Music - What, How, When & How Much?

[imoldernu]

Curiosity...
What kind(s)?
How - Earphones, Stereo, Auto, live?
When?
How much... ie. all day, rarely, never?
And one more major question... as you grow older, does music play a bigger or smaller part in your life?
...............................

Started out the question with what turned into a three page essay.
OMG... too much.
Like:
Do you learn the words?
What era (years) are favorite?
Do you ever sing along?
Play instrument(s)?
Favorite genre?
TV Music Stations? Pandora? ITunes? .... Sources?
Have a library of music?
Share or listen alone?
Favorite musicians?
.............................

Addons are infinite.... Just wondered what part music plays in your life.
FWIW... Je t'adore - Sarah Brightman, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra.

YMMV...

 

[Keim]

How:

I have a system that looks a lot like this. Those ugly speakers sound fantastic, and are a design by Bottlehead Corporation called Superwhamodyne. I sourced the parts for mine myself, and made them of MDF. They are bright yellow. My amplifier is a Bottlehead kit called The Paramour. 5 watts of class A power. It is a Single Ended Triode amp based on a 2a3 tube. Hand built by me. Pre-amp by same kit company, called The Foreplay. I also have a Oppo blu-ray/dvd/cd player, Yamaha turntable (with handmade "Seduction" phono-amp), Denon cassette deck, and Panasonic VCR. No 8 track or reel to reel!

The system sounds amazing IMO. Was cheap to build, considering sound quality. About $1000 for the amps and speakers.

When? Whenever I can find time.

How much: I try to set aside a few hours per month for dedicated listening.

As I grow older: I listen less, but enjoy it more when I do. Listening to well recorded music on this rig is a treat. It images very well, and brings the music to life on a good recording. It can be very involving. Sinatra's Songs for Swingin' Lovers sounds fantastic on this set-up!

Curiosity...
What kind(s)?
How - Earphones, Stereo, Auto, live?
When?
How much... ie. all day, rarely, never?
And one more major question... as you grow older, does music play a bigger or smaller part in your life?
...............................

Started out the question with what turned into a three page essay.
OMG... too much.
Like:
Do you learn the words?
What era (years) are favorite?
Do you ever sing along?
Play instrument(s)?
Favorite genre?
TV Music Stations? Pandora? ITunes? .... Sources?
Have a library of music?
Share or listen alone?
Favorite musicians?
.............................

Addons are infinite.... Just wondered what part music plays in your life.
FWIW... Je t'adore - Sarah Brightman, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra.

YMMV...

 

[frayne]

Music junkie here, mostly classic rock, own six guitars, five amps, play out live once a month or more. Great for keeping the mind working and the libido active.

 

[sunnysideup]

At work from the computer, listen to contemporary adult station. Have a hard time working without music, keeps me going. In car listen to same music maybe a different station. Learn the words and the artists when I can.

At home don't listen much anymore, ocassionally put on 60s oldies and listen with DH who likes that era too. I still remember the lyrics and sing along to all of them!!!

Have an IPOD with 60s and 70s. Use it when I travel mostly. Loved 70s singer-songwriters. Have seen James Taylor about 20 times in my lifetime.

We see a couple of broadway shows a year, and I watch the TCM musicals periodically. Favorite is Les Miserables.

Also appreciate baroque music and string quartets, depending on what they're playing. Love Puccini operas. Don't go too much, it's pretty pricey in NYC.

Hubby likes Jazz, so we go to hear local Jazz a few times a year.

Both my parents loved music, and I studied keyboard while growing up, so I guess it was inevitable for me to love music.

 

[Purron]

More on youtube these days, but otherwise much like years past. Radio in the car and stereo at home. Still plays a big part in my life. It's how I've come to translate the world into something that makes sense or stops making sense.

 

[sheehs1]

More on youtube these days, but otherwise much like years past. Radio in the car and stereo at home. Still plays a big part in my life. It's how I've come to translate the world into something that makes sense or stops making sense.

+1 . I'm with you on this Purron.

 

[HFWR]

Listen in the car and on the computer. Have a surround sound system, rather than a "stereo", and while it's great for movies, it's not that good for listening to CDs.

Currently own four guitars and a bass (sold three recently, so have had more). Have two amps. Have a four-track recorder, and an audio interface and Sonar software for using the computer as a "studio". Also have two sound modules and two MIDI keyboards.

Have played guitar for around fifty years now. Not great, but reasonably good. Have written quite a few songs. CAn do the singer/songwriter thing on acoustic, or wank on electric.

Played in a couple of bands over the years - rock and country mix - but don't really enjoy it much. No money in it, and it turns something I enjoy doing into a j*b...

Mostly a rock junkie, but that covers a large swath, whether it's James Taylor or Bob Dylan or Neil Young, or King Crimson or Frank Zappa or Yes. Have seen literally hundreds of bands at bars, concerts, festivals, etc.

