Studio tunes

Sorry, it's simply not that black and white. I usually put my
headphones on when I need to bunker down and focus on a difficult
task. Yes, I use it partly to shut out the rest of the
environment, but it is done to improve the quality and speed of my
work. 

Agreed. I do better work and can concentrate on it better, with Bach
or Mozart playing softly on headphones, than I can do with a
background noise of hammering, the roar of the polisher’s dust
collector, and various voices and chatter and outside noise
(including the freeway overpass literally right above our shop…)
This doesn’t mean I don’t want to be working there. It just means I
enjoy having some control over my working environment in order to
reduce distractions.

I know a number of shops that, in fact, insist on headphones if one
wishes to listen to any radio or music or other sound track. Table
top radios or music players etc. that anyone else might hear were
forbidden since their owners might not have the same musical taste as
the rest of the shop…

Peter Rowe

Headphones are a problem because it indicative that person does
not want to be there... 

I’m a political junkie so I listen to a lot of online talk radio
streamed to my computer and played on external speakers. I like
620kpoj.com or Sirius left (127). I have a Sirius subscription,
which is great on cross country drives where all you get are
right-wing blow-hards and fundamentalist “Christian” stations. For a
little extra money, you can stream Sirius to your computer and their
music selection is pretty good. I think you can get Sirius online for
about $4 a month without the entire subscription and a receiver. But
if you’ve got a reciever, you can get a boom box to pllug it into
when you’re not in your car (I have one). Pandora.com is a great
streaming music station too and it’s free with only the occasional
brief commercial. You can set up a sort of profile for your tastes in
music, and you’d be surprised at some of the stuff you’ve never
heard of they come up with. Beats changing CD’s or listening to the
same MP3’s.

During the day, since I’m usually listening to the farthest left
wing stuff I can find, I use a blue tooth headset with a dongle
plugged into my computer while my speakers are dialed down. I can use
2 ear buds or a single bug. If I’m alone, I’m often listening to my
extremely eclectic music collection either on CD’s or ripped MP3 on
the hard drive, or a Sirius music channel like Alt Nation or maybe
Classical Country, so I go for stereo or, after hours, the stereo
speakers. But during the day, I’ll keep the tiny blue tooth receiver
in my shirt pocket and a single ear bud in, since I don’t necessarily
want to inflict my political tastes on my customers. The little
office supply store next door plays Limbaugh where all the customers
can hear it. Sad, really, but I spend money with them anyway.
They’re nice people, just confused by the media, which is a common
American phenomenon.

By the way, I don’t know how to do this but my daughters have
youtube accounts of some sort and they have collections of music from
the site that they can play continuously while their logged on. I
think you can do this with Facebook too, but I’m not that involved in
either site. Man, we never had choices like this when I was their
age. Yee Ha.

David L. Huffman

My studio radio is tuned to the NPR station. Classical works are on
air during the day, but my favorites are the evening jazz shows.
There’s something about the way jazz works progress that keeps me
thinking out of the box when a conundrum presents itself. Great
problem-solving music!

I avoid opera though - maybe I get wrapped up in the story line and
the performance. Too distracting.

Judy in Kansas, where the football game yesterday began with temps
in the mid-90s and ended with a cool north wind at least 30 degrees
lower. You could literally feel the temp dropping.

I can’t generally work without music. What I listen to depends both
on my mood, and on what I’m working on. Ranges from Gregorian
chants, American Indian music, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob James, Jimmy
Buffett, Coldplay, Nickelback, Enya, the Black Eyed Peas, Willie
Nelson, Steely Dan, Moody Blues, the Beatles, the Chieftans…
definitely eclectic!

Sometimes I want more “thoughtful” music to help me concentrate and
create, sometimes I need a kick in the pants music to get me moving!

Beth Wicker

I love listening to audiobooks while I work, especially when doing
the boring stuff. I get them from the library and know how long I
have been working by how many disks I go through in a day. This way
I keep my mind busy while my hands and eyes are busy playing.

Carina Rossner
carinarossner.com

Hey Kate, I like the eclectic mix!

I find myself trying to dance and or sing along to the music I like,
and nobody wants to hear my Elvis impressions! I love listening to
radio plays on BBC iplayer. I don’t watch television so I get my
drama fix this way. It also means I can go into my own world and
concentrate on the work I’m doing. I’ma big fanatic and am always
trying to persuade others to give it a go! Some people find it
difficult to follow a story and keep track of their work (it’s not
beneficial to studying or written work for example) But anything
that needs hard focus and concentration then the headphones come off
and I can’t even listen to music.

There are so many wonderful stories I would never have read, so many
authors I would never have heard of and so many actors I would never
have appreciated fully without listening to the radio.

In the words of Leadbelly “Turn your radio on” !

Laura in Brighton who is currently trying to wrestle the sofa back
from the dog

I must be one of the very few who downright refuse to be inundated
with any form of spoken word or music. This is while I am diamond
setting extremely expensive merchandise.

I sometimes even turn off the damned radio when driving a car. My
wife is totally annoyed with me on that point. I need my wits about
me when setting stones or concentrating on dealing with idiots who
think that they are driving a 2,000 lb. block of steel a.k.a.
“motor-vehicle”. Loud music, or a person speaking to me can be a
total distraction to my 5 senses! That is why my cell phone is turned
off while I am behind the wheel of the car.

