# Music listening diary



## Mika (Jul 24, 2009)

I must admit I am pretty obsessed with this topic. I started many years ago with pen and paper. Then I found last.fm and finally ended up in writing own software for this. To me music listening requires recording of it, so I can make all kinds of stats of it. How you have managed in dealing with these kind of obsessions? Doctor, maybe?


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## Polednice (Sep 13, 2009)

That's an interesting approach. I've never recorded my musical experiences.


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2012)

I have a Mac and use a piece of software called (oddly) Voodoo Pad. It lets you create your own "wiki" - that is an automatically interlinked collection of documents. I make a page for each composer and from time to time write down notes about individual works, etc. I might make other pages also, like "favorite cello concertos" or "favorite melodies", etc. 

But I'm pretty casual about adding my impressions - I just let my notes accumulate over time in a semi-organized structure. Once in a while I might "complete" a composer, by making sure I have notes about all their works that I have in my collection, and deciding which are my favorites, etc. Obviously this is a lot easier to do with someone like Lyadov than Beethoven.

Definitely no statistics, but all my music is within iTunes and I can be a little more systematic there. For example at the beginning of 2011 I reset all my play counts to zero, then proceeded to listen to all my music at least once.


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## Meaghan (Jul 31, 2010)

In some of the music history courses I have taken, we've been required to write and hand in "listening logs" with observations about the music we are studying. I definitely found it a valuable activity - it promoted a certain kind of "active listening" and helped me organize my thoughts about music - but I wouldn't want to do it for all my listening.


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

I use spotify, and it is overwhelming! Then I started using Efficiant diary, both as a database, and diary. I restrict myself mostly to listen to what I have categorisized in the database, wher I submit links to spotify, and webpage (mostly amazon) and list artists. Then it is easy to cut and past when I post in "currently listening"

http://www.efficientdiary.com/

And in the diary part, I make my own voting system, creating folders 1-6 or 1-10 in performance, sound, work, averall etc


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

I think keeping a listening Diary is a great idea - I would certainly like to read the results if you want to share them! 
For myself I am a bit obsessed with recording my listening experiences too - I mostly do this by posting to the WAYLTN threads here and on another forum and keeping my play counts on iTunes so I know where you are coming from!.


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## Guest (Jan 7, 2012)

This is about as good as it gets in my notes:

Lyadov, Anatoly (1855-1914)

somebody cheated to get this composer in the top 140!
i have just 21 minutes of music


Musical Snuffbox (1893)
precious - sounds just like the title


Baba-Yaga (1905)
more dramatic, but still just a puff piece - the title is the best part
seems to be playing games with tempo


The Enchanted Lake (1909)
subdued and majestic - quite enchanting
gorgeous ending - almost picked up five stars
Lyadov’s best


Kimikora (1909)
lots going on here - foreboding, beauty, music box, even some modernism
I’m curious about the meaning

Wiki: Lyadov wrote that Kikimora "grows up with a magician in the mountains. From dawn to sunset the magician’s cat regales Kikimora with fantastic tales of ancient times and faraway places, as Kikimora rocks in a cradle made of crystal. It takes her seven years to reach maturity, by which time her head is no larger than a thimble and her body no wider than a strand of straw. Kikimora spins flax from dusk and to dawn, with evil intentions for the world.”


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

Conor71 said:


> I think keeping a listening Diary is a great idea - I would certainly like to read the results if you want to share them!
> For myself I am a bit obsessed with recording my listening experiences too - I mostly do this by posting to the WAYLTN threads here and on another forum and keeping my play counts on iTunes so I know where you are coming from!.


If you download effician diary (free) I can send you the listening diary file


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## Conor71 (Feb 19, 2009)

oskaar said:


> If you download effician diary (free) I can send you the listening diary file


thanks oskaar I will look into doing this - cheers!


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## Oskaar (Mar 17, 2011)

cheers! Anyone wants my listening diary.... Download *efficiant diary (free)* and pm me


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