 

[Purron]

Listen in the car and on the computer. Have a surround sound system, rather than a "stereo", and while it's great for movies, it's not that good for listening to CDs.

Currently own four guitars and a bass (sold three recently, so have had more). Have two amps. Have a four-track recorder, and an audio interface and Sonar software for using the computer as a "studio". Also have two sound modules and two MIDI keyboards.

Have played guitar for around fifty years now. Not great, but reasonably good. Have written quite a few songs. CAn do the singer/songwriter thing on acoustic, or wank on electric.

Played in a couple of bands over the years - rock and country mix - but don't really enjoy it much. No money in it, and it turns something I enjoy doing into a j*b...

Mostly a rock junkie, but that covers a large swath, whether it's James Taylor or Bob Dylan or Neil Young, or King Crimson or Frank Zappa or Yes. Have seen literally hundreds of bands at bars, concerts, festivals, etc.

DAMN I miss Zappa.

 

[Nodak]

Another music junkie here. I listen for several hours a day between car and home.
Car has THX certified 12 speaker 600 watt system. Home is McIntosh C28 pre-amp, MC 2100 amp and ML-1C speakers purchased about 40 years ago. Just had the Mc pre-amp and amp refurbished by McIntosh and replaced the foam surrounds on the speakers. Sounds as good as new now. Listen to Jazz, blues, classic rock and classical.

 

[Keim]

Another music junkie here. I listen for several hours a day between car and home.
Car has THX certified 12 speaker 600 watt system. Home is McIntosh C28 pre-amp, MC 2100 amp and ML-1C speakers purchased about 40 years ago. Just had the Mc pre-amp and amp refurbished by McIntosh and replaced the foam surrounds on the speakers. Sounds as good as new now. Listen to Jazz, blues, classic rock and classical.

Nice classic system, Nodak!

 

[Nodak]

Nice classic system, Nodak!

It took me a long time to save the $1600 to buy the McIntosh components in 1972 but I've never regretted it. It cost almost as much to refurbish the amp as it did to purchase it new ($433 as opposed to $499) but it will probably outlast me now.

 

[Keim]

It took me a long time to save the $1600 to buy the McIntosh components in 1972 but I've never regretted it. It cost almost as much to refurbish the amp as it did to purchase it new ($433 as opposed to $499) but it will probably outlast me now.

I hear that. Took me many hours to build my system. But it has paid off handsomely in enjoyment, and I can fix it myself when needed.

It is, however, forever relegated to the man cave. The price one pays for LARGE yellow speakers.

 

[imoldernu]

My brother worked for BOSE for many years. He would give us the prototypes after the testing, so we always had fairly decent systems. Our 1996 Cadillac SLS has a Bose system that we love... our 1998 Town Car has a JBL system which is not so bad either.

In the early days of internet file sharing, I downloaded several thousand mp3's from Napster in 1999, that I still listen to... nothing newer than 1970.

Just bought about 100 jazz cassette tapes for $.10/ea.... Pete Fountain, Duke Ellington, Brubeck, and like that... at a yard sale. Love the "hiss" and the click when the tape reverses...

My music memories go back to the juke boxes in every ice cream parlor, the $.10 music lyrics sheets that came out on a monthly basis, and Snooky Lanson and Dorothy Collins, on "Your Hit Parade" in the '50's, and the Cowboy songs the we got from radio skips at night, from WWVA in Wheeling West Virginia.

Even earlier, were the player piano sing-alongs with the whole extended family singing the WWII songs.. in the early 1940's. Anyone remember Spike Jones?

The biggest difference from those days, and today was that then, everybody sang... Families, YMCA Camp, Boy Scouts, College Fraternities, almost everywhere... It was a basic part of life. The difference between listening, and participating... When you could understand the words.

Geez... dunno... maybe people still sing, and I just don't hear them.

 

[Karloff]

Music is one of the most important aspects of my life. I listen to it all day. At home, as soon as I get back from work, or for hours at a time during the weekends. In the car. At work via my PC. But rarely via headphones, since I find 99% of them uncomfortable.

I am also what could be considered an 'audiophile" and "videophile", and have invested significant sums (to me, at least) in THE system. I'd say $10K+. I have an entire room dedicated JUST to audio and video, including a turntable and tube (valve) amplifier.

Favorite genres include classical, heavy/progressive metal, soundtracks (specially from rare and obscure foreign films) and jazz.

I could not imagine life without music.

 

[donheff]

Decades ago DW and I had a lot of vinyl but we kept them in the basement and they got caught in a flood. The album covers ended up with a lot of mold so I threw the whole bunch out. Now I have about a thousand MP3s that I downloaded from an Internet Radio stream from Radio Paradise, an eclectic IP radio station that has music from the last 5 decades. I have decent receivers/speakers at home and our weekend house and just hook an iPod or phone up to listen to the MP3s. Same thing in the car.

