Øystein
Member
I never listen to music while reading novels or studying, but I generally have some on while borking around on the internet, as I hardly ever read anything requires thought on here.
Frankly, I've been a bit TOO steeped in music most of my life, to the extent that I'm currently doing my best not to buy more records, as a) I should save some money and b) I own plenty of albums I don't know particularly well.
That being said, there are some worksthat can work ok as background music, namely the purely ambient thing, which is more or less intended for such use too I'm not thinking of the Berlin electronica style of Tangerine Dream and various acolytes, but rather the kind of thing Robert Reich is doing. Now that he has an 8-hour audio DVD of one of his sleep concerts, that ought to be the ultimate thing to get. Some of the beatless noise things can work too, such as Merzbow's Venerology, provided that they're played at rather low volume.
I'm pretty much a one thing at a time person, most of the time, and this goes for music as well. Listening to a piece of music is just so much more enjoyable for me when I'm giving it my full attention, though there are bands that I like, but prefer in a non-active listening environment, such as early albums by the aforementioned The Cramps and other such straight up rock/pop deals. They'll have to hooks to get me going, but easily get dull if paid too close attention to. Some would say that makes them worthless, but screw that.
If I'm not paying attention to the music I'm playing, I feel it's too easy to miss out on the harmonic progressions, variations and wothaveyees, unless it's a piece of music I know particularly well. In other words, something like Entombed's Clandestine or Ellington's Far East Suite I know well enough to be able to not pay full attention to, but even then I wouldn't play it while reading, as I'd find my attention wavering between the text and the music.
More involved things, like, say, Doctor Nerve's "Skin", I have to pay full attention to whenever I play for it to be worth playing at all, as otherwise it makes no sense.
As for people having music on while sleeping, I can sort of see that it could have its charms. I've only done it a few times myself, as I've rarely had a stereo in the room I've slept in, but I did have a period where I tried to see if repeated music would work their way into my dreams.
Univers Zero's "Heresie" made me wake up in a panic.
Black Sabbath's self titled debut made me dream about listening to Black Sabbath's debut, which was a bit silly and dull.
Anyways, if one has a hard time falling asleep because of thinking too much, it might help to have music to get in a more relaxed state. This rarely worked for me, as I ended up listening until the album ended before falling asleep, unless I was completely exhausted already.
Also, many people have tinnitus (me included, unfortunately) and having some low sound nearby might mask it, thus get your mind off it. Believe me, getting depressed and agitated at the constant buzzing is horrible when you're trying to sleep. Of course, I suspect those who need that would probably be better served by noise generators rather than music, since there won't be lulls in the volume.
Speaking of GG Allin, I only recently saw that documentary about him. Disappointing really, for some reason that kind of thing doesn't really excite or interest me at all anymore, but it would probably have been a hoot when I was 14. Not many who do that kinda thing anymore, usually you just get a bass player who smacks audience members with his instrument and idiots doing their twee Tai Bo dancing (thankfully we've pretty much missed out on that craze here in Norway)
That being said, The Murder Junkies are a lot more fun to listen to than one should expect.
Frankly, I've been a bit TOO steeped in music most of my life, to the extent that I'm currently doing my best not to buy more records, as a) I should save some money and b) I own plenty of albums I don't know particularly well.
That being said, there are some worksthat can work ok as background music, namely the purely ambient thing, which is more or less intended for such use too I'm not thinking of the Berlin electronica style of Tangerine Dream and various acolytes, but rather the kind of thing Robert Reich is doing. Now that he has an 8-hour audio DVD of one of his sleep concerts, that ought to be the ultimate thing to get. Some of the beatless noise things can work too, such as Merzbow's Venerology, provided that they're played at rather low volume.
I'm pretty much a one thing at a time person, most of the time, and this goes for music as well. Listening to a piece of music is just so much more enjoyable for me when I'm giving it my full attention, though there are bands that I like, but prefer in a non-active listening environment, such as early albums by the aforementioned The Cramps and other such straight up rock/pop deals. They'll have to hooks to get me going, but easily get dull if paid too close attention to. Some would say that makes them worthless, but screw that.
If I'm not paying attention to the music I'm playing, I feel it's too easy to miss out on the harmonic progressions, variations and wothaveyees, unless it's a piece of music I know particularly well. In other words, something like Entombed's Clandestine or Ellington's Far East Suite I know well enough to be able to not pay full attention to, but even then I wouldn't play it while reading, as I'd find my attention wavering between the text and the music.
More involved things, like, say, Doctor Nerve's "Skin", I have to pay full attention to whenever I play for it to be worth playing at all, as otherwise it makes no sense.
As for people having music on while sleeping, I can sort of see that it could have its charms. I've only done it a few times myself, as I've rarely had a stereo in the room I've slept in, but I did have a period where I tried to see if repeated music would work their way into my dreams.
Univers Zero's "Heresie" made me wake up in a panic.
Black Sabbath's self titled debut made me dream about listening to Black Sabbath's debut, which was a bit silly and dull.
Anyways, if one has a hard time falling asleep because of thinking too much, it might help to have music to get in a more relaxed state. This rarely worked for me, as I ended up listening until the album ended before falling asleep, unless I was completely exhausted already.
Also, many people have tinnitus (me included, unfortunately) and having some low sound nearby might mask it, thus get your mind off it. Believe me, getting depressed and agitated at the constant buzzing is horrible when you're trying to sleep. Of course, I suspect those who need that would probably be better served by noise generators rather than music, since there won't be lulls in the volume.
Speaking of GG Allin, I only recently saw that documentary about him. Disappointing really, for some reason that kind of thing doesn't really excite or interest me at all anymore, but it would probably have been a hoot when I was 14. Not many who do that kinda thing anymore, usually you just get a bass player who smacks audience members with his instrument and idiots doing their twee Tai Bo dancing (thankfully we've pretty much missed out on that craze here in Norway)
That being said, The Murder Junkies are a lot more fun to listen to than one should expect.
