How Does Music Affect You When You're Not Paying Attention To It?

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

I know I'm not alone in working with music as a background. Or reading the newspaper, doing chores, driving, running -- all with a soundtrack I've selected, knowing that I won't be giving the music my undivided attention.

How does the music affect us? What mental states are altered by listening to CT (Cecil Taylor) instead CT (Claude Thornhill)? Will I be better primed for the dance if I drive there listening to Eric Dolphy or Fred Neil? Or doesn't it matter?

There ARE times when I give the music my undivided attention, and of course one of the great advantages of live shows is that they encourage that kind of focus.

I never listen to music when I'm reading something substantial. And yet when I'm working on choreography -- no matter how difficult the spatial pattern is -- music never gets in the way.

[Jon Abbey]

I think I wrote about this in the eai thread sometime last year, but this topic makes me think of the first disc of the Radu Malfatti/Taku Sugimoto set on Improvised Music from Japan. it's very sparse, mostly total digital silence interrupted by occasional notes from one or the other, 70-plus minutes. but the tension created by the music (for me) is remarkable. I can work to most music, but this just stops me cold, waiting for the next note, and not feeling the tension ebb at all when it finally comes, or even when the record finally ends. this is what both Taku and Radu have been trying to achieve for the last few years, both independently and seperately, and it's interesting to me that the way they finally got the perfect balance of sound within silence was through Radu's postproduction, I'm still thinking about why that is. anyway, very powerful music, highly recommended.

[Dr Dave]

I sometimes will put on "In A Silent Way" as background music--it works very nicely. I own an embarrassingly large collection of piano trio recordings, and many--although not all--work well as long as I keep the volume way low. If I turn it up past a certain point, I find myself listening to it instead of doing whatever I'm supposed to be doing . I'm also big on "ambient" music, which is not meant to be listened to carefully anyway. There's a group called "The Stars Of The Lid" that has put out several CDs, none of which I've ever heard through to completion because I fall asleep .

On the sleep front, I recommend Sleepbot.com which is where I discovered The Stars of The Lid and various other groups whose music is meant to lull you into Dreamland.

[Captain Hate]

"In a Silent Way" is an interesting choice. I can only have stuff on as background music that I'm totally familiar with; that way I can slide in and out of active listening and know where I am. Otherwise it's a frustrating undertaking.

But when I say background music I mean doing something specifically that requires me to barely listen to the music; I can read with music on and still pay a reasonable amount of attention so that I don't feel I'm missing anything.

[Jon Abbey]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

There's a group called "The Stars Of The Lid" that has put out several CDs, none of which I've ever heard through to completion because I fall asleep .

On the sleep front, I recommend Sleepbot.com which is where I discovered The Stars of The Lid and various other groups whose music is meant to lull you into Dreamland.

FWIW, it's just "Stars of the Lid", I have a cool pink t-shirt from when I saw them do an in-store in the early days of Other Music. their first record was called "Music for Nitrous Oxide", you don't really have to say more than that to prove Dave's point.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Captain Hate

I can only have stuff on as background music that I'm totally familiar with; that way I can slide in and out of active listening and know where I am. Otherwise it's a frustrating undertaking.

But when I say background music I mean doing something specifically that requires me to barely listen to the music; I can read with music on and still pay a reasonable amount of attention so that I don't feel I'm missing anything.

That's my story. I read with music all the time. But I can't read with vocal music in the background.

[SilentKnowledge]

Originally Posted by Captain Hate

"In a Silent Way" is an interesting choice. I can only have stuff on as background music that I'm totally familiar with; that way I can slide in and out of active listening and know where I am. Otherwise it's a frustrating undertaking.

But when I say background music I mean doing something specifically that requires me to barely listen to the music; I can read with music on and still pay a reasonable amount of attention so that I don't feel I'm missing anything.

I feel the same way.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

All very interesting, but a little tangential to what I was asking. Let me put it this way -- if you have music on in the background, why is it on if you're not paying close attention to it? Comfort, alertness, diversion? What do you think it does for you or to you?

