Are you too stuck in a musical rut?

[Deleted member 15865]

I have a separate music room with some passably decent gear. However it’s very rare that I listen to music there. But I listen to music all the time on my iPad - through iPods sometimes and occasionally through the Bluetooth speakers.
I don’t think I am in a musical rut because I mostly listen to jazz and the good thing about this type of music is that your are always discovering newer sounds in an album you are hearing for the umpteenth time. Every hearing is like climbing up a learning curve.
Sometimes as a fellow member has mentioned above ,I dig out more information on an album by reading reviews on allmusic.com , pitchforkmedia and the like. This can get quite interesting. For example an early Rolling Stone review had panned Van Morrison’s Veedon Fleece but a more recent review ( relatively ) had a much more positive appraisal of that album. Thinking about what could have changed is very intriguing.
Also another thing that prevents me from getting into a musical rut is that I have a good set of musically inclined friends with whom we are exchanging information on new and old music. The “what I am listening to” and “jazz” threads in this forum are also excellent sources of discovering both old and new music.
Lastly I have two kids - a 12 year old son and a 17 year old daughter with whom I can share the joys of good music and help them discover genres and acts.
It’s interesting to see their responses at the opposite end of the spectrum sometimes.

True. What can feel like a ‘rut’ to someone could be a ‘mine’ for someone else. Or even for the same person, depending on the mood. Let’s just say there’s both an explorer and a miner in each one of us. And while the first derives joy from exploring newer vistas and lands, the second digs for more gemstones waiting to be discovered in the same place. In simpler words,‘breadth’ vs ‘depth’ seeking.

And as @Nikhil is pointing out, modern algorithm based apps are not just enabling, but even driving our ‘breadth’ seeking like never before. On the other hand, sites like Allmusic.com and other genre/artist specific blogs/sites as also books/interest groups can help us in our ‘depth’ seeking. Essentially, in the online world, there’s something for each one of us - if we look for it and make use of it.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Nice Topic and Contributions.
I grew up with MSV\KV Mahadevan\RH Burman Music, During teen It was ARR Only late Teen Gone into Ilayaraja Music Decade back when I moved to chennai and HIFIVISION introduced me to Real world of music(I had an understanding that MJ Is worlds best English Artist\Band) Started with Metal, Rock, Progressive and the Journey now halted in Western classical still Ilayaraja and Progressive rock (Yes its Pink Floyd) is with me traveling as company.

I some how couldnt get into Jazz (MIght be too smooth for my liking) or Rap (Easily heating the Brain :-0) or POP (No much engagement towards heart)

Recently I stuck with a Habbit of listening a Song\Album for 2\3 days non stop :-(, then move to over its kind of obsession

Final comments, You have to explore and I would Say Youtube sometime gift with some nice songs\albums I have identified many that ways.So listen what you like and keep exploring when you feel "Yeah I stuck Up".

 

[kapvin]

Reading through this I realize all of us are quite different in how we listen to music.

While I love to experiment with food all the time and prefer eating something i have not eaten before, with music I am different I zone out listening to Old Hindi ( Kishore/asha/lata/rafi and Hemant kumar) as my comfort place along with the classic rock ( Dire straits/PF etc) and some Pop

Again, I do not call it a rut since i dont mind listening to new albums eg Disturbed , Imagine Dragons, some western classical, jazz ... and of course some of the newer Hindi songs for extended periods. Prime Music and Spotify of late have been interesting and these do relax the mind but the first is my Comfort food (Oops) and relaxes my soul

Maybe I should rethink my food analogy

That was my realisation too, as I read these posts. and on reflection; there was a metamorphosis of sort in the way I listen to music (as separate from music discovery).

Those of you who are old enough to have been listening to music in the pre CD era, it was either Cassettes, or LP or open reels. mostly, we heard the entire album through (as the artist intended). and we purchased albums (not withstanding the occasional "Now thats what I call music" compilations).

With the advent of CDs ( i got my first player in 1989 - a CDP-M35 from Sony-- but for the next 2 years i could only afford to buy 3 CDs- thats another story) came guilt free skippability (even though could cue a track on an LP, at least I would play both sides in order to even the wear) and also the "best of" rips on Cassette (CD recording was the holy grail as at 525/- a pop, CDs were fairly unaffordable and we felt fairly guilt-free about borrowing CDs for that. that was the beginning of a slippery slope; encouraged by apple music, which allowed purchase ona per song basis; which culminating in not listening to albums at all. and you know what, it was strangely unsatisfying.

so what i do now: music discovery through recommendation; and then artist discovery by listening to the entire album.

