# How do you listen to music?



## Cyclops

Not wanting to get technical here with equipment talk (you'd only make me jealous) but I was thinking more along the lines of your listening habits. I'm a father of 2 young kids with a part time job and a partner that is not overly into classical-she likes certain pieces but would never sit and watch a concert I don't think, so really the time I get to listen to music is very rare! In fact usually the only time is when walking the dog at night with my MP3 player,having to put up with occasional traffic-a noisy car is almost guaranteed to rush past during a quiet section! 
Now and then I will get chance to play a CD,or rather I did before our DVD player stopped playing music CDs!(need a Hi fi)
At the moment I've found something on Sky Arts 2,a string quartet,not sure whose as I switched on part way thru(next up tho is a program called The Lindsay's Play Haydn,and they are to perform his string quartet in D minor,op.42). Only thing is I expect to be interrupted any moment when grandma brings our daughter home! 
So as you can see,I love classical but hardly get time to hear any of it!
How about you?


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## wolf

Cyclops said:


> Not wanting to get technical here with equipment talk (you'd only make me jealous) but I was thinking more along the lines of your listening habits. I'm a father of 2 young kids with a part time job and a partner that is not overly into classical-she likes certain pieces but would never sit and watch a concert I don't think, so really the time I get to listen to music is very rare! In fact usually the only time is when walking the dog at night with my MP3 player,having to put up with occasional traffic-a noisy car is almost guaranteed to rush past during a quiet section!
> Now and then I will get chance to play a CD,or rather I did before our DVD player stopped playing music CDs!(need a Hi fi)
> At the moment I've found something on Sky Arts 2,a string quartet,not sure whose as I switched on part way thru(next up tho is a program called The Lindsay's Play Haydn,and they are to perform his string quartet in D minor,op.42). Only thing is I expect to be interrupted any moment when grandma brings our daughter home!
> So as you can see,I love classical but hardly get time to hear any of it!
> How about you?


Horrible! I feel for you! Actually, apart from portable CD, DVD, (I have predjudices against mp3), Computer etc the really important thing is A REALLY BIG, GOOD, EXPENSIVE (perhaps you have to sell your wife but wtf) set of headphones. I have that on me always, I don't care how silly it looks, and of course you never hear your daughter yell 'dad come here', which is good. Actually it's a bit of a danger, with small kids you MUST be able to hear, but if you are in the same room watchin them, nothing serious can happen. Tell them to play EVER so quietly, then they can have an icecream later, lol.


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## Cyclops

wolf said:


> Horrible! I feel for you! Actually, apart from portable CD, DVD, (I have predjudices against mp3), Computer etc the really important thing is A REALLY BIG, GOOD, EXPENSIVE (perhaps you have to sell your wife but wtf) set of headphones. I have that on me always, I don't care how silly it looks, and of course you never hear your daughter yell 'dad come here', which is good. Actually it's a bit of a danger, with small kids you MUST be able to hear, but if you are in the same room watchin them, nothing serious can happen. Tell them to play EVER so quietly, then they can have an icecream later, lol.


Now,I know your post is in good humour but well,I couldn't possibly sell my wife,I'm not married  
As for the headphones,I do have a pair of Philips ones that fit over the ear(I can never keep those ear buds in,they just fall out), as well as a larger pair of Technics traditional 'cans',tho the sound from them is rather muddy. But I couldn't wear them in the house,the kids are far more important to me than what I want. Now before I 'got a life' as it were,when I was single I would often spend all day listening to it on CD or radio,and on sundays I would start the day with a program on radio 3 they had every sunday morning. I was a bit of a classical geek back then with no friends. Now I'm a father of two,with no friends!


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## wolf

Cyclops said:


> Now,I know your post is in good humour but well,I couldn't possibly sell my wife,I'm not married
> As for the headphones,I do have a pair of Philips ones that fit over the ear(I can never keep those ear buds in,they just fall out), as well as a larger pair of Technics traditional 'cans',tho the sound from them is rather muddy. But I couldn't wear them in the house,the kids are far more important to me than what I want. Now before I 'got a life' as it were,when I was single I would often spend all day listening to it on CD or radio,and on sundays I would start the day with a program on radio 3 they had every sunday morning. I was a bit of a classical geek back then with no friends. Now I'm a father of two,with no friends!


