Studio Tunes

Live365.com - Old Time Radio Programs (Green Hornet, Gunsmoke,
Boston Blackie, Cisco Kid, etc.), Big Band, Smooth Jazz. Anything
they have to offer I think might be interesting to listen to. Can’t
take commercial radio any more. Either Spinner.com, or Live365.com
streams right into my computer all day. I don’t get to pick, but I
don’t listen too close, either. I just don’t want silence.

My studio tunes are varied along with large doses of NPR. But when
I really need a break from the bench, I turn on the soundtrack
(volume up) from The Big Chill and let loose across the floor.
Nothing like some old Motown to clear the cobwebs! Margery F.
Cooper from Philly. The home of Dick Clark’s American Bandstand

All, I am a stone cutter. I prefer no outside noise in my shop.
Machines make noise when they are operating and that noise tells me
when the machines are operating properly. Vibrations also tell me
when something is wearing out in the machines. Cutting noise tells
me when the grinding is about finished. Feel, hearing, and smell are
all used in cutting of stones. Outside noise interferes with my
senses and detracts from my finished product.

Gerry Galarneau

Exactly which gangta’ rapper do you listen to?

Actually I usually buy CDs that are collections of artists since I
have found that there are usually only a few good songs on an entire
CD of one artist. But I do like Dr. Dre a lot.

Daniel R. Spirer, GG Spirer Somes Jewelers 1794 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140 617-491-6000 @spirersomes
www.spirersomes.com

My top two current favorites: Amanda Miguel - (originally from
Argentina - last couple decades in Mexico) Shakira - (a young
survivor of breast cancer)

I gotta admit that I’ve got music going the entire time I am in the
studio o r the office. As most of you do, I use certain "favorites"
to help get specifi c jobs done but I’ve also been known to employ it
to get particulary obnoxious, annoying, or simply time wasting people
to move along somewhere else.

I love everything I’ve got, but I tend to play it in what most
people find t o be strange juxtapositions. For example: Mexican
Ranchero followed by Sottish bagpipes - or maybe Norman Blake
followed by Amanda Miguel Probably 60% of what I listen to is in
Spanish, from cumbias to remixes. Celine Dion - but in French.

Kitaro, Santana, Dick Dale, Carlos Vives, Kate Price, Enya, and
Linda Ronstadts “Canciones de mis Padres” are in the CD player at
this moment.

Lots of finger picking & guitar - from Chet Atkins, Liebert, Strunz &
Farah, Carlos Montoya to Satriani, Eric Johnson, & Aldo Nova.

Reggae, Japanese, Chinese, American Indian, East Indian & Pakistani,
Fillipino, Cambodian, Thai, Portuguese, Brazilian, Cajun, to
Classic, and Ne w Age - and all kinds of other stuff collected in the
past 35 years. I was a blacksmith/horseshoer when I was a puppy, and
in that “incarnation” all I li stened to was country western

Haven’t considered the rap, but that’s simply a matter of getting
familiar with it, and since I don’t get out much lately it may be a
long while yet I don’t believe that there exists a general species or
style of music that doe s not have something to offer me. Some
styles/pieces enchant me immediately, other s are more of an aquired
taste

Weekends I try be at the bench for Prairie Home Companion and
Garrison Keilo r (of Lake Woebegone fame) on NPR radio. “Hearts of
Space” is another favorite on NPR.

Brian

    My best creations come when I listen to fiction (books on
tape!) <G> 

AT LAST! someone like me! I go through 2-4 books a week. on all
subjects, from “Further Tales of The City” to “A Short History of the
Middle East - 3000BCE-1948” ( 24 tapes, as I recall ) When I do listen
to music, it is mostly jazz. Stan Getz, Jobim, Gilberto, Fourplay,
Matheney, Otmar Liebert, far too many to list. Gangsta’ Rap !? - you
have GOT to be kidding! After being forced to listen to that crap for
20 min. or so, it makes me want to kill someone with their hat on
backwards! (this after 10 yrs. in the slums doing public housing
renovation) Buy HEY! if it works for, great, more power to ya!

Mark Thomas Ruby
SunSpirit Designs
Loveland, CO
970 622-9500 studio
970 622-9510 fax

    My best creations come when I listen to fiction (books on
tape!) <G> 

I hear that! I wondered if anyone else had that habit. I tape radio
drama onto mini disc (a wonderful and much underused format) and
listen as I work.

From Ruth, who has not done much work recently but has almost caught
up with the accumulated Ganoksin emails resulting from not switching
to the digests while on holiday…

When I am working I tend to play mp3’s on the PC, and never too
loudly, except when the shop is closed. I am a big fan of The Alan
Parsons Project and Kate Bush, I like Dire Straits, Seal, Colin Hayes
(Men at Work), and lots of other artists where I like just one or
two songs so I stick the player on random and see what it throws up.
Every now and again I will find a track that I connect with and I
will play it over and over, sometimes for the whole day, just one
track. Resent examples of this would be Happy Rhodes singing “When
the rain came down” and Israel Kamakawi’ole “Over the Rainbow”.

Neil KilBane,
Longford,
Ireland

Somone else mentioned spinner.com, too. It’s no longer spinner, it’s
Netscape radio, but searching for spinner.com will take you there.
We have 4-speaker, powered subwoofer Altec-Lansing (sounds expensive,
but only $79.95) - great sound, and DSL helps, too. Also, in Windows
Media Player (9.0) is a “Radio” button. I had Brazilian music (IN
Brazil), and a Jazz station in Denmark the other day. In Spinner -
if you choose Jazz&Blues, then you choose from acoustic, electric,
singers, chicago, delta, etc., etc., etc. NO Ads, NO cd changing, Seriously cool.