Roon is wonderful in terms of giving an introduction to the artist, discography and influences and similar artists. and I am really enjoying my music.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

That was my realisation too, as I read these posts. and on reflection; there was a metamorphosis of sort in the way I listen to music (as separate from music discovery).

Those of you who are old enough to have been listening to music in the pre CD era, it was either Cassettes, or LP or open reels. mostly, we heard the entire album through (as the artist intended). and we purchased albums (not withstanding the occasional "Now thats what I call music" compilations).

With the advent of CDs ( i got my first player in 1989 - a CDP-M35 from Sony-- but for the next 2 years i could only afford to buy 3 CDs- thats another story) came guilt free skippability (even though could cue a track on an LP, at least I would play both sides in order to even the wear) and also the "best of" rips on Cassette (CD recording was the holy grail as at 525/- a pop, CDs were fairly unaffordable and we felt fairly guilt-free about borrowing CDs for that. that was the beginning of a slippery slope; encouraged by apple music, which allowed purchase ona per song basis; which culminating in not listening to albums at all. and you know what, it was strangely unsatisfying.

so what i do now: music discovery through recommendation; and then artist discovery by listening to the entire album.

Roon is wonderful in terms of giving an introduction to the artist, discography and influences and similar artists. and I am really enjoying my music.


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The motivation, context, coherence (thematic and/or musical), build up of an album can never be found in singles. That’s what makes an album more memorable than hit singles - like a Test match century compiled over 3-4 sessions as against a quick fire T20 dash.

Room is exceptionally good at discovering the way you do. I use Tidal and Allmusic.com in tandem to same effect.

 

[Ashenden]

My half-time score card

I had started listening to new genres/artists starting ~ 6 months back and had started the new music sessions in a toned down manner, 20% of time listening to new ones discovered through Spotify and 80% was from my existing collection.

The pre-conceived notions I had before going in:
- Listening to singles/playlists won't be as satisfying as listening to an album. Each album has a theme, so picking out songs from each would be like trying to read different books at the same time, in bits and pieces, instead of cover to cover (@SachinChavan had mentioned this in the previous post)
- I'll be back to my previous bunch of artists and the constant exploration can only be a passing fad, which will fade over time (this idea was cemented primarily due to the influence of ideas floating online, that we stop listening to new music/discovery after crossing ~33 years of age, citing nostalgia, changing priorities, career pressure etc)
- My judgement/taste in music is better than an algorithm generating suggestions

Gradually, my listening pattern started to evolve, and it increased to 50%-50% at one point. Fast forward to today, surprisingly 70% of the time I listen to music, it is those written/created by new artists discovered. Going forward, say a year from now, I don't know where this'll stand, but the trend is indicating a clear case for discovery. This also revealed a facet that we can change our listening tastes over time, irrespective of how late we start the game. All my pre-conceived ideas (the second one will take more time, to be tested) have been found to be wrong and this was an interesting learning, I still listen to full albums, but playlists are also great.
Now, all this would've been impossible without streaming services, discovery and ease of sampling new albums.

[I was having a chat yesterday with a dear friend from the forum @Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra, on how streaming will change the music scene, which triggered this post. These are not generalized observations, but restricted to my own experience]

 

[Deleted member 15865]

My half-time score card

I had started listening to new genres/artists starting ~ 6 months back and had started the new music sessions in a toned down manner, 20% of time listening to new ones discovered through Spotify and 80% was from my existing collection.

The pre-conceived notions I had before going in:
- Listening to singles/playlists won't be as satisfying as listening to an album. Each album has a theme, so picking out songs from each would be like trying to read different books at the same time, in bits and pieces, instead of cover to cover (@SachinChavan had mentioned this in the previous post)
- I'll be back to my previous bunch of artists and the constant exploration can only be a passing fad, which will fade over time (this idea was cemented primarily due to the influence of ideas floating online, that we stop listening to new music/discovery after crossing ~33 years of age, citing nostalgia, changing priorities, career pressure etc)
- My judgement/taste in music is better than an algorithm generating suggestions

Gradually, my listening pattern started to evolve, and it increased to 50%-50% at one point. Fast forward to today, surprisingly 70% of the time I listen to music, it is those written/created by new artists discovered. Going forward, say a year from now, I don't know where this'll stand, but the trend is indicating a clear case for discovery. This also revealed a facet that we can change our listening tastes over time, irrespective of how late we start the game. All my pre-conceived ideas (the second one will take more time, to be tested) have been found to be wrong and this was an interesting learning, I still listen to full albums, but playlists are also great.
Now, all this would've been impossible without streaming services, discovery and ease of sampling new albums.