Even if you have lot's of friends, that doesn't really matter - you simply have no TIME for them if you are involved with small kids! And 2! As they grow up it will get better, although start training to forbid them to ever play rock/rap in the house later, lol. I am thankful I've only got one and that she is much older now, it did irritate me beyond words, that I never could listen properly when taking care of her! Always when I was with Isolde or Brunnhilde, or Fiordiligi, something happened, so I had to stop! God did I suffer...


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## Cyclops

Oh i won't mind them playing rock in the house,I've quite a bit of that already,but Rap-no way!


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## Weston

I'm very lucky I guess in that I live alone. At one time I was a free lance illustrator and worked alone too. Plenty of time for classical. 

Now I think there are too many distractions. There's always an on line community to get involved with, or an interesting documentary streaming on my computer. These take time away I might once have used to listen. Fortunately I don't feel any interest in TV.

I listen at work in headphones but I am frequently interrupted.

I try to set aside an hour a week to sit down and really FOCUS on a piece, with liner notes or internet annotations at hand. I find this greatly enhances my appreciation for the music.


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## Cyclops

Weston said:


> I try to set aside an hour a week to sit down and really FOCUS on a piece, with liner notes or internet annotations at hand. I find this greatly enhances my appreciation for the music.


I used to do that all the time! Would either borrow a CD from the library or buy a copy of BBC Music mag and play the cover disk,following the notes inside the magazine. In fact a lot of music in my collection is made up of disks from that magazine and in most cases they're good enough. The only gripe is the live recordings with coughing and then applause at the end. 
I can't really go out and buy a CD willy nilly nowadays and don't really see the point of multiple copies of a certain work-i know many who have say 3 versions of Beethoven's 5th for example,but I don't see the need. Plus I wouldn't have the space or money for such excess.


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## Aramis

I always open the window and turn music much louder than I need for myself, so people passing by my tower block can listen to some good music.


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## Cyclops

Aramis said:


> I always open the window and turn music much louder than I need for myself, so people passing by my tower block can listen to some good music.


Oh yea I can imagine that! I was outside earlier hanging laundry out to dry in this hot sunny day and someone had the radio on full blast,so everyone within a mile radius had no choice but to listen to dance music on Galaxy FM. That kind of selfishness really annoys me! Same with the idiots who drive past with the music on loud and their windows down,as if everyone needs to hear the latest hip hop chav music!


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## wolf

Cyclops said:


> Oh yea I can imagine that! I was outside earlier hanging laundry out to dry in this hot sunny day and someone had the radio on full blast,so everyone within a mile radius had no choice but to listen to dance music on Galaxy FM. That kind of selfishness really annoys me! Same with the idiots who drive past with the music on loud and their windows down,as if everyone needs to hear the latest hip hop chav music!


That is what I hate most of all! Although being attacked here for saying it. As for Aramis suggestion, I'd love to do THAT, but would be killed instantly. I'm living on ground floor so my windows wouldn't last for 30 seconds...


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## Cyclops

wolf said:


> That is what I hate most of all! Although being attacked here for saying it. As for Aramis suggestion, I'd love to do THAT, but would be killed instantly. I'm living on ground floor so my windows wouldn't last for 30 seconds...


Ah you live in a high rise? Neighbours above you,hmmm a headphone only job. Been there altho I had neighbours beneath me at the time and they didn't appreciate me hammering out on my keyboards while recording tunes on my PC.


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## Aramis

Cyclops said:


> That kind of selfishness really annoys me! Same with the idiots who drive past with the music on loud and their windows down,as if everyone needs to hear the latest hip hop chav music!


Yes, that is exactly what is going on here. I can hear those terrible beats all the time, the walls are shaking, sometimes even in the middle of the night. So why shouldn't I turn some symphony really, really loud? This is the war... and the loudest one wins! Arrrgh!


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## Cyclops

Aramis said:


> Yes, that is exactly what is going on here. I can hear those terrible beats all the time, the walls are shaking, sometimes even in the middle of the night. So why shouldn't I turn some symphony really, really loud? This is the war... and the loudest one wins! Arrrgh!


