On Listening to Music

At some point in our relationship, almost every friend of mine has asked me if I like a certain artistor what artists am I listening to? My response seems to surprise everyone: I don't really listen to music.

Oh, I did! For many years I'd devour whole discographies of an artist or composer I liked. Billy Joel, Yes, Rush, Styx, Bela Fleck, Kansas, Bernstein - I've probably heard every single recording by or about these people. But, in the last five years, or so, all that has changed. These days, when driving in the car I'm either listening to NPR news, WMNF news, a burned CD of some podcasts (my favorites are Inside Home Recording, Geek Speak, NPR Technology, NPR Religion, On the Media, KCRW's To the Point, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, and Talk of the Nation Science Friday), or a book on CD. As far as the car is concerned, I've gotten to the point where I'd rather not listen to anything than listen to music. Now, this isn't all the time, but for the most part it holds true.

Home is a different matter. I work at home in my office. So, pretty much all day long I have to listen to the music I'm working on (this can get really old really fast!). It also means I can't have any music or TV running while I'm working. Sometimes, if what I'm doing is cleaning up notation, which is pretty much just a visual thing, I'll listen to a stream of AIR America or a podcast from my computer. When I'm not working, I'm usually watching TV, writing, or playing a computer game, so, once again, there's not much chance to listen.

This is so unlike how I used to be. I came up in the days before CDs and ipods. I remember never going anywhere without my walkman (it was so cool, it had all these extra bells and whistles - I think I paid around $200 for it) and a bunch of cassettes in my bag. My car always had a premium cassette player and speakers. When CDs came in, I would buy a Discman and use a tape adaptor. My car was always full of shoeboxes or CD booklets with hundreds of CDs. Once, when my car was broken into right outside my house, I had a CD booklet with 120 CDs stolen. I was devistated.

These days, though, I'm fine listening to people talking. Occasionally, I'll listen to a CD Amanda's burned for me with a bunch of stuff she likes - her taste and mine are pretty similar. But other than that, it's pretty much just all talk all the time. Hmm, how apropos!