Listening routines

[NJ Joe]

No routine for me. My listening is mainly more of a moment-to-moment thing.

Me too. I'll be consumed with something in the present and think about how just 5-7 days ago I was consumed with (fill in the blank) and then 2-3 days ago I was consumed with (fill in the blank). And it's all over the map, classical, progressive rock, pop, jazz, etc.

[Mirror Image]

Me too. I'll be consumed with something in the present and think about how just 5-7 days ago I was consumed with (fill in the blank) and then 2-3 days ago I was consumed with (fill in the blank). And it's all over the map, classical, progressive rock, pop, jazz, etc.

Yes and this is the only way I can listen to music, because each time I try to buckle down and listen to something from say my 'to be listened to pile,' the whole plan ends up going south. I can just never keep to any kind of regiment.

[Brian]

My listening routine? Utterly random, and often inspired by posts here.

Sarge

When I'm bored and don't know what to listen to, I hop on GMG and get reliably inspired within 10 minutes.

[Pat B]

Yes and this is the only way I can listen to music, because each time I try to buckle down and listen to something from say my 'to be listened to pile,' the whole plan ends up going south. I can just never keep to any kind of regiment.

Well, keeping a Pile doesn't mean listening has to be regimented. I don't think of listening to it as "buckling down" at all. But YMMV. If what you do works for you, then that's all that matters.

[Mirror Image]

Well, keeping a Pile doesn't mean listening has to be regimented. I don't think of listening to it as "buckling down" at all. But YMMV. If what you do works for you, then that's all that matters.

The spontaneous, moment-to-moment listening has worked well for me, so I'll just keep to it.

[Chris L.]

During the daytime, I don't really have much of a listening routine other then making myself some coffee or tea and occasionally cleaning and dusting my audio system & A/V storage shelves before I begin. I like to keep my physical recordings in full view next to me while I listen for the track listings and info, especially if they have really interesting cover art and design.

Night time is a different matter however. I like to pour myself a glass of wine, sometimes even drinking the appropriate wine from the country/region of the composer whose music I'm listening to if I happened to have a bottle on hand. Then I dim the lights, light a candle, and begin listening and meditating on the music. Sometimes I like to watch slide shows of photos of the composers, the performers, and things related to the music, e.g. Historic buildings, pastoral scenes, etc. Sometimes the visuals help to bring the music to life for me, other times I just close my eyes and listen to the music by itself.

[The new erato]

I like to pour myself a glass of wine, sometimes even drinking the appropriate wine from the country/region of the composer whose music I'm listening to if I happened to have a bottle on hand.

Not a fan of Sibelius?

[Chris L.]

Not a fan of Sibelius?

Actually, yes. I'm a HUGE fan of Sibelius, one of my favorite composers. I also love Russian music. But I don't do vodka or aquavit or whatever it is the Finns drink. No disrespect to them. And I did say that I SOMETIMES drink the appropriate wine for the composers country I'm listening to. Then there's beer, which opens up a whole other slew of possibilities. 

[Madiel]

Try Sima. It's a Finnish mead.

[North Star]

Try Sima. It's a Finnish mead.

Beer and vodka would be more appropriate. Sibelius drank a fair amount of cognac, too.

[prémont]

And I did say that I SOMETIMES drink the appropriate wine for the composers country I'm listening to.

That is HIL = historically informed listening.   

[vandermolen]

In my car. I have a long drive to work. It is the only time I don't get disturbed or ordered to 'TURN THAT NOISE DOWN'.   

[Walt Whitman]

Listening is almost always a surprise for me. I might start off listening to Sinatra and end listening to Pärt. I love that part of the listening adventure. Other times, I'll have a plan in mind, something familiar and favored, like Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, etc. and just revel in the familiar. And still other times, I'll make a point of listening to only music I haven't listened to before (High CDCDCD Quotient).

I rip all my CD's uncompressed in JRiver (usually right after delivery) to make sure they don't have any issues, though I have 4 boxes staring at me (Brilliant Bach and Brahms, Seon & Opéra Baroque) from my Christmas bout of purchases, which is down from 12 boxes (L'Oiseau Lyre, Lumières, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 50, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi Ideal 25 and Brilliant Vivaldi, Fauré, Schubert and CPE Bach). Great music is sooooooo inexpensive; 3 more boxes on the way: Scott Ross Scarlatti box, Liszt:Master & Magician, and Brilliant Weiss Lute box. Sorry for the digression.

But like many of you, and to quote James, "Bottom line though, for me, things never get old or boring with music ... it has given me so much, more than most things out there."

[Madiel]

Beer and vodka would be more appropriate. Sibelius drank a fair amount of cognac, too.

Yes, but the rule was appropriate to the country, not to the composer. There aren't THAT many composers whose drinking habits are known quite as well as Sibelius'.

[North Star]

Yes, but the rule was appropriate to the country, not to the composer. There aren't THAT many composers whose drinking habits are known quite as well as Sibelius'.

Yes, but sima isn't drunk at all like vodka and beer are drunk in Finland. And wasn't.

[Madiel]

Sigh.

I'm aware of that. I wasn't suggesting it was some pervasive national drink. I was offering alternatives because of a specific statement about other drinks not being to taste.

But hey, thanks for the ongoing dialogue.