[Gary Sisco]

It's an interesting question that you ask, Steve, as you have honed in on it more in your last. I ask it all the time.

One of the answers is historical, in that, for thousands of years (and still but much less so in this society), music had social functions apart from being "entertainment." It may have *also* been entertainment, but that's a different question. Today, often times, it seems to be what we very accurately call sonic wallpaper, which is something that irritates the shit out of me in my very probably too grumpy dotage. In short, it seems to be used as some form of abstract company or distraction from oneself or one's activities -- which isn't surprising given what many people do at "work" in the present era.

My own answer is that music for me still has many different functions, both social and personal, and hence I change the music up accordingly. If I'm working, I'm usually doing something in the way of manual labor, so I will normally go for something with a deep groove that's easy to get into, like some deep soul music or reggae. But more often these days I don't listen to music at all when I work. I just work and dig the quiet of my own thoughts. Or no thoughts -- I just work. If I'm grooming the horses, which is a very intimate thing and your own mood very much effects theirs, a real calmness is required, and normally I won't listen to anything at all. I'll just let the quiet reign, or talk to the horse quietly. Sometimes I'll sing quietly. (Horses are interested in music and have definite likes and dislikes, I've found -- my favorite mare, Suzy, likes Beatles ballads, for example, like "I Will," one of her very favorites, but she also likes some real oddities, like that old pop tune about chasing the British down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.) Sometimes I'll play some jazz quietly, or some Bach, on the boom box.

If I'm working at home, like housework or something like that, I almost always will put on some James Brown and rock out while I'm doing it. It's got a good groove, needless to say, and also, like others have said, a deep familiarity. It's fun to hear while doing stuff that's otherwise tedious.

Like Pete, I can't listen to anything with vocals if I'm reading, but most times I can read and still keep one part of the old brain listening to whatever record is playing and not miss much. (I may make mental notes to go back and relisten to a particular track or solo some other time when I'm not reading and can pay it full attention.)

A poet friend and teacher years ago warned me not to listen to music while writing because the music will necessarily impose its own rhythm in some way. It was very good advice.

I never got into the walkman type thing of carrying music around with me on the street, or while running, or whatever. Seems to me like people are locked up in their own little bubbles quite enough as it is, without that reinforcing it, and also because I want to be able to be alert to sounds around me -- not just danger sounds like the truck that's about to run you over but also nice sounds like birdsong or water or what have you. Once on a week's vacation by myself in Montreal, I got up very early every morning and would jog from downtown to the river and so I could run along the river for a good long ways and just listen to it. It's a huge and very fast river, and it makes a low volume hissing sound as it passes by -- which gets drowned out later in the day as the city awakes and the auto traffic starts up and whatever.

I did used to have a continuous soundtrack going at home, for many years. If I was awake (and often long after I was asleep as well), there would be music playing. I broke that habit a couple of years ago, though, and am glad I did. I spend a lot more time now just listening to music while not doing anything else, reading included. It makes a huge difference.

I always loathed having a soundtrack imposed on me by others, but since I broke my own soundtrack habit, I loathe it even more. I'll normally hang up if I get subjected to music "on hold" for example, and I normally just refuse to frequent places like malls, not only for that reason but it's certainly one of them. I've had to work many times where a soundtrack much to my dislike (idiot rock or NPR or whatever) was imposed on me for the entire time, and now that I don't have to, it irritates me to the point of anger, sometimes.

[Sergio Zamora]

It does a lot of things. One thing people won't admit to, I'm sure, is that certain music just makes me feel like I'm cool - as in 'hey, there goes a cool dude playing Burning Spear with his windows down'. It's a nice fantasy that lasts the length of the CD, but that's alright.