Okay, I can’t stay out of this thread any longer. Is there anyone
else like me who has the TV on while they’re in the studio? Either
I’m the only aberrant or the rest of you are too chicken to admit it
:-). At least I’m not hooked on soap operas. Usually it’s reruns of
old drama series depending on what’s available at the time: Northern
Exposure, Hill Street Blues, Matlock, Murder She Wrote and (at last!)
The West Wing. I even “watch” tennis matches when the major events
(like the US Open currently) are underway. Needless to say, none of
this gets even close to my full attention but for some reason I find
the TV more satisfying than music when I’m working (and this from a
diehard rock and blues lover!).

Beth

Hi Everybody Moods and what I am working on generate my music
desires. These include Atlantis Angelis by Patrick Bernhardt and most
new age music; Talk Radio, books on Tape (fiction and non), local
soft rock station (FM96), Didgeridoo, all kinds of drumming, all
flute, most Piano, some classical, Oscar Lopez, and a station here
that plays world music. Mustn’t forget Elton John, ABBA, Air Supply,
Styx, Trooper, Bee Gees, etc.

Karen Bahr “the Rocklady” (@Rocklady) K.I.S. Creations
May your gems always sparkle.

I go through generally a book in 2-3 days. There is a wonderful web
service @ www.audible.com where you can download books over the
internet. Also I get them from the library. I don’t have cable tv but
have a monthly subscription to Audible.

Here too! I love books on tape, and listen to them when I can get
new ones from the library. I also listen to Internet streaming of
Coast to Coast AM, Jeff Rense, and Laura Lee, that’s good for several
hours a day…

Jeffrey Everett

I have my favorite tunes, but they are for my idle moments, and for
when I am driving. When I am cutting stones or metalsmithing, I am
focused on what I am doing, and really don’t have neurological
resources to spare for music or other distractions. And that’s fine.
I am not generally even aware of the passage of time when I am
completely focused on what I am doing.

Lee Eienr

Hey Beth, You’re singing my song! I always “listen” to TV while I am
working. Usually talk shows or movies, sometimes While You Were Out
or Trading Spaces. Music doesn’t do it for me either!

Debi

 Is there anyone else like me who has the TV on while they're in
the studio?

I’ll admit to that…usually have PBS on or Discovery, sometimes
SciFi programs I’ve recorded earlier. As to tunes, I find ABBA great
for music to clean by.

Donna in VA

Hi Beth

I sometimes have the TV on as well. Usually the Discovery channel or
history, or biography or animal planet. Sometimes a movie. I too do
not pay a lot of attention, just sometimes the white noise off the
radio gives me a headache so I switch to TV for a while. Especially
right now as my stereo has been in the repair shop for over a month
as only 1 company supplies Fisher parts in Canada and you have to
wait until they feel like shipping them.

Karen Bahr “the Rocklady” (@Rocklady) K.I.S. Creations
May your gems always sparkle.

I listen to radio mainly using my computer with a “line out” to my
main stereo system.

As for content, I get it mainly off the internet. However thank God
for two great local radio stations in the Pittsburgh area: WDUQ fm
90.5 (npr and Jazz) and WYEP fm 91.3 (I don’t know how to catagorize
them but at least they don’t play oldies, top 40 or western)

Here are two great internet sites that have archived programs (so
can listen anytime you please)

NPR at www.npr.org - (btw - I’m even a republican and have to admit
they have the best news programs available)

This American Life at www.thislife.org - This program is great if
you like great real life stories. Most are hilarious some are
heart-breaking but all are thought provoking. Listening to one story
about several guys on death row who were recently released from
prison because DNA evidence found them innocent changed my view on
the death penalty.

Dan T.

Okay, I can't stay out of this thread any longer.  Is there anyone
else like me who has the TV on while they're in the studio?  Either
I'm the only aberrant or the rest of you are too chicken to admit it

Okay, I admit it too. I have a small TV up high on top of a cupboard
about 10 feet away and a remote. It’s far enough away that I can’t
see it well enough to really want to watch it. My favorite thing to
have on is shows about renovating houses or out door gardens and
such. Next on the list is the Discovery channel, animals, ancient
discoveries, forensics, unsolved mysteries, and then the shows that
involve rescues, animal emergency rooms etc. So I guess the general
idea is having this noise going on while I work that involves other
people busy working also. Annette

Is there anyone else like me who has the TV on while they're in the
studio? 

Any one who knows me well realizes that if they call between 4-5
they’ll probably get my machine. It’s Oprah time at Wolf Designs. I
have the TV monitor on about 6 hours a day (hooked up to my digital
camera- so I can easily see, enlarged that I am getting the photos I
need for a booklet and book that I am working on- I am shooting with
the macro lens about 5 inches from the piece and tools in my hand, it
often takes 12 shots to get everything right and end up with one
useable picture). If I had the TV on for more than my hour long
Oprahfest I get too easily distracted by it. Like others on the
forum, books on tape help me a lot. If I have a job I am having a
hard time hunkering down to spend hours on, books on tape are a
magnet - keep me at the bench and help me get absorbed into the task
at hand.

My favorite web live stream is http://www.wxpn.org out of Philly,
my old stomping grounds. They have the nationally syndicated show
World Caf=E9’. Have a great day!

Best Regards, Kate Wolf in Portland, ME hosting workshops by the
bay. http://www.katewolfdesigns.com