Trying to work without music- for me- would be terrible. Possibly an
outer circle of Hell. On the other hand, having to listen to music I
don’t like all day would be worse. Fortunately, my tastes run from
Enya to Marilyn Mason, so I’ve got a pretty broad range. I almost
always have music going whatever I’m doing, be it working in the
studio or cleaning my apartment or whatever. I think it may have
something to do with my goofy brain chemistry-- the music keeps
certain parts of my brain occupied so they don’t find other ways to
distract me (Good ol’ mania brain- it’s like ADD but with stronger
meds).
What I play tends to depend on my mood, although since I’m mostly in
a studio I share with the other students, I try & keep them in mind–
the other Metals grad here has told me he prefers my mellower music
so I stick to the Decemberists, Aimee Mann, Iron &Wine or similar
folk-rock/singer-songwriter & save the heavier stuff for the
evenings after he leaves. (Although he started singing along to
classic punk band Husker Du one day, which I thought was hilarious &
prompted our Prof to yell at me for corrupting him).
I could wear headphones but as I am also the TA for one of the
beginning metals classes, I want to seem approachable to the students
when they have questions, even outside of my official class times. I
started playing music during work time in my class once I found out
that some of the students were afraid to use some of the tools- like
the drill press- because they thought it would be too noisy. It
relaxes the atmosphere considerably, although so far this semester
most of my students hadn’t heard any of the music I’ve played (not
that I’m entirely surprised). Another TA plays NPR.
I realize this will probably give poor Leonard a heart attack but
I’ve discovered that when I’m doing the really boring work (filing &
sanding), it helps to plop myself down in front of the TV. I have to
keep my brain occupied or it wanders off & causes trouble. I watched
the entire series of Buffy the Vampire Slayer working on some jewelry
for a gallery a while back. Twice.
Today’s studio selection was Gogol Bordello- a band best described as
"gypsy punk". Currently, I’m listening to Emilee Autumn. Music I tend
to listen to regularly includes- Amanda Palmer, Dresden Dolls, Kate
Bush, Patti Smith, Elliott Smith, Tom Waits, Nick Cave, Afghan Whigs,
Buffalo Tom, Muse, Silversun Pickup, They Might Be Giantss & pretty
much anything I played when I was a DJ at a college radio station in
early 90’s. (I’ve got over 80 gigs worth of music in my iTunes
currently & I’ve only ripped about half of my CDs) I find listening
to creative music fuels my own creativity.
Happy listening!
Sharon,
who much prefers The Sound of Silence over actual silence