Maybe just not audio fan

[shootingstar]

Wandered over to Blog Radio website. It's like a whole world I just don't get into hardly at all: listening to talk radio.

I don't even throw on music from our own home collection. Honest, I forget. (We still have our CD collection. ) We don't have an iPod or any portable audio-disc player. I don't listen to audio-books.

But then I'm the person who doesn't always watch plane movies with dialogue during a flight.
I just don't like audio headsets and earbuds.

Several other reasons for all this. But am I rare? Seems like most people I know do something audio-oriented --listen to music often, etc.

NB: I enjoy sounds of nature, I tolerate alot of low murmur dialogue around me at different workplaces unless it's a critical report that I'm writing, etc.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

You are not alone.
In addition to my regular day job, I am a musician who performs in paying gigs on a fairly regular basis. My husband is as well, and we play music often with other musician friends.
However, when I'm not actually playing music, I prefer to not hear background noise/music/talk etc. I detest being forced to listen to other people's choices of music wherever I go.
We very seldom even play cds at home, unless we are trying to learn a new tune or something. We don't watch tv.

I like to hear the quiet and the naturally occurring sounds around me. It's becoming harder and harder to have that choice in our world.

I like to hear a cricket, the breeze, the pretty clink of silverware and low discussion in a restaurant, cat paws trotting across the wood floor, a blue jay in the yard, the clicking of my bike gears and the zing of changing my gear rings. The sound of my tires on asphalt or sand.
I find these subtle unpredictable environmental sounds to be very pleasing and they don't distract me from my own thoughts.

[SadieKate]

There's a time and place. When I used to drive a 52 mile commute, talk radio was fabulous. On long distance drives, you bet.

NPR Science Friday, Rachel Maddow, Fresh Air, etc. I miss the information I gained from those now that I work at home.

But I won't turn them on at home unless I'm cleaning house and need to entertain both sides of my brain. The vacuum alone isn't enough.

[kiwibug]

I love talk radio. I know there's not that many Canadians on here, but I absolutely love CBC radio one. I grew up listening to that or classical music. My mom is a total news junkie so we always had the radio on, at all times.

That said, I really really enjoy cycling on rural roads and hearing the wind, and the birds, and my own breath. Even if I thought it were safe, I don't think I'd listen to music while riding. And I also really love the quiet that I get when hiking or camping.

[shootingstar]

I love talk radio. I know there's not that many Canadians on here, but I absolutely love CBC radio one. I grew up listening to that or classical music. My mom is a total news junkie so we always had the radio on, at all times.

That said, I really really enjoy cycling on rural roads and hearing the wind, and the birds, and my own breath. Even if I thought it were safe, I don't think I'd listen to music while riding. And I also really love the quiet that I get when hiking or camping.

Not to suggest at all that those who love to listen to talk radio, music, don't like quiet /peace/stillness either. The only time I liked CBC radio, was whenever I heard snippets of classical music. The last time I heard CBC radio was listening to a radio audio clip of my partner being interviewed on cycling matters. That was over 8 months ago!

I seem to lack patience to listen to radio talk shows. But I can "look" at something for hrs....and get lost in thoughts. I actually get a headache when I listen to music for hrs. and hrs. It's like chewing gum for hrs. and hrs.....it actually wears me out, it doesn't soothe nor motivate me.

Bleeckergirl

I like to hear the quiet and the naturally occurring sounds around me. It's becoming harder and harder to have that choice in our world.

Interesting for you since you are musically inclined. (I'm not nor is my partner. Neither of us can play an instrument.) But yes, I do prefer naturally occurring sounds. And not hearing other people's music selections.

Sure the vaccum cleaner isn't harmonious , but it's not a jack-hammer. I don't need to have ear-bud music when I'm vaccuming or doing any household chore.

As for screaming kids...I dunno. I'm not about to test this, but for reasons of child's safety , I probably still wouldn't play music. I did grow up in a large family. As the eldest, hearing baby siblings scream away and often, wasn't foreign. Flipping on music for me, heightens stress in that type of environment.

I'm actually accustomed to hearing alot of human beings around me engaging in low noise activity the whole day. Moving away from home for first year, I realized how QUIET it was...and how noisy a large family was. THat noise was actually comforting to me. So I tried radio music, etc. to cover up the silence. I got a headache, couldn't concentrate on my studies, etc. Forget it.

Only exception is when I get around to painting, I may occasionally put on instrumental music. No lyrics. Music to pique my Muse, stay focused.

[Pedal Wench]

I'm a recording/sound engineer, and was a music major (Music Engineering, within the School of Music) in college. I can't imagine a life without music.

[GLC1968]

I had a friend in college that would put on music whenever she was doing anything that required brain power or else she couldn't think. Her reason was that there was always a song in her head...always. We used to test her on it and she never failed. I think that would be hard to live with...

I use classical or instrumental music when I've got long, difficult computations to do at work because it drowns out other distracting noise without distracting me. Same thing for working difficult homework problems when I was in school. I also use music for running on the treadmill or biking on the trainer because I like to drown out the equipment noise.

Other than that, I prefer silence or the sounds of the world...particularly when I am outside. And I cannot stand leaving the TV on for 'background noise'. It drives me insane!

I also don't do audio books except for long drives (they saved my sanity driving across the country with only my cat for conversation!). I read at more than double the speed of an audio book, so I would never choose one when I wasn't intentionally trying to kill time, either.