I remember I drove all the way down from Toronto to Atlanta, Georgia
with out any form of radio interruption! I did survive that 2, 1/2
day drive…:slight_smile:

Gerry!

Leonid,

There is a difference between soft background music played in a
shop and headphones. Headphone impair goldsmith by isolating
him/her from auditory feedback. Processes like drilling, sawing,
filing, hammering, and even soldering, - your ears are you early
warning devices. 

Light head phones not glued to your ears do not block out the
auditory clues. By the time you can hear the errors it might just be
too late any ways.

2 or more table top radios on different stations and I might just
become homicidal.

jeffD
Demand Designs
Analog/Digital Modelling & Goldsmithing
http://www.gmavt.net/~jdemand

Everybody should take it easy and inhale. If someone feels that
headphones give degree of comfort, necessary to work better, it is
an indication that there is a management problem. It means that your
working environment is noisy and distracting. That is all. It is not
an indictment of a goldsmith, but of shop management.

Leonid Surpin

the U.S. government now does not allow pandora to be heard by non US
listeners…sigh, meaning by people in other countries.

If it’s music, then I listen to classic jazz (Jazz24 is my
preference). When it’s not music then I find that radio mysteries
keep my left brain engaged while my right brain is happily creating.
BBC’s Agatha Christie productions, Sam Spade, Phillip Marlow, and CBS
Radio Mystery Theater keep me sane.

Victoria Lansford

Wearing headphone is akin to working wearing mittens. 

I have hearing difficulties so there isn’t much for which I rely
upon my hearing. Popping my headphones on helps me focus a lot
better on work which requires using the pendant motor or the
polishing wheel especially. Several times I have had problems with
machinery/tools, from the sandblaster to the steamer and each time
I’ve been listening to one of my radio plays and each time I have
felt a difference in the running of the tool or I’ve seen a
difference immediately. If it were down to my hearing alone I doubt
any of those tools would still be in working order now!

I can understand problems in some workshops but each place is
different. I will spend hours at a time without talking to another
soul (like a lot of others I’d assume!) and there is no way I would
still have my sanity by the end of the day otherwise.

Each to their own. I’m not sure it’s fair to judge the management of
a works hop because some people wear headphones.

All the best,
Laura in Brighton

Hi Leonid,

There is a difference between soft background music played in a
shop and headphones. Headphone impair goldsmith by isolating
him/her from auditory feedback. 

I agree with you that there are certain processes where you
absolutely need your ears to hear what’s going on. However, we both
know that there are plenty of day-to-day processes that don’t require
listening. The mark of a responsible craftsman is to know which is
which, and to work accordingly. What matters is the quality of the
final product, not the soundtrack (or not) playing at the time.

A shop with headphones may well be the mark of not of management
issues, but a manager who knows well enough to leave their people
alone to get the job done, however they see best. Every shop I’ve
ever worked in has either had a radio going, or a rule about using
headphones to keep all of our musical tastes from driving everybody
else nuts.

Given the quantity and vehemence of the replies your bit about the
headphones (and by extension, shop music) generated, I’d have to say
that you were pretty seriously outvoted on this one. It may be a
huge problem for you, but looking at the replies, the lack of music
would be a far greater problem for far more of us.

Regards,
Brian.

I listen to folk music from the sixties

John
Rasmussen Gems & Jewelry LLC

This seems like a pretty good time to insert the link to my
soundclick sitewhere I have free mp3’s up for downlaod. Some solo
acoustic guitar, some electronica, and some noise.

DS
sheltech.net (work)

the U.S. government now does not allow pandora to be heard by non
US listeners...sigh, meaning by people in other countries. 

They should get JonDo if they want to listen.
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/170
It’s not free but they take Euros.

From Perth in sunny West Australia… when I’m really knuckling down
to something that requires 100% concentration, I have a selection of
didgeridoo/new world music on my iPod that totally removes me from
the rest of the world. There’s only me, the piece I’m working on and
the music. If I’m just puttering around (something I do a lot these
days) it’s a local community radio station that plays golden oldies
from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s. That dates me, doesn’t it?!

Jane Walker

Hi Laura,

Each to their own. I'm not sure it's fair to judge the management
of a work shop because some people wear headphones. 

Of course it’s unfair to judge, and it’s quite wrong. If the above
statement was an opinion or an observation, that’s fine.

In my experience I’ve seen many skilled jewellers don headphones,
and they work better for it, without the distraction of the music
their work suffers.

In my opinion it doesn’t matter, as long as the work gets done on
time and with skill.

The world is a pretty big place, what one person thinks, is not what
everybody thinks :wink:

Regards Charles A.

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

Given the quantity and vehemence of the replies your bit about the
headphones (and by extension, shop music) generated, I'd have to
say that you were pretty seriously outvoted on this one. 

I am absolutely sure that most of the shops do exactly as you
describe, and that is why I advice to be very selective in which job
offer to accept. The fact, as you put it, of been outvoted on this
issue is the very proof of rarity of shops appropriate for mentoring.

Leonid Surpin