I had a similar problem at work. You see i work in a Supermarket. It used to be Safeway before the change,and when the customers went home we were allowed to put our own music on. Great you think,only Jonny,who is in a punk band,would get there first,plus his MP3 player into the tannoy and blast out rap,punk,hardcore dance or hip hop and at times you could barely hear yourself think! Then Somerfield took over and they stopped up putting our own music on. The young uns complained,I was like Thank You! Only thing is,now we have music from a hard drive on random playing ALL day,and its the same songs over,and over,so before long that song that you quite liked,you now hate! Oh how I'd love to sabotage that sound system and pipe some Shostakovich or Handel thru it!


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## Ciel_Rouge

Cyclops, don't feel so bad - 90 % of my own experience with classical is through listening to mp3 players. I keep all my classical music in 320 kbps quality though. Portable players are THE solution when you would disturb others or wouldn't otherwise have time to get to and sit in front of stationary equipment. Still, I'm dreaming of buying a great set of huge columns and a very accurate CD player and blasting away ;-) For now, listening is all that matters - no matter how you do it. I do most of my listening at night since human hearing gets more sensitive when all the distracting noises are out. I simply go to bed earlier and put my earbuds in. There are no distractions and I discovered that listening to Sibelius' tone poems this way can be almost hypnotic and very "intoxicating".


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## Cyclops

Ciel_Rouge said:


> Cyclops, don't feel so bad - 90 % of my own experience with classical is through listening to mp3 players. I keep all my classical music in 320 kbps quality though. Portable players are THE solution when you would disturb others or wouldn't otherwise have time to get to and sit in front of stationary equipment. Still, I'm dreaming of buying a great set of huge columns and a very accurate CD player and blasting away ;-) For now, listening is all that matters - no matter how you do it. I do most of my listening at night since human hearing gets more sensitive when all the distracting noises are out. I simply go to bed earlier and put my earbuds in. There are no distractions and I discovered that listening to Sibelius' tone poems this way can be almost hypnotic and very "intoxicating".


Hmmm yes,you're dead right there! Now,when i used to work mornings I would go to bed earlier than my partner Helen and listen to a cd on my portable player. I didn't have my Creative Zen MP3 player then so would go thru my CDs regularly. Now I have the MP3 player I hardly touch the CDs. 
Here's another thing. How many of you read while listening to music? I used to but I now find it difficult to do because my mind wanders between the book and the music. If I concentrate on the book the music just passes me by so it might as well not be on. Now if I want to listen to music i do that and that only. I believe there's a difference between hearing music,which is what most people do,and listening to music. Something I've long maintained as an important division. If you simply hear music you miss out on so much. I don't drive a car but if I did I'd have to do it without music playing or I would get distracted!


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## wolf

Cyclops said:


> ...and blast out rap,punk,hardcore dance or hip hop and at times you could barely hear yourself think!...Only thing is,now we have music from a hard drive on random playing ALL day...! Oh how I'd love to sabotage that sound system and pipe some Shostakovich or Handel thru it!


I wish I could come to think of something that would help you, because it sounds absoutely dreadful!:angry: Obviously you can't wear headphones at work. I started to work somwhere else just because of a situation like this, but the times now...you are lucky to be employed. Begging on your knees, hinting at mobconnections...? No thats silly, perhaps someone else has some suggestion.



Ciel_Rouge said:


> ...listening is all that matters - no matter how you do it...


That's the 'classical' credo, it's awfully nice with really good audio stuff, but it's not that important, the wonderful music we adore comes through anyway, thank God.



Cyclops said:


> ...If I concentrate on the book the music just passes me by so it might as well not be on...I don't drive a car but if I did I'd have to do it without music playing or I would get distracted!


Right, listening to Bach or Beethoven while reading is a nono. Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini, Cimarosa, Paganini, Respighi, Debussy etcetc will do better. Or Strauss pere & fils. It's the same with driving for me, although some CAN drive listening to Mozart. Not me...


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## Cyclops

Wolf,I'm a big science fiction fan and love 2001 A space Odyssey. I well remember first time I read it,with strauss and Beethoven in the background. But nowadays I prefer to read in silence.


