor Band, but will check it out!

 

[Jud]

3 minutes ago, jhwalker said:

 

Alison Krauss (of course!) + Union Station

Dixie Chicks (intersection of Bluegrass / Country / Pop)

Dolly Parton (current stuff)

Nickel Creek

Sarah Jarosz

Milk Carton Kids

Steve Martin / Edie Brickell / Steep Canyon Rangers

 

Not familiar with the O'Connor Band, but will check it out!

 

 

Love the most recent Sarah Jarosz album.

 

Heard the Milk Carton Kids sounding great on some TV show, but haven't been able to identify an album to buy from listening to 30-second snippets.

[jhwalker]

1 minute ago, Jud said:

 

Love the most recent Sarah Jarosz album.

 

Heard the Milk Carton Kids sounding great on some TV show, but haven't been able to identify an album to buy from listening to 30-second snippets.

 

Try "Monterey" - it's great!

[blownsi]

2 hours ago, sdolezalek said:

I'd love to hear from some of the folks who have dedicated a meaningful portion of their disposable income to their sound systems. Do you have more time than the rest of us to enjoy those systems or is it more like having an exotic car in the garage that you drive rarely, but enjoy hugely in those rare moments?

 

In my case it's like an exotic car.  Unfortunately I only spend about one day a month listening to my Mac gear. 

 

[new_media]

16 hours ago, sdolezalek said:

What are your secrets for finding/making time to really listen? 

 

Listen during your commute.

 

[wgb113]

I've simply made the time.  3 hours/week is the minimum, 2/3 of which usually comes on the weekend.  I'll sneak in an hour here or there after the kids go to bed during the week.

 

I've drastically reduced the time I spend half listening as well, hardly ever listening at work as background noise and usually in the way to work in the car.  

[sphinxsix]

19 hours ago, sdolezalek said:

In my world a number of CEO's have turned to meditation, on a daily basis, to reduce stress and allow them to better focus when they are working.  I struggled with it, but I find I can achieve much of the same results with 30 minutes of listening to a great classical recording.

You can call it 'classical meditation' I guess.

But seriously - as for meditation - AFAIK there are different kinds of meditation using different techniques and with different goals. There are also many music genres so I guess the 'classical meditation' is just one of many possible ones. How about wild free jazz meditation or thrash metal one.? I think it's also possible to listen to such music with very focused (meditative) mind.

 

As for finding more time for music I guess there are always some possibilities.

An extreme one :

 

 

[Hauser]

Thrash Metal and meditation   ...an oxymoron?

[TubeLover]

11 hours ago, astrotoy said:

"Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:"

Robert Browning from his poem "Rabbi Ben Ezra"

 

Written wearing my Oticon hearing aids!

 

Larry

Larry, thanks fot that most memorable quote. Having been pushed into early retirement late last fall, I particularly appreciate it! 

 

JC

[TubeLover]

As far as how much I have an opportunity to truly listen to music, even in early retirement there are some limitations. However, I do manage 2-2.5 hours 4-5 times a week just sitting in front of my system, doing nothing but focusing on the music.

 

JC