The Process Project : NCSU

When David Carson spoke here last semester, one thing that stuck out to me from his presentation is that he said that he works best when he listens to music that he loves. I love him, and his stuff so he must be doing something right

so whenever I work, I try to listen to music. especially during times of desperation inspiration.
so to answer Maggie's question, in the past couple hours I have listened to Pink Floyd, Frou Frou, Aqualung, Coldplay, the Thrills, the Walkmen, Head Automatica, Pearl Jam, Relient K, the Spill Canvas, and Phantom Planet

(a warning....I am at work and I have nothing else to do so I may ramble for quite some time)

What I am listening to doesn't really connect to my actual pieces of work in studio....but it does influence my productivity level.

95% of the time I listen to my itunes playlist on shuffle. I probably have entirely too much music on my computer, we're talking 2,600ish songs, so I never know what is going to pop up next. Its cool to constantly have such a mix of genres and styles cycling around but sometimes it is distracting because I skip songs I'm not feeling. It is the biggest distraction to my work if I am playing my music aloud. I am way more discriminating and censoring, well, because I want to "look cool" and I don't want to play things I know the other kids probably won't like.

I use my discman when I need to be mobile and work in studio so that I don't get caught in the other people are listening trap. Oh if only I had an ipod.....

I wish more people played music outloud, just so that I could be exposed to new music. I know we all have extremely varied playlists and tastes and I love hearing stuff I haven't heard of. I'm extremely open to everything....so anyone feel free. I know headphones help to shut out the rest of the room and focus but sometimes I begin to feel stale and isolated. Anyone else?

A specific answer the question at hand---> the cd's I listened to last week

Joss Stone
Portishead
G. Love and Special Sauce
The Clash

"Frou Frou, Aqualung, the Thrills, the Walkmen, Head Automatica, Relient K, the Spill Canvas, and Phantom Planet"

I have Never heard of any of these.......
there is so much I could learn from everyone.
I guess that is why I would enjoy a more shared music listening experience from time to time because it is way easier to get a sample here and there without worrying about a file exchange.
I know I could easily listen to people's playlists on the network but I get way more distracted shuffling through it than if it is just being played and I am not in control of it.

Well, on the topic of music, which is very appropriate, we ended up going to the bright eyes concert last night. And to our surprise we saw the one and only Maggie Fost. It was an interesting concert mainly because we did not know a single song, but enjoyable none the less. We thought it was fun because it was something we would not have usually gone to see thanks to Amanda's father. The opening band was more enjoyable in our opinion. Also on the topic of music, we were discussing how nice it is to have music playing in studio instead of having everyone secluded behind their headphones. That way we can have conversations while working.

Since we already began talking about listening to music out loud let me clarify. There are times when I love shutting everyone out and concentrating on what has to be done, but listening to music out loud is the perfect cure for a long night in studio. It makes everything seem a bit less serious and it gives you more of an opportuinity to talk to people about their projects if you don't have to tap them on the shoulder. And besides, if its something you can sing along to it just makes everyone happier.

My one favorite thing to do before sitting down to a project or a paper is to trade cd's with someone. It's so much better than listening to it off of someone else's list because its illegally YOURS. And it helps if it's something sort of obscure that you haven't had a chance to hear yet - that way you can get really excited about it and in turn get really excited about working.

what i listen to the most:
the cure, ben kweller, blur, flaming lips, sigur ros

I am really easily distracted by sound while I'm working which is why I almost always do my work at home. If people are talking that is the worst because I want to talk to them instead of focusing. I love music, but unless it's inspiring a project directly I can't listen to it while I'm thinking through problems. Only when I'm working on the production or something mundane that doesn't really require my brain.

Lately I've really been loving the soundtrack to Garden State and Details by Frou Frou. I'm also listening to Dashboard Confessional, Deluxe from Better than Ezra and of course, Pearl Jam, which I never get sick of. Probably they influence me directly, since the sound puts me in a particular mood and then if I go see the square or something, it's still affecting me.

ha ha I meant indirectly there

You guys might enjoy audioscrobbler and its sistership, last.fm. You can download a plugin from audioscrobbler that tracks what you listen to in itunes and then, through the genius of collaborative filtering (e.g. how Amazon shows you what other who bought what you bought like...) you can listen to "profile radio" which mixes in new stuff based on who likes similiar bands to you. As you add friends, what they are listening to affects your profile radio.

Beware, though, you can become consumed with training your scrobbler. Don't say I didn't warn you.