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## kg4fxg

*Cyclops please read*

Cyclops,

Wonderful question. I usually listen with my iPod. I have a 4 year old daughter and we are older parents, my wife is almost 50 and I am 46. I work downtown Atlanta and so I leave home a little after 7AM get to work at 8-8:30AM and I don't leave until 6PM or later.

Seems like I listen to classical music in the car. I use the new classic (120) iPod direct into the radio. I drive a Toyota Matrix and have the JBL upgraded system with subwoofer in rear. Sounds great.

I listen at work, use my Bose earbuds and classic or iTouch ipod. I had the $$$$ systems at one time (Klipsch, McIntosh, Luxman, B&W). But the iPod works better for me and iTunes. I also use a Bose system on my computer with sub-woofer. Nothing wrong with HiFi, but I rack up most hours in the car and in bed listening.

My daughter is 4 and plays violin. If you have kids here is the key. From a very young age I would sit her on my lap and watch young child prodigies on YouTube. Besides watching Clifford and Thomas we would watch Akiko Swuanai, Hilary Hahn, Emily Bear. Maddie has already had her first violin recital. Kids like to see other kids perform.

I listen to music every night before I go to sleep in bed rather than watch TV. I have a splitter so my wife and I can listen to the same piece off the same iPod.

It is hard to listen and do something else, I often want to close my eyes when I listen except when I am driving.

Thanks

I hope this helps! Get the kids hooked.


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## Cyclops

kg4fxg said:


> Cyclops,
> 
> Wonderful question. I usually listen with my iPod. I have a 4 year old daughter and we are older parents, my wife is almost 50 and I am 46. I work downtown Atlanta and so I leave home a little after 7AM get to work at 8-8:30AM and I don't leave until 6PM or later.
> 
> Seems like I listen to classical music in the car. I use the new classic (120) iPod direct into the radio. I drive a Toyota Matrix and have the JBL upgraded system with subwoofer in rear. Sounds great.
> 
> I listen at work, use my Bose earbuds and classic or iTouch ipod. I had the $$$$ systems at one time (Klipsch, McIntosh, Luxman, B&W). But the iPod works better for me and iTunes. I also use a Bose system on my computer with sub-woofer. Nothing wrong with HiFi, but I rack up most hours in the car and in bed listening.
> 
> My daughter is 4 and plays violin. If you have kids here is the key. From a very young age I would sit her on my lap and watch young child prodigies on YouTube. Besides watching Clifford and Thomas we would watch Akiko Swuanai, Hilary Hahn, Emily Bear. Maddie has already had her first violin recital. Kids like to see other kids perform.
> 
> I listen to music every night before I go to sleep in bed rather than watch TV. I have a splitter so my wife and I can listen to the same piece off the same iPod.
> 
> It is hard to listen and do something else, I often want to close my eyes when I listen except when I am driving.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> I hope this helps! Get the kids hooked.


Great idea,and nice to meet a fellow mature parent. However I don't drive and the only time I get to listen to my MP3 player(30GB Creative Zen Vision M) is at night,walking the dog. I can't allow myself to be selfish,the kids must come first. I won't even use the MP3 player when my other half is home as I feel its rude. 
I like the idea of using You Tube videos tho! Altho you have to be careful on that site!


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## kg4fxg

*You Tube*

Yes,

You Tube is good if you know before you go there what you are looking for....I like the following Artists on You Tube:

Akiko Suwanai
Alison Balsom
Ana Vidovic
Anna Vinnitskaya
Denise Djokic
Emily Bear
Emmanuelle Bertrand
Evgenia Rubinova
Gautier Capucon
Han-Na Chang
Helene Grimaud
Hilary Hahn
Ingrid Fliter
Janine Jansen
Julia Fischer
Kaori Murji
Karen Geoghegan
Lily Afshar
Lisa Batiashvili
Lise de la Salle
Nicola Bendetti
Sarah Chang
Sayaka Shoji
Sharon Isbin
Sol Gabetta
Viktoria Mullova
Xiayin Wang
Xue Fei Yang

It's cheaper to see them on You Tube than in concert. Besides, I have emailed many and received a nice reply.

