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Do you listen to instrumentals when reading? Do words distract you or no?
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| Akridrot |
It's difficult to appreciate the lyrics in a song if I'm reading. To put it in a succinct way: If I wanted to listen to music with words while reading something, I'd have to read the lyrics later if I hoped to have any chance of retaining the words in front of me.
Circular reading happens when lyrics are in the background. I read a paragraph, get distracted by the lyrics (or the lyrics insert themselves into whatever I'm reading and mess me up) and have to read it again.
The problem is that I like to rate my songs and organize them neatly for future reference. I hate when I can't remember or go back to a song or part of a song that I really, really enjoyed.
Instrumental songs are great, but unfortunately, it's harder to keep track of them. No words to remember. If it's an album, I can manually jot down a * rating on an index card for each song as I listen to it and maybe a description of how I feel about it, like smooth, airy and ethereal or jarring and distorted... but with abbreviations or quick symbols (like a line for smooth, jags for harsh, square for electronic). It's an efficient no-technology solution for organizing and rating music while on the go or away from your home/custom environment. :D .
However, if I'm playing with shuffle for multiple albums and collections, there's way more work to do. Sometimes I prefer shuffle, so this is a goddamn problem. Now you have to keep titles in mind. Ugh.
However, I devised a system of just randomly naming tracks (automatically) with an A-Z/a-z/0-9 system. One digit can represent 62 tracks (a=1, A=27, 9=52) and two digits can represent 3,844 tracks at a glance (a=1, 99=3,844), which is more than enough for solving the problem of dealing with duplicate Track 01s, ambiguous file names, or long file names when you're listening on the go. All names are unique and nearly 4,000 different songs can be expressed within 2 digits, which is super efficient when you want to jot down names quickly without interrupting your reading or other tasks. It is extremely useful for speed and efficiency. It can be automated and done in seconds, keeping the original file info in the file, and is reversible when you're done and want to organize, so it's not tedious to implement or anything.
Basically, this thread is about where your reading habits and music listening habits converge and any idiosyncrasies you might have. I'm a HUGE ratings and description nut, while others don't care. So I came up with a whole system for being able to rate my songs no matter what at any time while reading so that I can have them better organized when I get home. I want to be able to read more and listen to more music at the same time and there isn't enough time in the world to do all that, so I have to do both at once. |
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| SMC |
| While reading or working i listen to drone and minimalist ambient, music that fills up the void but doesn't require my full attention. Fear Falls Burning, Windy & Carl, Bass Communion, Loscil and the quieter works of Steve Roach are just a few examples of stuff that works well. |
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| SYSTEM-J |
As long as it's instrumental, I'm fine. If I'm working or concentrating particularly hard (as when I read Ulysses) I'll make sure it's ambient music. Generally though, I like to select background music that fits the theme of what I'm reading.
But yeah, lyrics introduce another voice into your head which competes with the written one. They make reading hard work. |
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| Paradox Lost |
| In terms of both instrumental and lyrical content, I find concentration difficult for the first several minutes (more so with lyrical material), though it gradually fades into the background ambience the more involved I get into the reading (assuming I don't just get discouraged and give up before that happens). |
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| Subtle |
| I never listens to lyrics so it doesnt matter to me. :p |
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| montana |
| both things can be distracting to be honest and i tend to listen deeper to instrumentals. i react more to drums & basslines than a vocal really. vocal music can work as background music but you have to managed to phase it out or just listen to something fluffy. |
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| sljiva |
| I don't listen to music while I'm reading, nor do I do anything while I'm listening to music. I like to fully experience everything, and I devote my full attention to everything I do. I'm even going as far as to give up doing any activity if I'm too tired. For example, if I'm going to listen to some album later today, and I'm tired, I'll rather take an hour/half an hour long nap and then listen to it fully concentrated. I like to memorize as much as I can from everything I do, and to be able to recall that content in a week or a month is more important than to consume more and remember less. So, it's all about the quality, not the quantity with me. |
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| MrJiveBoJingles |
| quote: | Originally posted by sljiva
I don't listen to music while I'm reading, nor do I do anything while I'm listening to music. I like to fully experience everything, and I devote my full attention to everything I do. I'm even going as far as to give up doing any activity if I'm too tired. For example, if I'm going to listen to some album later today, and I'm tired, I'll rather take an hour/half an hour long nap and then listen to it fully concentrated. I like to memorize as much as I can from everything I do, and to be able to recall that content in a week or a month is more important than to consume more and remember less. So, it's all about the quality, not the quantity with me. |
This is a good philosophy, and one I've tried to implement in my own life -- doing one thing at a time and getting the full intensity of it. Sometimes I feel like less complex music is actually better experienced as "background," though. If I try listening too closely to something really simple and repetitive, it tends to annoy me. |
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| SMC |
| quote: | Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles
This is a good philosophy, and one I've tried to implement in my own life -- doing one thing at a time and getting the full intensity of it. Sometimes I feel like less complex music is actually better experienced as "background," though. If I try listening too closely to something really simple and repetitive, it tends to annoy me. |
Exactly, all music doesn't require the same amount of attention. I've also noted that even when listening to more complex music one can benefit from stepping back a bit and just letting the music flow into a relaxed mind. Being too concentrated in an attempt to dissect and understand the music can sometimes have the opposite result and one fails to truly penetrate and absorb the music. The music still gets processed on some level anyway. |
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| weymouth |
I only used to listen to music when reading when I was in school because it helped me stay awake. When reading for pleasure now I can't listen to music and read at the same time. I still like to work and listen to music though.
So basically if I feel like what I am doing is work then I like music. |
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| Akridrot |
| quote: | Originally posted by SMC
Exactly, all music doesn't require the same amount of attention. I've also noted that even when listening to more complex music one can benefit from stepping back a bit and just letting the music flow into a relaxed mind. Being too concentrated in an attempt to dissect and understand the music can sometimes have the opposite result and one fails to truly penetrate and absorb the music. The music still gets processed on some level anyway. |
I've always wondered if it were possible to come up with a simplified but efficient method of notation for sounds or effects as opposed to simple notes and chords. Some kind of ideogram that could be used to search for nearly any kind of song or sound whether it has lyrics or not. |
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| nefardec |
for me there is generally as much meaning tucked between the strains of instrumental music as any lyrical/narrative music, so i tend to not be able to concentrate on anything else if i am listening to music. also, i tend not to listen to the meaning of 'words' of lyrical music, but rather the inflection and the 'lyricism' or phrasing, which is more interesting and expressive to me than mere words
when i listen to music i generally don't do anything else, i just sit there and listen to it deeply
i prefer to work in silence |
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