[Tbadder1]

Do you know what I mean?  Shouldn't this circle be absolutely loaded with views and posts?  Is our musical taste so narrow or is musical taste so contentious that people aren't as involved with the music circle as they should be?  Do we suffer from equipmentitis?  Any thoughts?

[Carlman]

I think that's because Music is the common denominator, the one fixed variable we have.  The room, the gear, the listener can all change.  But, your Norah Jones CD is just like mine.

[SWG255]

This seems to be a common audiophile trait to me. We go on and on describing this or that piece of gear, often costing thousands of dollars and then turn around and brag about the music we picked up for a couple of bucks! I appreciate a good deal as much as the next guy, hence my post yesterday reviewing an inexpensive hum elimination box, but I think there is something wrong if we spend more money on the gear than on the music.

How many AC'ers can show they have more money invested in the music than in the equipment? I know I do., but since my RM40s were pusing $6,000 it's now a close thing...

I sure appreciate it when people discuss their music here, I'm always looking for new music to enjoy, whether it be a new artist or a new sub-genre to try.

So, let's talk a little more about the music, at least, let's have more regular entries in the "Latest Music You've Picked Up" thread.

[Daniel]

Is our musical taste so narrow or is musical taste so contentious that people aren't as involved with the music circle as they should be?  Do we suffer from equipmentitis?  Any thoughts?

Those are old  questions but I am ready to have them dusted off and posed again.

I have always enjoyed the stereotype of an audiophile as an equipment obsessed nerd with a dozen CDs and LPs to his name, including 2 versions of the 1812 overture with cannons, 3 or 4 pink noise generators, and a copy of Steve Winwood's Back in the High Life.  The absurdity is delicious.  I must say though, I'm still waiting to meet an audiophile who comes close to the stereotype.  Members of the NY Audio Rave have wildly diverse tastes and enormous music collections.  Its a blast sharing music in our gatherings and its clear that a passion for music accompanies the passion for sound.

I have many sources to learn about music, including the radio, clubs, professional music reviews and the internet, where I can read and listen to samples at the same time.  There are few places where I can learn about arcane audiophile gear and none so friendly as AC.  I care far less what our most sophisticated contributors have to say about music than what they have to say about the gear they test so obsessively.  Frankly I have more reliable sources for commentary on music.

That all said, might there be a grain of truth in the stereotype?  I think yes.  Time and money spent buying, tweaking and testing gear is time not spent listening to music for its own sake.  Some of my musically oriented friends are perfectly happy listening to 3rd generation MP3's.  They point out and comment on subtleties of interplay between musicians that I am incapable of detecting without guidance.  On the other hand, I instantly hear differences in soundscape between different masterings that they don't appreciate until I point them out.  We have different esthetics.  I focus on sound when I listen to music, simple as that.  My ears are better trained in that respect, perhaps, than they are for other musical elements.

As a side question, is there anybody else out there who listens to music all the time but never hears the lyrics?  I enjoy the voice but the words flow by without registering at all.

[SWG255]

I have a friend who also is an avid non-professional musician, audiophile, tweaker et al who doesn't process lyrics in most recordings. Until recently he rarely bought vocal music at all. Then he made some changes in his system, and now he enjoys discs like James Taylor's "October Road". He's still more of an instrumental fan than vocal, but I still think the lyrics are secondary and often unnoticed for him.

I on the other hand, started out listening to instrumental music, classical and what today might be called lounge music, but in the late 60's was known as either easy listening or big band music. Then I discovered the joys of early Joni Mitchell and her generation of singer/songwriters/folk musicians, and the lyrics became central to my music appreciation until I discovered serious classical music and jazz in college, where i could hear it live as often as on Lp. Now my music collection is balanced about 60% "vocal oriented" music and 40% instrumental.

[JoshK]

As a side question, is there anybody else out there who listens to music all the time but never hears the lyrics? I enjoy the voice but the words flow by without registering at all.