I also subscribe to Gramaphone & BBC Music magazines, use those to search for new young artists on You Tube - your kids will love it. Not everyone playing classical is a member of AARP.

OK, now you have figured me out. If they are cute and the album is a pretty picture I buy it. It is the most illogical thing that I do. Guilty as charged.


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## Cyclops

Hmmm a few names I recognise there(Hahn,Fischer,Mullova) but I'm rather out of the loop. I used to get BBC Music mag regularly but well my interests are varied and i was getting too many magazines that weren't getting read. I do look out for it now and then if there's something interesting on the cover disk. Some quality music on those disks.


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## kg4fxg

*Emily Bear*

Well,

Emily Bear is probally the youngest. It is amazing to hear her compositions! Her bio is below. Then I started to discover more young talant, what away to encourage my daughter.

Biography - Emily Bear - Pianist/Composer

Emily Bear is 7 years old and began her piano studies with Emilio del Rosario at The Music Institute of Chicago. She currently studies piano with Mary Sauer of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Additional mentors include Yoheved Kaplinsky, head of the Juilliard piano department, and jazz teacher, Alan Swain. Emily is equally comfortable playing jazz, classical, or her own compositions.

Emily made her professional debut performing a solo concert at the Ravinia Music Festival in July, 200, when she was 5 years old. She played a solo 40 minute program mixing classical, jazz and her own compositions. She is the youngest performer in Ravinia's more than 100 - year history. She was asked back to perform there a second time on September 7, 2008, and has been invited to perform at Ravinia for the third year in a row during summer of 2009.

On March 24th, 2008, Emily was invited to perform at The White House for The Easter Egg Roll breakfast for President and Mrs. Bush and 400 guests. She performed a 30 minute solo concert mixing jazz and original compositions.

Emily was a recipient of a 2008 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Competition award for her original song, "Northern Lights". She was one of 9 winners in the 18 year old and younger category out of a field of almost 600 applicants. She was asked to be one of two pianists to perform at the awards ceremony in New York City this past May, and was invited to perform her winning song again for a performance at Lincoln Center this past December.

Emily received national attention when she was a featured guest on The Ellen Degeneres Show. She appeared on 3 episodes in three and a half months: October 3rd and November 23, 2007 and January 8th, 2008. She composed an original song for each appearance: "Ellen's Song", "Thanks...", and "The Love In Us". She appeared on the show for a 4th time in November, 2008, debuting another original song, "Once Upon a Wish". In April, 2009, she appeared for the 5th time on the show, debuting her original song, "Tomorrow's Wishes".

In January of 2008, Emily was asked by Steinway and Sons to perform a solo concert at the Chicago film premier of the new documentary film "Note by Note: the Making of Steinway L1037". She performed the concert on the actual piano built in the movie.

This past November. Emily was personally invited by Lang Lang to perform for him at a Master Class hosted by The Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Emily opened for Ramsey Lewis and his Trio on October 17th, 2007, playing a 30 minute solo piano concert. Emily also appeared at The Raue Center for the Arts this December 9th in a featured solo concert. She opened The 2007 McDonald's Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade (which was televised nationally on WGN) performing her original song "Waterlights" . The following year, two more of Emily's original songs were featured in the 2008 Chicago Thanksgiving Parade: "Giving" and "Christmas Bells".

Emily made her orchestral debut in front of a capacity audience of 2500 people performing her original song, "The Love in Us" with The Orlando Symphony Orchestra at a private corporate event in April, 2008. This May, she performed at Noche de Ninos, an event for Los Angeles Children's Hospital, hosted by Jennifer Lopez ,Warren Beatty, Annette Benning and Jewel, honoring Jamie Lee Curtis.

Emily was asked to become a video disc artist for the Piano Disc System and just taped an episode for a new children's television show for PBS titled, "All You Need Is Music". Emily was also recently featured on the WFMT Radio Show, Introductions, performing a solo 45 minute live concert. Emily performed in February, 2009 at the Music in the Loft Concert Series.

Upcoming concerts include performing Mozart's Piano Concerto, no.23, k488 in March, 2009 with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and in April, 2009, with the Champagne-Urbana Symphony. She has also been invited to perform in a concert honoring Chicago Tonight's 25th Season for WTTW Television at The Harris Theater in Millennium Park.