 

[Nodak]

Decades ago DW and I had a lot of vinyl but we kept them in the basement and they got caught in a flood. The album covers ended up with a lot of mold so I threw the whole bunch out. Now I have about a thousand MP3s that I downloaded from an Internet Radio stream from Radio Paradise, an eclectic IP radio station that has music from the last 5 decades. I have decent receivers/speakers at home and our weekend house and just hook an iPod or phone up to listen to the MP3s. Same thing in the car.

I still have all my vinyl and enjoy the warm sound of analog music. Also have lots of CDs. Will have to check out Radio Paradise.

 

[ronin]

We've been seeing more live music lately. The past couple of months we've seen Dwight Yoakam, Janiva Magness, Tab Benoit and George Thorogood (in 2 days). I usually listen to music every day. I like to crank it (when my wife isn't home).

 

[Nodak]

There is a music service called MOG, it's available through the ROKU box and may be available on other internet sources. I have yet to find an artist or album not available to play. The playback quality is 320Kbps so sound is very good. The cost is just $2.50 per year.

 

[JonnyM]

I would rather create music than listen to it. I collect guitars, but they do all get played sooner or later. I have about a dozen amps, mostly tubes, love that tube sound, guitars about 3 dozen give or take. Acoustic and Electric. A couple Basses, a Mandolin, a Lapsteel. It's fun to make "records", and it's fun to play in "bands" as long as there is no money involved. I would never want it to be a job, but I do like playing with others, the interaction is the thing, we just make sure it is a FUN thing, we play whatever anyone wants at that moment, no rules.

For home listening, we haven't bought anything new to listen with besides really good headphones in twenty years. Living off old Bose and Advent speakers that still sound good to us. Have went through a couple amps, still have a great old really heavy platter turntable for vinyl but haven't pulled any real vintage records out in a long while. We mostly listen to XM Radio currently, DEEP TRACKS or Pandora custom mixs on the Tivo through that route's AV system back through the aforementioned ancient speakers.

 

[xyz]

I am with JonnyM, since I started playing guitar (at age 45 or so) I seem to have dropped off listening at home so much. I play electric most of the time and acoustic when I can’t plug in. I rarely listen to my home systems as my wife just doesn’t like to listen to music. When I do listen to music I listen to my Ipod with headphones almost always on trains or planes. I second JonnyM's comment I would never want to play for money it's alot more fun to do what you want.


Do you learn the words? Yes as many as I can remember but I am not that great at it so I write a lot of them down.

What era (years) are favorite? 60’s and up …

Do you ever sing along? Yes but mostly by myself.

Play instrument(s)? Guitar, Zen Drum, Synth, Ukelele

Favorite genre? Rock, Jazz, Folk-Rock but will listen to everything including classical (I play some classical too) and country

TV Music Stations? Pandora? ITunes? .... Sources? - Latest purchase from iTunes just don’t have time to mess around with internet stations.

Have a library of music? Yes.

Share or listen alone? Usually on the train or planes when listening so alone I guess.

Favorite musicians? John Mayer, Hendrix, Brian Setzer, CCNY, Clapton ,Jake Shimabukuro, Jonny Lang, Lenny Kravitz, Prince, Rick Braun, Santana, Stevie Ray Vaughn

 

[Sarah in SC]

I play music all day, at the office, in the car, and at home. Don't have much in the way of fancy gear, but I do love my iPod and iTunes for the home stereo. We still have lots of vinyl and I have burned quite a few to mp3 to enjoy on the iPod. And as much live music as we can stay awake to see, old pharts that we are!
Mostly Americana, current favorites include American Aquarium, James McMurtry, Chris Knight, Grace Potter, plus a little bit of the sort of country music that reminds me of Jimmy Buffett, like Zac Brown.

 

[Midpack]

What kind(s)? Mostly rock & roll all eras, guessing 80% of my library. But my library has significant chunks of jazz and classical as well. I like most genres except opera, gospel or hip hop/rap. I have 2500+ songs on my iPod, the Beatles are my biggest chunk at 130 songs.

How - Earphones, Stereo, Auto, live? I have 400 CD's that I almost never play anymore, everything is on my iPod, iPad & iTunes. Rarely through earphones (only when flying), usually through my PC speakers, Bose dock, or through our car stereos (both cars have iPod integration, really slick).

When? Off an on all day, no schedule.

How much... ie. all day, rarely, never? Probably an hour or two per day.

And one more major question... as you grow older, does music play a bigger or smaller part in your life? About the same so far, except why I was a teen and music was even more a factor.

I love the music/arrangements. I often don't know the lyrics, much to DW's amusement.

I used to covet audiophile equipment, but my hearing is not what it used to be, so extreme aural accuracy is lost on me these days. And MP3 is probably all I can really process (sigh).