My wife makes fun on me all the time about not knowing the words to songs.   Honestly, I rarely pay attention to the words, it is the music and the voice as an instrument that I enjoy.   Unless of course the words are pathetically shallow and easy to understand and then they tend to irritate me.

[Rob Babcock]

Well, I'm at a point where I don't change gear much (not that I don't want to upgrade, just can't really do it yet), and my "software" buying has scaled back a little bit.  It seems like there's be a flood of interesting releases followed by spells where nothing new interests me.  I've got about $10k wrapped up in my system but about $20k-$25k in media (CDs, DVD-A, SACD & DVDs).

I've been dabbling a bit in jazz lately, exploring some of the suggestions made by some helpful & knowledgeable jazz fans here at AC.  The Music Circle has been very useful to me.

[orthobiz]

Excellent Starter Test
For those who are unsure about their lyrical abilities:

On the ?second? Beatles Anthology, there's an
Eleanor Rigby track that was the instrumental-only
track delivered before the vocal were added.

Put it on, and sing along!

If you can do it, give yourself a pat on the back. Me, I do OK for
a few words and then it degenerates to
"E.R., lives on the floor by the door, who is it for..." or some such
nonsense.

Biz

[TheChairGuy]

As a side question, is there anybody else out there who listens to music all the time but never hears the lyrics? I enjoy the voice but the words flow by without registering at all.

My wife makes fun on me all the time about not knowing the words to songs.   Honestly, I rarely pay attention to the words, it is the music and the voice as an instrument that I enjoy.   Unless of course the words are pathetically shallow and easy to understand and then they tend to irritate me.

Josh/Daniel,

I am of the non-hearing lyrics club, too.  The instruments and tone carry all the emotion for me, the words I rarely remember/register.

My wife, too, can't understand how I listen to all that music yet never understand the words that accompany it.  The human voice just sounds like another instrument to me to enjoy or not.

The only time that words register to me is when there are liner notes I can can read them thru once beforehand.  Then, and only then, do I get the poetic motives behind the music. Poor Sting really wastes his words on me, most times.

Is this a dude thing?  

[rosconey]

WOW for years i thought i was the only person in the world who didnt harp over the lyrics and listened to the overall presence-
mention songs and people would say what are the words ,  

i have too admit that my system is getting better and better and while listening for differences in stuff added to the sytem i pay more attention now than ever.

[Tonto Yoder]

Do you know what I mean?  Shouldn't this circle be absolutely loaded with views and posts?  Is our musical taste so narrow or is musical taste so contentious that people aren't as involved with the music circle as they should be?  Do we suffer from equipmentitis?  Any thoughts?

I agree wholeheartedly and have posted elsewhere to the same effect.
Sure, musical taste is somewhat contentious---I'm not going to listen to guys who say "Metallica Rules!"  but if Gordy mentions the band Vas and Dead Can Dance, I'll suggest Trial of the Bow as similar.  The Metallica guys undoubtedly won't listen to me, but hopefully they won't call me a wimpy new-ager/world music/Pinko-fascist diaper-sucker.

With radio being such a cesspool generally, I always appreciate someone mentioning a new band that I should check out.

[cjr888]

How many AC'ers can show they have more money invested in the music than in ...

Definitely can say that here.  Media investment is much higher than equipment value.  Had a horrible music buying addiction years prior to equipment buying.  First exposure to something special changed that, and after that equipment never replaced media -- I just had two problems to contend with.

As for talking about it -- Tonto brought this up in a previous thread, and I think most of the inactivity is innocent.  Equipment is easy to discuss because you have so much to compare to productA and productB.  Comparisons lead to discussions (and disputes), and then having the many factors of system matching, different rooms, and different tastes, you have the recipe for many equipment forums.  Speaking about differences in bass or tuning or soundstage or electronics or the difference between A and B is a bit more tangible, and a bit easier to speak about than music, which is more emotional -- easy to put out a recommendation for an album, and some initial comments, but discussions often fizzle out.  Works for genre and band specific forums as you have more directed discussions.  Discussing the difference in shows of the same band, or performances of classical music, or history, etc.

