# How voracious is your musical appetite?



## Pete (Sep 22, 2005)

Can you absorb music all day, every day without growing tired of it? Or perhaps you limit youself to a few hours a day? What are your listening habits?


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## Music_Junkie (Sep 1, 2005)

I listen to a wide variety of music and ever since I was a little kid there has been music around me almost constantly. Sometimes feels weird without it being there. I do like select moments of silence like when I'm composing but then I'm listening to music in my head not on the stereo or radio. Or if I'm trying to really think something through I don't nessecarily always like music on but for the most part I listen to music a lot!


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## Pete (Sep 22, 2005)

An additional question come to mind for those who listen to music many hours a day: does it ever become a background activity, or are you listening intently to every piece (beginning to end?)


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## Music_Junkie (Sep 1, 2005)

I don't listen to just classical music, I listen to a wide variety. If it's classical music I'm listening to I usually can't help but listen intently and try to analyze it but with other, more secular music or rhythm stuff (Herbie Hancock, Oscar Peterson, Beatles etc) I either sing along or "groove out" to it.


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## LiLi (Aug 19, 2005)

god, i could listen to music forever. i live off the stuff. it is nice to listen to both critically and just for fun.


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## glezzery (Apr 3, 2006)

I could have some music going 24 hours a day, except an occasional time of complete silence, for reflection.
KILL YOUR TELEVISION AND WIN BACK YOUR SOUL!


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## soul_syringe (Apr 18, 2006)

percussion music in the morning to get me up and running. bach and baroque pieces for focus late in the morning. flute and oriental music for siesta. rachmaninoff the rest of the day, alternative early evening. measure after measure of whole rests for the rest of the night. sounds and silences. i talk, breathe, eat, sleep music...


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## Scottie (Apr 28, 2006)

I try have music around me all the time (bless my ipod). Lots of different styles and genres, it depends on the mood I'm in at the time.


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## Drowning_by_numbers (May 30, 2006)

I agree - I could listen all day! I love lots of different types of music, but I listen to one "type" for most of a day, depending on what mood I'm in! 

Yup - hurray for the IPod.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

I listen to music only when I have enough focus to concentrate on it. I don't like having music in the background, either I devote most of my attention to it or I have silence.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

I havent seen this many ressurections of old threads since, ever.

but OT: i constantly go around with earplugs, listening to music.


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## Guest (Feb 8, 2013)

Others grow tired of my musical tastes, so I listen mostly when I'm alone. Otherwise I would listen 24/7.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Usually 4-8 hours a day, but a mix of styles (classical, rock, jazz). Fortunately, my wife and I have a taste that is not that different (and if required, there is always the headphones set).


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Ravndal said:


> I havent seen this many ressurections of old threads since, ever.
> 
> but OT: i constantly go around with earplugs, listening to music.


Mostly my fault, Ravndal: a little ballet of revenants to spice things up.


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## OboeKnight (Jan 25, 2013)

I have an insatiable musical appetite. If I'm not playing, I'm listening haha.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

not too often


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Usually about three to five hours a day, sometimes more (especially over the weekend), sometimes less or occasionally none at all. What I actually listen to has changed over the years rather than how much - I now play far more classical and much less rock. In fact, I don't buy any new rock music at all - any I do get are retro gap-fillers or vinyl replacements.


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I never tire of music. That would be like being bored with love. The only reason I background music is because sometimes I have to earn a living or answer the phone.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Very strange habits for me, indeed. I can go for days and weeks on end both listening to and performing and mixing music and there are times when I can go for the same amount of time listening to nothing. I only play when I play out or with someone. The only time I play alone is to learn something. Also, when I first start to like a piece or band or song I will overplay the life out of it to no end and eventually reach a point where I listen to only every once in a while.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

Ravndal said:


> I havent seen this many ressurections of old threads since, ever.
> 
> but OT: i constantly go around with earplugs, listening to music.


The reason is the absence of much that is interesting.


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## Ravndal (Jun 8, 2012)

Perhaps. It was no critique. Just feels like every thread i have opened lately has been dated back to 2005. Just a little odd, thats all


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

I don't like listening to music all the time. Sometimes I need a break from it.

I particularly don't like using it as background music. When I listen to music, I really want to pay attention to it. In fact, I think my first attempt to get into Classical was ruined because I used it too often as background music. I became a lazy listener.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I try to work in about two hours of listening a day but it often doesn't work out or I'm too tired to concentrate on the music without falling asleep and thus I forego it. I don't like to use classical music as background music because most of what I listen to requires my attention. If I want background I put on something less demanding like lounge music, exotica or space age pop.

Kevin


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## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

Les Baxter and an easy chair!


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Every day - listening, playing, spinning (Records), spinning (Head), messing most of the time......


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

I don't even like music, i'm only here for the funny pictures thread.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

That's just ducky !











:lol:


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## Andolink (Oct 29, 2012)

For me music is like food. I require it to live. It sustains me. I even think it's my substitute for what in other people's lives religion does for them since I have no belief in anything of a mystical nature. For me music must always be front and center with full attention focused on it. Background music is usually annoying to me except in the rare instance where I hear something I actually really like or that's interesting and different.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

I don't bother with music any more,I really just spend my time reading this stuff.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

..don't know about voracious, but I try to get about 6 Hours of every day active listening when I can. But there's always music playing in the house!