[lph]

Audio preference is funny, and very individual. Like I've mentioned before, I love listening to music when I bike. I've always been very driven by a beat, I love dancing, I've been to aerobics classes where I've almost tripped and fallen over because a nervous new instructor hadn't matched her choregraphy to the music So I really enjoy fast music when exercising, I feel so much stronger and more motivated. I listen to music for weight training or skiing for exercise too, anytime I need to feel energetic and carried away.

Conversely, I very rarely play music otherwise. Hiking or recreational skiing never. I've taken my mp3 player with me on the bus loads of times and ended up not using it at all. At home there's always someone talking and when not the silence is so blessed. If I happen to be so lucky that I'm home alone for any period of time I may put on some music after a while, but it takes a couple of days.. Even then it's usually classical, relaxed jazz or something like that.

I just have great trouble filtering music out. It distracts me so that I can't use it as a pleasant background. And I go nuts in homes where the tv is on, because I'm incapable of not watching it. One thing I can do - when working with numbers at work, routine stuff creating spreadsheets, I can listen to music. But not while writing, it interferes completely with those thought processes. Funny.

The only time I really listen to the radio is when driving a car. Never caught onto audio books, I have trouble picking up on meaning when I can only hear someone, not see them. So I dislike talking on the phone except for practical purposes.

[Crankin]

I am like you, Shootingstar. I *never* watch the movie on a plane. I read. Even on trips to Europe. I hate audio stimulation. I quit using my I Pod when running or walking, to focus on the environment. I couldn't do work with any music or other outside stimulation.
Not much of a music person, movie person, concerts, etc. I do play the radio in the car. That's it. Never put music on at home, unless I am on the trainer, but even then, I usually watch the news on TV.
I know I am different than most, but, who cares? I liked all of the above when I was a teen, into my twenties, but then I sort of lost interest. It seems like if I am not outdoors riding, hiking, x country skiing, etc,. then I am eating, just hanging out with friends or family, reading, or doing something work related. I do have a theatre subscription, which is 7 plays a year and while I love the plays mostly, sometimes I get irritated at the people in the audience, as in it's just all too much over stimulation for me. I always can't wait getting back to my nice quiet house in the woods.

[PamNY]

I can't imagine life without music; few thing bring me such joy and such an opportunity for lifelong learning, emotional rescue and bonds with other people.

Earlier today I was listening to the first "Will the Circle be Unbroken Album" and enjoyed remembering my grandma (to my 19-year-old surprise) singing along with some of the songs (on a Dirt Band album!?!). After my mom had a stroke, her speech was limited but she could still sing, which led to some precious moments during a nightmare period of life.

I admit I'm puzzled by the original question -- what on earth does watching a movie on a plane have to do with, say, Jessye Norman singing Mahler's Second Symphony? And ditto for talk radio? Ick, ick, ick.

Lumping anything "audio" into a single category -- as this discussion seems to be doing -- is so weird I have trouble responding to it.

I hate the sounds of other people in the house with me, but I have yet to find a way to stop that.

[shootingstar]

Earlier today I was listening to the first "Will the Circle be Unbroken Album" and enjoyed remembering my grandma (to my 19-year-old surprise) singing along with some of the songs (on a Dirt Band album!?!). After my mom had a stroke, her speech was limited but she could still sing, which led to some precious moments during a nightmare period of life.

I admit I'm puzzled by the original question -- what on earth does watching a movie on a plane have to do with, say, Jessye Norman singing Mahler's Second Symphony? And ditto for talk radio? Ick, ick, ick.

Lumping anything "audio" into a single category -- as this discussion seems to be doing -- is so weird I have trouble responding to it.

I hate the sounds of other people in the house with me, but I have yet to find a way to stop that.

Maybe the topic has evolved into discovering our preferences for type of background sounds over a sustained time period and our level of concentration on whatever task at hand vs. listening for pure pleasure.

What started me on this topic..is there is a audio clip of an interview for a person I know who gave his spin on effect of Olympics on Vancouver's transportation plans then and now and public perception. I wanted to listen to it but it meant hearing other previous speakers. Audio clip doesn't provide any screen ability to fast forward to desired clip.

I have no patience to slog through half hr. or more of other people's radio dialogue on topics that don't interest me.

What would be more drastic to me..is life without colour, without sight.

[ny biker]

Music is wonderful and my life is better for it.

As a control freak, I do not listen to the radio. I only listen to cds or music copied to my mp3 player.

[PamNY]

As a control freak, I do not listen to the radio. I only listen to cds or music copied to my mp3 player.

That's interesting. I find with some types of music I like radio surprises (satellite radio, that is) and others I don't.

[OakLeaf]

Music takes nearly all my attention.

I can't listen to music and read or work. I won't listen to music and run, bicycle, or drive except for long freeway stretches with low traffic, good road conditions and good weather. Too distracting.

I like to have music when I cook, but I don't have speakers that can be heard over the kitchen exhaust fan, and I don't like having earbuds in and not being able to hear other things.

I like to have music in airports, on planes or long train trips, or if I have to wait in a waiting room.

I really enjoy concerts.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I didn't get the impression that anyone was talking about a life without music. I see the thread as more about what kinds of sounds or music we like to have going on, or not going on, while we go about our day doing different activities.