[Steve Reynolds]

don't really listen to music as a background to anything - either I listen or I don't have it on - used to watch sports with the sound off - but now I either do one or the other

just doesn't work for me - maybe some simple reading - but if the music is happening for me - the book goes down fast

[Jazzooo]

It's different for me every day. Sometimes I listen while reading, then decide to stop reading and just listen. Other times the CD will end and I wonder where all that music went, because I was only conscious of it for a few seconds, maybe my favorite or least favorite passages.

When I drive, I am almost always listening to a combination of CDs and the radio. I listen most often like a music producer on the hunt for interesting sounds. I flip stations constantly--I'm often restless about what I might be missing on other stations. I occasionally flip to a smooth jazz station for 5 seconds at a time just to feel instantly superior. My presets: L.A.'s KLON, usually too conservative for me; San Diego's college jazz station--love it; the smooth station; NPR; a country station; and a station that plays music from the '60s and '70s. Lately, this is the one I'm getting the most from.

I tend to leave CDs in my changer for weeks at a time, and I don't think I've ever loaded the changer without including at least 20% of my own projects, usually things I'm working on, CDs of my trio rehearsing, rough mixes, etc. Driving and evaluating mixes and arrangements is a natural for me--whatever part of my brain is taking me down the road leaves the rest of it in good shape.

What happens to the miles I drive while listening to music?

[Coda]

I find that I can focus on my work to the point where I don't hear the music at all. This can go on for hours at a time with absolutely no recollection of an artist, instrument, genre, whatever. I also fall asleep with music blaring at night and have no problems falling asleep.

Drop a pin in the morning and you're going to wake me up in a bad mood.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

It's funny, I've gotten into the habit of watching sports with the sound off and playing a CD. For some reason I hear the music better and see the game better. They work hand-in-hand.

As a matter of fact, I rarely "just listen to music". It's always part for something else I'm doing, reading, cooking. Again, it works hand in hand with whatever I'm doing. Even with new CDs.

Including sleep.

I've got a five CD changer in my bedroom. I fill it up, put it on continuously play, and just float along with music (at a low volume).

[jazzy mary]

I listen to music probably 15 hours a day. I listen to WBGO in the morning when I'm getting ready for work and then I listen to music all day at work and then when I go home. I listen to music while I'm reading, making dinner, driving my kids around (usually their choice--but I love the music they like!) and always, always at work. I can concentrate fine while music is on and I literally cannot get through work without having it on. It completely energizes me. I put in a cd the *moment* I turn my computer on. I'm listening to Peter Sprague's cd " Road Work Ahead" right now. At work, I tend to play a cd over and over as I'm up and down, in and out and it's easier to just have it on repeat than to figure out what I'm in the mood for and be a d.j. at work. I went through a period of about a month where all I listened to was "In A Silent Way". I don't know why, it was on the cd player and I kept it there. I definately get into "grooves". I have my own office, so it's ok. I keep my door open usually but I like to have the music really low (otherwise I find it does interfere with my work) adn so no one can really hear it unless they are in my office. The secretary outside my office says she sometimes hears it and she really likes it and finds it "very relaxing".

If I'm doing something that requires a lot of attention, I cannot have *any* music with horns. When I really need to concentrate and have to be calm, Bill Evans goes on!

It's hard for me to play vocals and concentrate too. I always want to sing along and play it really loud and I always stop to listen to the great lyrics. Playing classical music at work usually drives me crazy, because the soft parts are so soft and I can't hear them, so I turn it up, then the loud part comes and blows me out of my chair and so on. It's a nightmare! I love listening to classical music live though, or in the car or at home when I'm relaxed on the couch reading a magazine or something. If something I'm reading needs concentration, then I really can't have music on.

At night, when I read before I go to bed, I can't have any music on, even though right now I'm reading "Four Lives in the Be-bop Business"!

[Boris Badenov]

"that old pop tune about chasing the British down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico"

That would be Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans."

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Originally Posted by Boris Badenov

"that old pop tune about chasing the British down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico"

That would be Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans."

We fired our cannon 'til the barrel melted down.
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannon balls, and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.

We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin' on
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.