Emily has been featured in stories on: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News, WTTW- Chicago Tonight, and WGN.

Pianist Emily Bear has only been playing piano for two years, but at just seven years old, her accomplishments are inspiring and her talent is breathtaking. Classical, jazz and boogie come naturally to her. She performs a large list of classics and standards, and also composes her own magical songs.

Emily was the youngest solo performer in the history of the Ravinia Festival, has performed with many well known musicians, appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" five times and performed at the White House. See Events for more info and Galleries for photos and videos.


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## Cyclops

Wow you must be amazingly proud of her,7 years of age! Such talent is rare these days. And she is lucky to have someone to encourage that burgeoning talent. Many are not so lucky. One thing I hate is talent going to waste.
Here's to a bright future for miss Emily Bear!


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## Weston

Aramis said:


> Yes, that is exactly what is going on here. I can hear those terrible beats all the time, the walls are shaking, sometimes even in the middle of the night. So why shouldn't I turn some symphony really, really loud? This is the war... and the loudest one wins! Arrrgh!


In my former neighborhood where the houses were really close together I had a neighbor who used this type of sub-woofer speakers. He would spend the weekend polishing his car in the front yard with his trunk open blasting out -- not Rap or HipHop, but country, and not in decibels but on the Richter scale. Our dogs were terrified to go outside with predictable consequences.

I borrowed from the library a CD of a bagpipe brigade, "The King's Pipies, Tank, and Drum Corps" or some such. We set the speakers in the windows and played the bagpipes as loud as it would go.

Never had that problem again.


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## kg4fxg

*Sub Woofer*

I can imagine your neighbor after those bag pipes.

The sub woofer is not like those teenagers have that look like torpedoes. This is a round speaker mounted flush in the back as the whole system is stock when I ordered the car.

The 1812 overture does sound nice in the car


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## Cyclops

My other half has this story from years ago. Her father would occasionally house sit while she was out at work or college and he would put his music on her stereo. Only thing he forgot to mention it and she would come home,switch the Hi fi on to find that it was on full volume,blasting out classical.


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## teccomin

kg4fxg said:


> Yes,
> 
> You Tube is good if you know before you go there what you are looking for....I like the following Artists on You Tube:
> 
> Akiko Suwanai
> Alison Balsom
> Ana Vidovic
> Anna Vinnitskaya
> Denise Djokic
> Emily Bear
> Emmanuelle Bertrand
> Evgenia Rubinova
> *Gautier Capucon*
> Han-Na Chang
> Helene Grimaud
> Hilary Hahn
> Ingrid Fliter
> Janine Jansen
> Julia Fischer
> Kaori Murji
> Karen Geoghegan
> Lily Afshar
> Lisa Batiashvili
> Lise de la Salle
> Nicola Bendetti
> Sarah Chang
> Sayaka Shoji
> Sharon Isbin
> Sol Gabetta
> Viktoria Mullova
> Xiayin Wang
> Xue Fei Yang
> 
> It's cheaper to see them on You Tube than in concert. Besides, I have emailed many and received a nice reply.
> 
> I also subscribe to Gramaphone & BBC Music magazines, use those to search for new young artists on You Tube - your kids will love it. Not everyone playing classical is a member of AARP.
> 
> OK, now you have figured me out. If they are cute and the album is a pretty picture I buy it. It is the most illogical thing that I do. Guilty as charged.


Whats a guy doing in your list of girls?


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## Earthling

I listen in degrees. Most of my music is on CD-ROM (ripped from all the CDs I've ever owned in the past) and copy them onto my laptop. New music I download, usually from Amazon or iTunes. The only physical CDs I have left is my Bach collection, the Beethoven Quartets (Alban Berg Quartett) and Debussy's Pelleas (Abbado). I have my own peculiar system for organising my music files, but I generally know exactly where everything is located.

When I am REALLY listening, I do best with headphones plugged into my laptop, and I tend to be in bed (my eyes not necessarily always closed). That is the listening that can really get to me emotionally.

I am single, but I live in an apartment, so volume is a factor. That's probably why I feel more comfortable with headphones (and they are pretty good ones by JVC) as well.

