Listening routines

[Artem]

This thread is inspired by Harry's blog post, which I quote

At least four time I play a disc before is disappears into my collection, a measure I have to take, to get through all the cd's that are still waiting.

So do you follow something similar to this approach or have a strategy of your own?

[Mirror Image]

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

[Artem]

Personally, I found it an interesting idea to set a specific number of listens to a CD, because of the permanently growing pile of music to listen.

[Mirror Image]

Personally, I found it an interesting idea to set a specific number of listens to a CD, because of the permanently growing pile of music to listen.

That really wouldn't work with me as some recordings will always get more playtime than others. I can't help but to have 'favorites'. To quote Bruce Hornsby: "That's just the way it is."

[Brian]

I try to listen to something new every day, unless I'm having a day where I need the comfort of the familiar. In the first week of the month, I am listening to that month's newest releases, on streaming services.

I write CD reviews for MusicWeb (as many people here know). Very few CDs require only one listen - usually they are so bad that I dread listening twice. Most of my review CDs are listened to once without any note-taking, then once while I draft a review, then 3, 4, or 5 times while editing the review to completion. Extremely good CDs may receive even more listens so I am confident in my recommendation.

When I buy new CDs, I don't have a routine like Harry. That's a problem, because these new CDs all stack up! Last night I finally got to a CD purchased in July 2014, with a dozen more remaining from that shopping trip. And I confess to a bad habit of buying a box set, listening to the half of the box I most wanted to hear, and then never listening to the rest.

[Madiel]

There are lists. And projects.

I don't always stick to them, mind you. The lists most often tend to emerge when there's a bunch of new purchases, and they are a strategy for mixing the listening up - varying new music with familiar, varying the period of history, sometimes the genre. The most recent list had 17 composers on it plus a "miscellaneous unlistened" to pick up the bits and pieces that my spreadsheet tells me I've never heard since I started the spreadsheet in 2009.

The projects in fact tend to end up on the lists. Anyone who visits the Brahms thread, for example, would have noticed I am going through Brahms' chamber music in chronological order, now that I own all the relevant pieces. Chronology is a common method - I'm doing it for Chopin at the moment. Other times it will be something thematic, eg I have in mind that I'm going to do something with all the piano trios I own.

The main purpose of this is arguably not to just keep reaching for 'favourites', because I'm sure that there's plenty of good music in my collection I don't really know. Sure, even if I listened to a work at least 3 or 4 times when I first bought a disc, that isn't enough for most of it to really stick. I can tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed the Dvorak piano trios and piano quartets when I bought them all about a year ago, but that doesn't mean I could hear a bit of one of them and tell you which one it was. That kind of intimacy with a piece of music takes a lot more time.

As to how often I listen: whether I can during the day is incredibly variable. Some days I might listen to 4 works, some days I might not get any chance at all. It's fairly common to do at least some listening at night, often while washing up the dishes or having a hot drink.

[Daverz]

Usually I'm going through the "New Music" menu on my Squeezebox, which is recently downloaded or ripped albums.  I also I have a custom Composers->Works menu, and I'll dig in to that and play whatever strikes my fancy.

It would be fun to be able to randomly play works.  The Squeezebox allows random album play, but do you really want to listen to a whole album of Vivaldi concertos followed by the entirety of Götterdämmerung?  I think it does allow skipping, though.

[Madiel]

It would be fun to be able to randomly play works.  The Squeezebox allows random album play, but do you really want to listen to a whole album of Vivaldi concertos followed by the entirety of Götterdämmerung?  I think it does allow skipping, though.

You can't edit the information? I don't actually rip my classical music that often, but when I do into iTunes, I'll usually edit an album into separate 'albums' for each work if there's, say, 2 or 3 different works on a CD.

[The new erato]

My listening strategy is to try to clear the mess from my purchases.

[Daverz]

You can't edit the information? I don't actually rip my classical music that often, but when I do into iTunes, I'll usually edit an album into separate 'albums' for each work if there's, say, 2 or 3 different works on a CD.

You have to use a separate application to tag your files.  I wrote one to do it customized for my own needs.  Yes, the tagging can be tedious.

There is a 3rd party plugin for Squeezebox, Custom Browse, that allows me top create the custom Composer->Work menu based on how the files are tagged. 

The latest Squeezebox server version (1.9.x) does have a Composer->Album menu, which is pretty automatic as long as you remember to edit the Composer tag when ripping.

[marvinbrown]

My listening strategy is to try to clear the mess from my purchases.

  LOL! Hey I'm with you 100% on that one!

 

When I buy new CDs, I don't have a routine like Harry. That's a problem, because these new CDs all stack up! Last night I finally got to a CD purchased in July 2014, with a dozen more remaining from that shopping trip. And I confess to a bad habit of buying a box set, listening to the half of the box I most wanted to hear, and then never listening to the rest.