In agreement to all the comments posted above. I like silence, I like music out loud in studio, in my earphones. I like to listen to other people's play lists but can sometime get annoyed when I have to keep switching the song if I dont like it. When I need to think a lot, focus, or get something done, the music needs to be soothing, classical, ambient, something with little to no words or words that I cant understand like sometimes in Enya. UMMMMM, however, sometimes that type of music can make me fall asleep and work slow. So I put on a playlist that have my favorite songs on it. I also have been listening to Garden State Soundtrack. It puts me in the zone. I think if I was creating something or just making for no intended purpose, my work may reflect the type of music im listening to. But in general, i listen to a range of music and am open to anything. Well, Im not really into hard heavy metal, bluegrass, and hardcore ghetto rap. But more subdued versions of these are fine.

I agree that music gets in the way when youre in control, so playlists or others' music works for me. Anyway if it's silent, i likely have a song in my head so loud i forget im not listening to it. Um, but im not crazy. The tunes influence me only insofar as they alter my mood for better or worse but are mainly a happy distraction from, well, other distractions.
In any case, present playlist includes Red army choir, Moulin rouge, the Dears, Muse, Tsuneo imahori, and a lot of Yellowcard.

recommendations!:
music can definitely facilitate thinking if youre in the right mood (sitting around drawing + listening to music is the most theraputic thing you can do!)
if im trying to enjoy all the naturey goodness of the square its really nice and clichéed to have something easy and folky like Sparklehorse or DevandraBanhart..ooh, or especially Animal Collective: free-form songary and animalnoises =D
alwaysdependable rock gods like thedoors and the velvet underground greatly encourage grooviness in thinking and recently ive just been on an oldschool altrock kick (especially good if youre just working away at your computer without a care in the world!) with the pixies and pavement (who just released a deluxe edition of their second album ;-P ) with obligatory songs from kurt (AND courtney, dammit) thrown in for good measure. um...plus nick drake, david viner, imarobot, theunicorns, adamgreen, johnny, leonard and a little rage round a semi-rounded productive listening atmosphere (i swear! just look at me...)
matching your mood to what youre doing to what youre listening to can really get you in the zone (um..either that or complete silence) which i like cuz im o so rarely in that zone..
ummm...hehe ok so that was fun. next?

there's this book.... "perks of being a wallflower" (and it's amazing, so i recommend it if you have not read it)....but in it, the main character refers to a Smiths song "Asleep" as making him feeling infinite. i love that. i love searching for music that makes me feel infinite. because then i have the POWER to do anything. even design. it's like a hit. when i hear music i just want to make, make, make and do, do, do.

maggie, i love the scrobbler thing

music plays the role of a filter when i work. i like repetative, monotonous, ambient beats to wash away the noise around me. or whatever, i technically listen to everything, i just prefer not to listen whole heartedly, if you know what i mean. the gesture of putting on my headphones is another issue. it doesn't even matter if iTunes is on! as long as my ears are covered, the illusion of silence remains and i keep working like a mo-fo!

i listen to 2raumwohnung, AdamGreen, Dimitri from Paris, Beck, Sinatra, Peaches, PizzicatoFive, PuffyAmiYumi and.... William Shatner.

you get the picture.

Music... or just what are we listening to when we work? Well, work for my is very varied. It really depends on what type of work I am doing and how much thinking, reacting, designing and decisions are happening. I'm with Ali on the noise/sound/distraction issue. I have a very hard time working when people have music on (without headphones). There is something so specific about the combination of what I want to hear and what will pop up unplanned through gigs of music.

I'm all over the place depending on the amount of attention that can focus with. A lot of times I have to have purely instrumental— violin, piano, etc. There can't be any words. OR I like to download news articles and listen to what's new in open heart surgery, etc.

As far as bands, it has been a while since I got "stuck" on listening to any band that much. My boyfriend, an extreme music enthusiast, sends me new songs and CDs daily and keeps it really fresh.

Currently listening to: rogue wave.... among others. Oh, and I'm really into oldies, like 1930ish-1970s.

Music for me is really a mood setter. I usually find myself getting stuck in a music funk listening to one thing over and over and over untill I find another artist to take over. I don't really have a favorite artist but I am a fan of the classic rock genre. As far as listening to music in studio. I like to keep the headphones off and the speakers on, but I keep it down in the corner and hope no one gets annoyed. I agree that it is good to have some time to shut yourself off from everyone. So just yell at me if it gets to be too much.

Aaaahhhh so I have been loving anything that makes me think of a roadtrip, that freedom feeling of being on the open highway with a working engine and the window (or the top) down and the wind in your hair. (may be senioritis) Like U2 "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and to add to that I think a good strong dose of the 80s often does me good in general. I like Cocteau Twins lately, isn't it nice when you find something you never heard when it was new?

If given a blank CD, I will return it loaded. (Thanks to Diana for The Dears!)