Often, because of constraints of time, I often will have music going on my laptop, plugged into a decent set of speakers, more in the background. Sometimes I'll do this deliberately to superficially familiarise myself with the overall structure of a piece of music. Later, when I listen with more purpose, with headphones, I am able to appreciate it more, following the emotional arc of the piece (funny, I would never use a similar approach watching a movie or reading a book).

The only problem with the superficial listening is that sometimes, if it is a piece I am familiar with, I might get caught up in the music and drop anything else I am doing!

_~Earthling
_


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## Conor71

I listen to CM exclusively on my iPod which I take just about everywhere!.
I have my entire Classical collection and all my Rock/Pop music at 256k-320kbps on it - its pretty cool as I always have music to suit my mood (whatever that may be!) .
I try to devote as much of my concentration to the music as I am able but I like music as a background as well - I dont see the harm in not absorbing everything thats going on as I like to re-listen to music many times and am not too bothered if I cant take a piece in during 1 sitting .


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## Vaneyes

To the Cyclopses of the world...make time for yourself, before it's too late. 

Sometimes selfishness is okay. 

Often, the one who's in the thick of it can't see that the people who restrain him/her don't have any problem with being selfish.

Life is give and take.

It's kind of like learning to say, "No."


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## Chris

Cyclops said:


> Now before I 'got a life' as it were,when I was single I would often spend all day listening to it on CD or radio,and on sundays I would start the day with a program on radio 3 they had every sunday morning. I was a bit of a classical geek back then with no friends. Now I'm a father of two,with no friends!


Cyclops, this is my biography 

Very enjoyable thread and you have my sympathy. My kids are 17 and 19 so it's less of a problem now, but for decades I have reserved Saturday morning for walking in the countryside. I take my portable radio and listen to CD Review on Radio 3, or occasionally bring my portable CD player.

There must be some countryside round Darlington


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## tenor02

usually try and get in a few sessions. 1 in the am before classes and such -- listen to whatever's on and try and get energized for the day  2nd before choir -- listen to the stuff we have to have prepared for the day or the stuff that's on an upcoming concert. try and find as many different recordings as possible so i can get a GOOD feel on the music. 3rd after classes and during homework.


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## Random

I listen with an Ipod and headphones, I usually sample a piece using my computer before I buy it.


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## Suwannee Tim

At work I can listen with my Ipod and Bose noise canceling headphones. At home, mostly in front of the computer though I have an FM transmitter connected and I can tune any radio in the area to pick up the signal, even in the garage. I often listen on some river or in a wilderness camp. The technology of the Ipod, computer and headphones is fabulous.


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## mamascarlatti

Cyclops, kids can enjoy classical music too, if you expose them to it at a young age. My kids learn instruments and hear a lot. I know it's working because, for instance, yesterday the seven-year-old said to me: "Mum, we haven't watched any opera for a while", so we watched half of the ROH Barber of Seville, the other half tonight.

Admittedly this is rare, my husband prefers silence and hates opera, so we have to choose our moments. So I listen mainly though headphones, which improves the sound coming from the TV or laptop, but I can't help worrying about my long-term hearing, especially after reading articles like this:

Article on preventing hearing loss

I try to keep the volume down and use noise-reducing headphones when I'm out, but sometimes I have to work hard to resist the temptation to crank up the sound.


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## Aramis

mamascarlatti said:


> My kids learn instruments and hear a lot. I know it's working because, for instance, yesterday the seven-year-old said to me: "Mum, we haven't watched any opera for a while", so we watched half of the ROH Barber of Seville, the other half tonight.


It is very fortunate to have such a mother.


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## Huilunsoittaja

I listen to 2 kinds of radio:

1. Normal radio (approximately 1-3 hours a day)
2. Pandora radio (aprx. 2-4 hours a day)

I LOVE radio. That's how I discover new works and composers.

Then I listen to some "recordings" from the radio, that is, I record stuff off of the radio with my MP3 player.


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## djpeters

Does anyone know of any UK music courses devoted mainly to Ear Training?


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## SalieriIsInnocent

I listen to music all the time. 95% of the time, it is through my computer. I have my sharp system connected to it during the day, and at night I use headphones. 

Thank god for Winamp's ability to play flac.


