I had a realization the other day, regarding my music listening experience, that was so obvious and yet profound to me.
I have been wondering why I was not getting the pure musical enjoyment that I used to have when listening to music. It was not because of issues with sound quality, nor was it related to the music choices. In fact my system has never sounded better, to me. Each song on its own was an engaging sound quality experience, but something was missing.
I would load up my playlist with music that was sure to please, with favorite tunes from a variety of artists. Each song usually chosen, because it was excellent sound quality, and I liked the music.
One song would be Latin jazz, followed by rock, then a vocal track. Add a little bit of Hawaiian music, some Steely Dan for good measure. Some nice guitar, and then a taste of Indian music, followed by Pink Floyd, Yes or Roxy Music. Mix in some Dire Straits and a few tracks from Diana Krall. But no joy? Something felt empty.
My music listening experience had become like having attention deficient disorder.
Then it occurred to me. All the years of listening to music, of listening to the whole side of an album, as the artist had intended. I was missing the continuity, and substituted a schizophrenic listening style, that left me feeling empty, and rarely satisfied.
I realized how much better it is to sit down and listen to the album, not just the songs.
Now I can settle into the mood, and relax, not changing my listening every minute, trying to adapt to each track, one minute my heartbeat racing, the next, slowed down by a quieter song, then my attention changed again.
I think many of us have experienced the same in our daily lives. Trying to relax, but constantly distracted by computers, cell phones, TV and so on.
TV used to be easier to watch, where the camera stayed put in the scene for a seemingly long time by today's standards. Now we are bombarded by the scenes on TV, changing every second or so, with super close-ups, switching from one character to the next in an increasingly faster frequency.
I call for a return to a slower pace.![Big Grin]( "Big Grin")
I have been wondering why I was not getting the pure musical enjoyment that I used to have when listening to music. It was not because of issues with sound quality, nor was it related to the music choices. In fact my system has never sounded better, to me. Each song on its own was an engaging sound quality experience, but something was missing.
I would load up my playlist with music that was sure to please, with favorite tunes from a variety of artists. Each song usually chosen, because it was excellent sound quality, and I liked the music.
One song would be Latin jazz, followed by rock, then a vocal track. Add a little bit of Hawaiian music, some Steely Dan for good measure. Some nice guitar, and then a taste of Indian music, followed by Pink Floyd, Yes or Roxy Music. Mix in some Dire Straits and a few tracks from Diana Krall. But no joy? Something felt empty.
My music listening experience had become like having attention deficient disorder.
Then it occurred to me. All the years of listening to music, of listening to the whole side of an album, as the artist had intended. I was missing the continuity, and substituted a schizophrenic listening style, that left me feeling empty, and rarely satisfied.
I realized how much better it is to sit down and listen to the album, not just the songs.
Now I can settle into the mood, and relax, not changing my listening every minute, trying to adapt to each track, one minute my heartbeat racing, the next, slowed down by a quieter song, then my attention changed again.
I think many of us have experienced the same in our daily lives. Trying to relax, but constantly distracted by computers, cell phones, TV and so on.
TV used to be easier to watch, where the camera stayed put in the scene for a seemingly long time by today's standards. Now we are bombarded by the scenes on TV, changing every second or so, with super close-ups, switching from one character to the next in an increasingly faster frequency.
I call for a return to a slower pace.
