What do you listen to, when you are not writing?

[Kazak]

I listen a lot to Women of Substance Radio out of LA, it's all female singer/songwriters across different genres, I do have 3 songs rotating on it They mix top label artists with Indie artists on the same playlist, very cool. http://www.womenofsubstanceradio.com

For the latest 40 forty hits, Dubai has Virgin Radio which is based on the European market. I love anything by Gavin DeGraw or 3 Doors Down.

When all else gets old, my Beatles Box Set never fails.

[matto]

I get the silence thing. I liked that a lot when I was gigging frequently. It is sad in a way though, that work can make us want to avoid something we once (presumably) loved so much.

I don't see it as 'sad' if we're fortunate enough to be writing so much of our own music that we have less time or less of a desire to listen to other people's music...I would rather create than consume, personally.

I listen to a lot of music in just about any style imaginable for research, and I get a lot of pleasure out of that. And even if my intent is to listen to something purely for pleasure/entertainment, I constantly hear things that put me back in 'research mode'.
In other words, the two things are not really separate for me.

[secondsoul]

and I was beginning to think I was strange when I started driving with the music turned off! Glad to see I'm not the only one who likes silence too. Got plenty of music blaring in my head already ... BUT I do find there needs to be a balance, because the less I listen to new stuff, the less I create. Like a subconscious sponge.

I get bored quite easily so end up switching between styles at random which makes my wife crazy - pretty much any guitar band from the 90's -2000's (after weaning myself off Oasis), Satch, Mike Oldfield, Mark Knopfler, BT, Tiesto ... My latest craze is Dr Luke and Max Martin. I listened to Femme Fatale like 10 times over - is that wrong for a guitarist? I'm not ashamed

[crs7string]

I may be the first to chime in about making the effort to hear some live music.

I think as composers we have become so accustomed to sitting by ourselves when we work thru the process of producing a track that we have forgotten that music is a communal activity with a high level of communication between the players and the listeners.

Also, we may have forgotten the effect of an ensemble, large or small, moving air in a hall or club.

I had the opportunity to hear the great tenor sax player Sonny Rollins perform last night and was reminded of everything I just mentioned. Including the above thoughts, there was also a great spirit of joy created by the musicians which ignited the audience. A great improvisor like Sonny Rollins also has the power to evoke many emotions. He would go from sad and poignant to very humorous all within one piece of music.

There is power in the communication of music. I think a great live performance on occasion can remind us of that power that may have become somewhat diluted as we sit in front of our DAW tweaking the velocities of a string line.

Just a few thoughts on a Saturday morning.

Chuck

[hazineju]

I may be the first to chime in about making the effort to hear some live music.

I think as composers we have become so accustomed to sitting by ourselves when we work thru the process of producing a track that we have forgotten that music is a communal activity with a high level of communication between the players and the listeners.

Also, we may have forgotten the effect of an ensemble, large or small, moving air in a hall or club.

There is power in the communication of music. I think a great live performance on occasion can remind us of that power that may have become somewhat diluted as we sit in front of our DAW tweaking the velocities of a string line.

Chuck

Good point, Chuck! i'm still on a bit of a high from the bruno mars gig i saw last month. it had been a long time since i'd been to a big show and i just ate up the energy in the room. it gave me chills to hear the connection the audience felt with the music as they sang along on a few songs. they cheered, smiled, danced. reminded me what a powerful force music is. bruno and his band did an awesome live show too, the kid can really sing. Sounds like Sonny was pretty fierce too!

[matto]

Excellent point Chuck...not to mention it's really hopeless to tweak the velocities in a string line unless you first know how that string line would sound played by a real section...

I think you get three things from attending a live performance: sound, visual, and energy. You can get a good portion of the sound and a small portion of the energy off of a recording of a performance. You can get a good portion of the sound, visual and a somewhat larger portion of the energy from watching a tv broadcast, DVD or even YouTube video of said performance. But you can only get the 360 degree sound, full visual and entire 'energy experience' from attending the live performance.

I think when we are trying to emulate real musicians in a virtual setting, being able to visualize the player(s) we are trying to emulate and having an understanding of how specific visual gestures of, say, bowing, translate into specific sounds can be incredibly helpful towards achieving more realistic phrasing and expression.
And of course, understanding, and reminding ourselves that the purpose of all this emulating and tweaking is first and foremost to create energy and evoke emotion...I would say that's absolutely crucial.

There I go again with the research...

[sedge]

I think when we are trying to emulate real musicians in a virtual setting, being able to visualize the player(s) we are trying to emulate and having an understanding of how specific visual gestures of, say, bowing, translate into specific sounds can be incredibly helpful towards achieving more realistic phrasing and expression.

Only way to get that true Status Quo sound is doing the 2/4 beat nods in the bedroom at 1am

[elser]

I'm hooked on Pandora, it's great for research and understanding the elements of a style. I've been listening to a lot of Electronica lately, BT, Tiesto etc... but I also have stations for Pat Metheny, The Foo Fighters, Bach, Neil Young, Radio Head, The Beatles, Rhianna, Gregorian Chant and many more.

I'm also a huge Kevin Gilbert fan but I didn't know about the Taming Of The Shrew album, I'll have to check that out! I love the Thud album and Toy Matinee.

I never listen to Abba, some of you will understand why.

[Hookjaw Brown]

My radio broke in my car. Several years ago now. I spend my hour in the morning and evening while commuting listening to sounds in my head. It is a lot like hearing voices, but not quite so crazy sounding. My friend composes really intricate and complex songs while jogging in the mountains.

I worked in a cosmetic manufacturing facility which used a lot of different high end fragrances. I prefer unscented products but I can recognize all the notes of a fragrance.

Unless one is doing research I believe that there is so much ambient music (or noise if your prefer) out in the world we live that one needs the quiet times to let the inner song develop.

[elser]

Unless one is doing research I believe that there is so much ambient music (or noise if your prefer) out in the world we live that one needs the quiet times to let the inner song develop.

Ya I get that, maybe that's why so often my most original ideas happen when I'm waking from sleep, or in the shower or washing dishes...all the external noise is filtered out.