People who have a minimal amount of music and much more equipment aren't necessarily in the negative, as some people find equipment through loving music, and others find music through finding equipment.  The timing of when you were first exposed and interested in either makes a big difference.  I can only hope that those who bought the big rig and the little collection find an interest in trying to seek out different music through having a wonderful playback system on their hands.  Hopefully one thing leads to another.

Some people I know have loved music as long as they can remember, some found a love later in life, and some people I know just don't get it in general.  Had found an interest in HiFi earlier, I think I just would have ended up with three times more music at home.

[Daniel]

Poor Sting really wastes his words on me, most times.

Is this a dude thing?

Dude!  Definitely!

[Rob Babcock]

The lyrics are very important to me.  Sure, I like the music, but lyrics can make or break a song.  Lots of bands have good sounding music if you don't listen too closely to the words, but to me the great bands combine great music with memorable lyrics.  A couple of my favorites that spring immediately to mind along these lines are XTC & Liz Phair (exluding her recent dud of a CD!   )- really witty and cool lyrics combined with music with tons of hook.

[nathanm]

Obviously audiophiles are more into gear than music, I mean it's 'lover of audio' moreso than 'lover of music'.  Yes they love both sides, but with a bias towards gear.

As far as lyrics are concerned I am a lyric freak.  Lyical themes etc. are always in the back of my mind during the course of everyday life.  Sometimes you might not get the gist right away just by listening but reading the words can often open up new interpretations.  The only time I don't pay attention to them is if they are phonetic (Dead Can Dance, Love Spirals Downward) or obfuscated (some death metal), but if there's a lyric sheet I always have to read it. Plus I admire anyone who can make intelligent words fit into a melody line within a song.  It's not very easy to do!

[Rob Babcock]

Leave it to the great bands like Pile Driver to work "puke" and "sewer" seemlessly into a song.  Now that couldn't have been easy!  

[Tbadder1]

This talk about lyrics really hits home.  I love music, but was simply awful at hearing the lyrics, but now with the improvement in my gear the lyrics have been jumping out for nigh on 3 years now.  Having said that I'm sitting here listening to the Lennon box set of outakes/alternative/demo takes and the lyrics are so front and center, the music so rawly simple and pure, and I'm getting more out of this experience than when the full production is added.  I think producers are really evil midgets bent on destroying the true emotional affect of music just because they can't get girls!  Take that you evil bastards!

[Tyson]

Hmm, I have a bit over $10k in gear, but I have about 3000 CD's, so I think it balances out in favor of music.

[PhilNYC]

Regarding lyrics...for some reason, the way I listen to music has changed.  When I was younger (teenage and before), I always knew the lyrics.  My wife, who grew up overseas, is constantly amazed when we have a classic rock station on the radio how often I can sing along and know all the words of songs from the 60s and 70s.  But after some point in the mid-80s, it just stops...for some reason, I just stopped paying attention to the words.  Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I get more embarrassed singing in public as I've gotten older?  

[MaxCast]

Huh, I though I was the only one that can listen to music and then ask myself...what is this song really about

I hate it when I really enjoy a singer and then they start opening their traps about politics.  Especially actors....but we won't go there.

I find it hard to listen coherently while watching a game, reading or surfing AC which I love to do all at the same time  

When I do listen and relax I often wake up three discs later.

Lyrics were much more important to me when I listened to Rock when I was younger before I upgraded my system.

If I like a certian cd and you don't, that's it.  When I like a certian piece of gear and you don't we blame synergy

I find it easy to tell myself I will like a cd if you read about it in commercial print.  Obviously it is better to listen to samples on the net.  When we talk about new music here at AC it would be good to include a link or at least talk about similar Cd's.


TTFN