/ptr


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## Kieran (Aug 24, 2010)

I'm usually quite systematic. I have no musical training or technical understanding, so I slowly sift through different types - lately the violin sonata - and I read all available literature, both on this site - which is very helpful - or online or in books - to help me understand what's happening.

I can just listen and enjoy it too, without literature, but a lot of the music I listen to is 18th and 19th century, so it has a historical resonance too. And also, while I don't understand the technical aspect, I still like to read it, for some reason. I couldn't tell one key from another, and yet I find myself fascinated by tales of how the music roams through different keys.

The music books I read aren't highly technical, however. They're more broad, for example, the _Cambridge Mozart_, or an excellent guide book from 1934, edited by A.L. Bachman, _the Musical Companion_. Reading this compels me to source the works mentioned, and then listening to them drives me to other sources to discover more about them.

I listen to some Mozart every single day. I once listened to something from Figaro every day for two straight years, usually the first act. With other composers, it's a question of appetite and what I can stomach  . I enjoyed a brief Mahler kick, now I like some Hugo Wolf, and the most common non-Mozart composers I hear are Beethoven and Schubert....


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## Guest (Feb 9, 2013)

A couple of years ago I developed a nasty new music acquisition habit which resulted in my collection growing to about 850 albums (about 40 days solid). To focus on my existing collection, I decided to try to listen to everything in one year, which I did manage (iTunes helps - just reset play counts to zero). Then I committed myself to going back through everything, this time rating everything. I still buy new things, but much more slowly.

So now when I listen, I'm usually trying to work through my very large stack of unrated works (still about 17 days).

For the curious, my rating system is as follows:
0.5 stars trash; defective
1 star yuck; seriously annoying
1.5 stars blah; hope it ends soon
2 stars meh; not so good; a little annoying
2.5 stars not sure; neither good nor bad; or maybe both
3 stars okay; fine in small doses; nothing special
3.5 stars pretty good but a little bland; not for regular listening
4 stars good; solid; would be happy to hear regularly
4.5 stars really good; wonderful; outstanding
5 stars great; bravo; bis; top marks
This system relies on being able to give works half-star ratings, a hidden feature which can be turned on in iTunes. 

Note I am only trying to rate how much I personally enjoy listening to a piece, not how great, famous, or exotic it may be. This sometimes leads to curious results - for example I might give Beethoven's fifth symphony 3 1/2 stars, not because I think it's mediocre, but just because I don't really need to hear that famous opening regularly.

Sometimes I wonder if I have made listening too much of a chore, but I do enjoy the process. I also quite like the pleasure of discovering gems amongst works that I had previously dismissed.

Some day I'll be able to quickly bring up a list of all my violin sonatas, for example, and quickly say which are my favorites. But it's a never-ending process, not least because tastes (even mine) do change (gradually, thankfully).


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Interesting, I am doing something similar, but focusing on parts of my (ridiculously large) CD collection, documenting my findings in my blog. I have recently completed the Prokofiev concertante works, am finalizing the Ravel orchestral output, and ready to embark on Sibelius' symphonies next (about 18 such topics done already). I rank the works according to my own taste:
- hors concours (best of the best, less than 100 works in the whole classical music oeuvre)
- essential (if I would have to start collecting from scratch, no way they would be left out)
- important (I would very much like to have them in my collection)
- good to have (not a priority in any way, but indeed nice to have)
- not required
- avoid


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## KRoad (Jun 1, 2012)

I used to listen much more _enthusiastically_ till I joined TC and was accosted by all these incredibly brainless and stupid "Who is the Better Composer?" and "Atonal vs Tonal" poll type threads written by witless morons who, in conducting such polls were seriously trying to engage in meaningful debate. Cretins! Cretins! Cretins! But I digress... over the last year I have listened to classical music in a focused and engaged manner on average about three hours a day. This is supplemented by equally engaged reading on the topic to the tune of about an hour a day. Together with a full-time job - well, its enough.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

Art Rock said:


> Interesting, I am doing something similar, but focusing on parts of my (ridiculously large) CD collection, documenting my findings in my blog. I have recently completed the Prokofiev concertante works, am finalizing the Ravel orchestral output, and ready to embark on Sibelius' symphonies next (about 18 such topics done already). I rank the works according to my own taste:
> - hors concours (best of the best, less than 100 works in the whole classical music oeuvre)
> - essential (if I would have to start collecting from scratch, no way they would be left out)
> - important (I would very much like to have them in my collection)
> ...


I'm as interested in your "avoid" list as in your "hors concours" list!


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## deggial (Jan 20, 2013)

I'm very unstructured; I listen to whatever strikes my fancy, whenever it does and if it asks to be replayed it will; i have a hard time making (play)lists; I'd rather skip from piece to piece. Though, this morning on the commute home I left the phone on random and after a few lovely pieces I thought "why, all of these are great!"


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Avoid is pretty rare - after all, these are CD's I bought and I usually researched upfront. I need to actually dislike listening to it to give the _avoid _verdict. So far, that has only happened to a few versions of Mussorgksy's PaaE beyond the well-known ones for piano and orchestration by Ravel.


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

I have vast numbers of CDs. I love listening to music in the evenings or when I am in the office doing something routine.


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