[I was having a chat yesterday with a dear friend from the forum @Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra, on how streaming will change the music scene, which triggered this post. These are not generalized observations, but restricted to my own experience]

You said: “half-time scorecard“. I’d be interested in knowing where you find yourself at full-time - out of the older rut, or in a new rut! For me it’s been a cycle back to where it began - I am getting back to my favourite albums on CDs. The variety-seeking has run its course... well... some of it will continue, but as a much smaller side-stream than over the past year or so. I’ve stopped my Tidal subscription (primarily as a cost saving measure in the current context), and won’t renew the Apple Music once it ends. Free YouTube and Spotify are sufficient to explore any new music. Somewhere the current global crisis is also making me question myself, “will depth or breadth give me the best returns on time (and money) invested in life ahead?” The answer is pointing to depth... not just in music, but in books, films, gadgets, work as well as relationships. But that could just be me, or my age.

On the album vs playlist choice, I see a lot of new music is produced as singles, and not albums. So, the choice is shrinking slowly but surely. Even film music - it’s not uncommon to find three to four composers create different tracks in an OST. Even when it’s just one composer, very rarely do the songs together give feel of a cohesive album. Even popular apps like Spotify or Tidal are more ‘playlist’ oriented than ’album‘ oriented. For example there‘s no way for me to save ‘albums’ under folders in any of them (unlike earlier in iTunes), I can only save ‘tracks’ under playlists. I fear that art or listening to an album might be lost eventually. Just like we are (almost) losing the art or reading a book to blogs and tweets.

 

[square_wave]

I recently got myself a tidal subscription. These algorithm based suggestions are amazing. In the last 10 days, I have discovered and in some cases re-discovered atleast a dozen artists and many new albums which I would never have found if it were not for tidal. For example, I had totally forgotten about Jack DeJohnette after a brief encounter many years back. I stumbled upon a gem from a conversation with someone I know on a music FB group. One search and Tidal threw up a bunch of albums in which he played a pivotal role. After consistently playing a few albums I like, tidal started suggesting similar artists. So many discoveries ! Do explore outside what you have collected so far. Your existing collection could be limited.

 

[jai1611]

I recently got myself a tidal subscription. These algorithm based suggestions are amazing.

The algorithm on Spotify is way better. Was a revelation relative to Tidal. Try it out.

 

[square_wave]

The algorithm on Spotify is way better. Was a revelation relative to Tidal. Try it out.

Yes, but spotify modifies the sound. It sounds good in the car, mobile phone etc. It is not just the lossy sound, but something else. They do some kind of normalisation, equalisation etc..Tidal sounds way better on the main system.

 

[jai1611]

Yes, but spotify modifies the sound. It sounds good in the car, mobile phone etc. It is not just the lossy sound, but something else. They do some kind of normalisation, equalisation etc..Tidal sounds way better on the main system.

Agree, but the suggestion was for discovering new music. Sound quality is not Spotify’s forte.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Agree, but the suggestion was for discovering new music. Sound quality is not Spotify’s forte.

If you want best of both, try playing Tidal through Roon. You get the combination of Tidal’s audiophile SQ (almost) with Roon’s superlative discovery. Downsides: cost of Roon and you have to keep the server (PC typically) on while you use mobile/tablet to control.

 

[square_wave]

I use Tidal with my Auralic Aries. The lighting app has integrated Tidal. When you say " Roon's superlative discovery ", what does it mean ? What do you get to do more ?

 

[Deleted member 15865]

I use Tidal with my Auralic Aries. The lighting app has integrated Tidal. When you say " Roon's superlative discovery ", what does it mean ? What do you get to do more ?

Library management with Tidal integration, music exploration/discovery ability and metadata. If keen, you can read a more elaborate discussion in parts of the following thread where some other FMs have also talked about their Roon experience:

Cambridge CXN V2 - My new audiophile streamer and internet radio - detailed review

I don't know how much the official Roon Ready helps, but I was using Cxn V2 with Roon even before that. I could live with uncomfortable UI of stream magic instead of paying 120 USD yearly. I'm using Audirvana on PC for almost similar tasks of Playlist and Favorites creation, and Audirvana on PC...

www.hifivision.com