  Oh Brian  , my dear friend I did not like the sound of that  ..........

[Wanderer]

All new purchases go into a special pile and they don't hit their designated shelf space before numerous listening sessions.

First of all, I always listen to new acquisitions within a month of purchase in order to spot defective discs that might need replacement. This first listen doesn't need to be a careful or thorough one, it's often (e.g. when there's a boxset) that discs are playing in the background while I work, study, or surf the internet.

After this initial stage, the discs return to the "new" pile and await proper listening sessions, which are always more than one. If it's something truly good, it gets played A LOT; if it's something unpalatable, either musically or interpretatively, apart from those normal listening sessions (which are, naturally, fewer), more often than not it gets some extra listening-in-the-background sessions before going to the shelf. If it's something serial or atonal, this is also a great way to grate on the nerves of unwanted visitors.

This regime for new recordings goes concurrently with the other listening schedule, which is, apart from cravings of specific works or renditions (or listening projects) that naturally take precedence, listening to shelved recordings one after the other, each shelf taking about a month or two and then moving to the next one.

The situation on the shelves: small clusters of order within a framework of controlled chaos. That means that each shelf may have one or more segregated sections of e.g. violin concerti, romantic piano concerti, a specific performer or a specific composer, but otherwise a quite indistinguishable pattern of releases being next to each other mainly due to proximity in date of purchase. It also means that listening to a shelf-row in sequence is sufficiently varied to not be boring. For instance, my Beethoven is not all shelved together and there are e.g. "Eroicas" spread throughout the shelves. It's more like listening to the radio than anything else and it works for me.

[Pat B]

I keep my Pile in a list (which, strangely, I don't think of as my List). Physically, there are several actual Piles, but that probably isn't very interesting to read about.

Like Wanderer, I try to listen (not necessarily carefully) to new purchases within a month so that I can get a refund if necessary. Sometimes that doesn't happen for various reasons. After first listen, jewel boxes get replaced by space-saving sleeves and it goes into a row for a second listen. After second listen, I'll file it in the main collection.

All of which probably sounds more methodical than it feels like to me. The actual decision about what to listen to is almost always spur-of-the-moment.

Like many gmg members, I feel like I buy too many CDs. And like many, my miss rate is probably 5-10%, and not necessarily the things I was least confident about, which makes it hard to cut back.

[Todd]

My listening strategy is to try to clear the mess from my purchases.

+1

[San Antone]

For the most part, all the years of exploration are well behind me. Looking back there were definite phases and areas of music, history & musicianship that I definitely explored in good detail, learning so much in the process (the fruits) .. when I encountered a voice that really resonated with me I would explore them with a vengeance even going to the root of influences and consuming them. The last time I did a major excavation was Stockhausen's massive output which lasted about 6-7 years of dedication & focus. I think I've explored all of the major figures of music and periods of music (popular & art musics) at this point. These days I'm more content to relish in the music/recordings that I truly love .. and creating my own stuff as a hobby. 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.

I could have written this.

[Mirror Image]

For the most part, all the years of exploration are well behind me. Looking back there were definite phases and areas of music, history & musicianship that I definitely explored in good detail, learning so much in the process (the fruits) .. when I encountered a voice that really resonated with me I would explore them with a vengeance even going to the root of influences and consuming them. The last time I did a major excavation was Stockhausen's massive output which lasted about 6-7 years of dedication & focus. I think I've explored all of the major figures of music and periods of music (popular & art musics) at this point. These days I'm more content to relish in the music/recordings that I truly love .. and creating my own stuff as a hobby. 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.

I'll quote this post again. This is one of the most sensible, and non-confrontational, posts I've ever seen you've written, James.

[Linus]

Interesting to read about your listening habits, gents.

My own listening life nowadays is entirely "Spotified", and the order of listening is organised according to two main playlists.

The stuff I like from this list ... :

- Listen
  - Listen: Albinoni
  - Listen: Bach
  - Listen: Bartók
  - Listen: Beethoven
  - Listen: Berlioz
  [etc.]

... goes in this list (and the respective subfolder) for further listening:

- Classical
  - Albinoni
  - Bach
    - Bach: Chamber
    - Bach: Instrumental
    - Bach: Orchestral
    - Bach: Vocal
  - Bartók
  - Beethoven
  - Berlioz
  [etc.]

It works pretty well so far.

[ibanezmonster]

For the most part, all the years of exploration are well behind me. Looking back there were definite phases and areas of music, history & musicianship that I definitely explored in good detail, learning so much in the process (the fruits) .. when I encountered a voice that really resonated with me I would explore them with a vengeance even going to the root of influences and consuming them.

Same here.

[Rinaldo]

I try to listen to something new every day, unless I'm having a day where I need the comfort of the familiar.

I've recently adopted this strategy for every day of the workweek and I find it to be a very good listening exercise.

[Sergeant Rock]

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

Sarge