Listening sessions - Do you plan the content?

I am as variable as the day!

Sometime a piece of music gets into my head at work, and I have to make a proper listen to it to get rid of it! Then will follow a completely random time where what follows next is apt to be related but not predicted.

On another day I will actually have a mind to listen to a particular sequence of pieces, which often then happens, but I may change tack and deviate from the loose plan. If my attention fades, I stop!

Choosing which recording of a piece I want to listen is usually rather random, and based on what the mood dictates. Sometimes certain performances seem apt to the mood. Sometimes I even change performance of a particular piece at a good moment ...

One of the things I like about the radio, especially of live relays, is the very fact that the actual performances are often completely unpredictable! Sometimes ... a revealtion!

My favourite listening time is Sundauy afternoon, and usually this really is highly structured, even down to the choice of performances, and often reflects an approach to building up a popssible concert programme from one specific artist in music at which they excelled. Some idealised concert I would like to have been able to attend.

George

Something like the "what are you listening to?" thread or some thing on the radio whilst at work may prompt a selection. Mind you these days I usually forget in about 10 mins. If nothing has "popped in to mind" I'll just look over the racks or scan my music collector for inspiration.
It varies but I tend to listen seriously mostly.

You know how it is,A little trigger in your head says I havent listened to such& such in a long time! then it's hard to leave the music room !I keep putting on album after album ,at the weekends it's sometimes gone 2 before I can tear myself away!

A fine thought provoking thread Darren.

For me I suppose there are two types of listening session on my main system - planned & spontaneous.

I work from home, so most of the time my room is accessible, but I don't normally listen when my children are at home & awake. I like to submerge myself in the music, so the "Daddy can you ..." situation is best avoided IME.

There are certain times when wife &/or kids are are regularly out (music lessons, etc),
so I know I've got a certain amount of time for these.
Spontaneous sessions are when I get an unexpected opportunity.

For planned I have got in to the habit of picking discs & using the Bedini Clarifier 1st.
This is a change of habit; I used to pick one disc at a time during a session. I continued doing this using the BC to start with, but I found doing this mid session boring. For best results both sides need treating, & the Dual BC takes about 90 seconds per side, & the Quad' 45 (which I now have).
The BC is fairly noisy in operation, so listening at the same time isn't a option IMO.

I must admit I was a bit troubled when the BC drove me to pre-planning sessions, because usually I enjoy the things in life more when they are spontaneous. Apart from BC issues I have found (for now at least!) a planned session better because I spend much less time looking through my records & much more listening. I suppose with hindsight on a day to day basis events dictate my mood, that means usually I know what I want to listen to. However all the other reasons for listening choices posted here also happen to me, & I go with those when the fancy takes me.

For spontaneous sessions if it's of uncertain length I just get on with it!
If it's likely to be more than a couple of hours I'll plan & zap 1st.

For all sessions I listen to the whole record, except for the few records in my collection which have one or more unlistenable tracks, so I programme the CDP appropriately. I have found as I've improved my equipment over the years longer & longer sessions are enjoyable, whereas the poorer the equipment the sooner fatigue sets in - no surprise really.

Have you tried a planned session yet Darren?

Cheers - John

Occasionally I semi plan a session, but in 99.9% of the time, chaos theory (and sometimes whisky) takes over and it's time to scan the collection...

Pete

i have to admit to a sometimes random selection. mostly i wish i listened more. usually after a concert, i skip the system for the rest of the evening; sometimes when i anticipate a concert, i will do a little "reasearch" beforehand. i have so many recordings, i need to be more systematic. i recall once years ago i committed to listening to everything i had, and did so. it was very enlightening in some way. to do that today would be impossible, in part due to all those crates of lp's in the studio waiting to be cleaned ... at other times, i get a very specific need to hear bach, muddy waters, debussy, or l7 ...

I plan quite a lot - and then end up listening to completely different things (the what are you listening to thread sent me in a totally different direction last night).

As a rule I try not to listen to works if I'm about to hear them in concert (I find that if you've listened to a near perfect studio rendition it can spoil the live performance). I got home from a superb performance of Mozart's 38th symphony (Mackerras and the SCO - buy their new CD!) and didn't listen to anything for the rest of the evening. However, I've been to a couple of concerts that didn't do anything for me lately (and even one that annoyed me so much I left at the interval) and after those I often return to the recordings of the works in question.

The only time I really do planning is when I have a recording of an opera that's new to me - I like to sit down to listen through with the libretto (and that can mean a block or 3-5 hours), that said, I was planning Cosi Fan Tutte (again with Mackerras and the SCO), that it is new to me may surprise some, for this last weekend, but for whatever reason it didn't happen.

regards, Tam