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## Suwannee Tim

Thanks for the Preventing Hearing Damage link mamascarlatti. Unfortunately for me, it comes about 40 years too late. One of my other hobbies is shooting and a good bit of that high powered rifles. Even with proper hearing protection which I always use, there is slow damage at those sound levels. What the hell, when I die, I don't want them to bury to perfectly good ears. They will bury two well used, danged near used up ears. I hear a hiss and a squeal all the time which is tinnitus and high frequency loss causes the highest notes sound like a hiss to me. I know what the note is as I heard it decades ago, I know it is there, I just hear a hiss.


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## munirao2001

Listening and appreciation of Classical Music
The listeners, with yearning for classical music, crave for blissful moments or recall experiences, to relive the joy and to derive total satisfaction. Such/listeners give time, take efforts and committed for music appreciation. Any listener first’ likes’ to hear and appreciate music, which is he/she is familiar or the same resembles the familiar and excites. If listeners take efforts to understand the basics, if not intricacies, they can well appreciate, any kind of and form of classical music. Success of Great Maestros of music in popularizing the music, all over the Globe, is sufficient proof. The category of listeners, who proclaim fans of ‘are you being served? look for excitement, instant gratification, momentary happiness, derived with least or minimal efforts and go by the dictum, ‘all that is good, if it is popular’. The listening, appreciation and support vastly varies, from the kind of music-classical and other forms. Appreciation, good support to classical form of music, is restricted and not very popular, in comparison with other forms of music, unfortunately, because of elitist leanings.
The appreciation of music and its enjoyment, as it is happening in case of live concert, requires listener’s open and free mind. The problem with listening experience is, the listener, having memorized the most satisfactory experience and satisfaction, constantly yearns for recall experiences of such of those moments. Mind is pre occupied with constant comparisons and judgment. The likes and dislikes filters. The listener must give full attention, with no bias or distractions of any kind, to receive the music and for true experience. Discipline of listener, does not exclude the performing artists, who are also listeners themselves, first and foremost. As listeners, we must know the structure and strengths of Classical Music. If we expect the musical experiences arising out of other forms of World Music, based on different structure, which are not part of the Classical Music system are prohibited part of Classical Music, we , as listeners are at fault but, not the musicians.
We are very fortunate to have immensely talented and profound Maestros, who offer very high quality of creative music. We, the listeners, should be clear, before making final judgment on the merits/demerits. If your goal is for seeking spiritual progress, encourage and totally support such of that practitioner/performer, whose goals are for their own spiritual progress and attainment, through music. If you want music for physical pleasures-stress management, excitement, easy on appreciation and pleasing etc, you have to make choice on such of that practitioner/performer, who has mastered the technique and achieved popularity. Please do not mix up, be clear, seek, achieve and enjoy what you want/desire.


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## jimread

I had to listen quietly for years, my speakers up a corner, amp and cd player on a skid and bring them out and position them and then have a listen, all very unsatisfactory and no stereo to speak of.

A move gave me the chance to make a small room about 7ft wide and 8ft long in the back of the garage. I also use it as a workroom and for my micro model railway layouts and have to move stuff out to to listen.

But I am now able to have my little speakers in the corners, where they should be, aim them just in front of my face and for the first time listen in true stereo and I don't have to worry about upsetting the neighbours.

It's really great! 

Jim


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## gmubandgeek

I love to turn my surround sound on and plug my iPod in. Nothing like the earth shattering crash of the cymbals, or the thunder of the timpani to drive my roommates absolutely crazy!


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## sospiro

Suwannee Tim said:


> Thanks for the Preventing Hearing Damage link mamascarlatti. Unfortunately for me, it comes about 40 years too late. One of my other hobbies is shooting and a good bit of that high powered rifles. Even with proper hearing protection which I always use, there is slow damage at those sound levels. What the hell, when I die, I don't want them to bury to perfectly good ears. They will bury two well used, danged near used up ears. I hear a hiss and a squeal all the time which is tinnitus and high frequency loss causes the highest notes sound like a hiss to me. I know what the note is as I heard it decades ago, I know it is there, I just hear a hiss.


That is really sad. A timely reminder for me to turn the levels down a notch on my mp3 player.


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