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What if anything do you listen to while reading?
Sometimes I'll put on ambient or orchestral music if it fits my mood and the book. Most recently I read almost all of Jo Walton's Among Others while listening to the soundtrack for the Swedish indy game, Krater. The songs have no lyrics and had such a synth or eighties-soundtrack vibe that they gelled perfectly to her conflicts, interests and the turns in her tone.
I guess my answer would be as little as possible. I pretty much anything a distraction.Sometimes I wear noise cancelling earphones just to dull background noise.
Thanks for the music recommend, Dharmakirti, on the Mariinsky Orchestra SACD release of Wagner's Parsifal, conducted by Valery Gergiev. This group isn't just about books anymore (if it ever was)! My outboard stereo gear was in storage for years -- I just brought it home, set it up, and was in need of some good SACD recommendations. The Parsifal is sublime. Any further pointers would be equally appreciated.
Ty wrote: "Not sure about others but I like to slap on my A30 headphones and let music play while I read when I can. granted not always an option but when I can I do.I even have a few select playlists just..."
Original Scores from Movies, or clasical music.
Perhaps I'm the only one who does this, but I often listen to bluegrass as I read. I typically prefer instrumentals, but once I get into the book I don't notice the lyrics of a song.I also enjoy listening to metal when I'm reading something violent or dark. Since i can't understand what they're screaming, it doesn't distract my brain, and the thunderous music heightens the atmosphere.
I live in a building full of students so things get a little rowdy here. I usually listen to something a little mellow like the Beatles or The Jealous Girlfriends to help concentrate on the book rather than people shouting in the atrium.
i always listen to music when listening but it cannot contain any vocals as these put me off. I much prefer listening to something a bit mellow, the albums i seem to prefer are:The Orb - U.F. Orb/Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld/Baghdad Batteries/Pomme Fritz - really anything by The Orb.
Aphex Twin's - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
KLF - KLF Chill Out
Anything by Boards of Canada/Luke Vibert/Squarepusher
It depends how into a book I am. If I'm not totally captivated I need silence to read it. If I am captivated any noise could be going on, including music and it wouldn't bother me.
Usually, my three kids inevitably know I have finally sat down to read, and they are the ones I usually end up listening too...
I'm firmly in the "nothing/ambient noise" category, and have always blamed it on a very musical upbringing. I played 4 different instruments as a kid (flute, clarinet, viola, and drums) and whenever I try to read to music, even if its not classical, I find myself tuning more into the music than the book itself. Can be my favorite book in the world, but I still find myself losing focus and drumming along instead.
City noise is my favorite for reading, just enough to not be total silence but otherwise forgettable.
I don't listen to music while reading but I think about music when reading certain type of scenes. For instance if it's a strong dramatic scene that's approaching then I often imagine something like Wagner and Siegfried's funeral march.
It of course works the other way around as well.
When I hear such a piece I remember strong scenees from books I've read and movies I've seen.
I too find it too distracting to listen to music when reading
I excel at tuning out everything around me when I read. So I usually read while watching TV during commercials. When I do choose music for background I go with Jazz/Blues, it helps to pace me!
I put iTunes on random when reading for some background noise, especially when the kids have gone to bed and the house is too quiet.
I agree completely with some of the others on here, I just can't listen to music (or have any noise at all) when I read. I need to be totally immersed in the world I am reading about and any music is just distracting.
Pickle wrote: "i always listen to music when listening but it cannot contain any vocals as these put me off. I much prefer listening to something a bit mellow, the albums i seem to prefer are:The Orb - U.F. Orb..."
I love Luke Vibert's Wagon Christ and Plug side projects for when I'm reading (Drum 'n' Bass for Papa is the best DnB albums EVER), the stuff released as Luke Vibert makes me want to dance and while I love it, I don't listen to while reading.
1. Ultima Thule Ambient music podcast-You can download it here:
http://www.ultimathule.info/listen.html
2. Hearts of Space podcast:
You can listen to it live or record it.
There's no download.
http://jrabold.net/radio/2hea.shtml
3. Recordings of rain
It dampens background noise
while not distracting me while I read.
I forgot one-Stars end broadcast.http://www.starsend.org/
Great music but
Its only available live at
1AM until 6 AM Sunday mornings.
I can listen to music and read as long as it doesn't have vocals. So I listen to jazz, classical, and electronica. I'm jamming to some Wynton Marsalis right now (Amongst the People: Live at the House of Tribes).
I like the "Phillip Glass" mix on Pandora. Also, like rainymood.com I sometimes put on this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPoqNe...
It's the sound effect of the Next Generation Enterprise idling for 24 hours. Niiiiiice.
I find it very hard to read and listen to music at the same time unless I'm traveling.
Jim wrote: Also, like rainymood.com I Second that. I stream from there or similar sites.
Another strangely pleasant background sound is-
Sleep on a Train [Soundtrack] by Trak Works
I can listen to really any kind of music while I'm reading. For some unknown reason I read Enders Game while listening to Tenacious D.
Background music- "STAR'S END is (with the exception of "Music from the Hearts of Space") the longest running radio program of ambient music in the world. Since 1976, STAR'S END has been providing the Philadelphia broadcast area with music to sleep and dream to."http://www.starsend.org/broadcast.html
Now for the bad news-
They're on from 1-6AM Sunday morning. (EST).
So plan record the show
There's a similar program called Hearts of Space.
http://jrabold.net/radio/2hea.shtml
That one is broadcast a various time on various Public broadcast stations.
For most stations it on Sunday nights but at more reasonable time.
In both cases their college radio stations so they don't offer their programs for download
(That would require royalty payments.) So you have to record them live
There's is one more program that you can download.
Ultima Thule. http://www.ultimathule.info/listen.html
They tend to be more erratic and some programs are better then others.
Lately, I've been using http://www.ambient-mixer.com/ while I read. My go-to ones are ocean or rain related, but I sometimes try to find (or build) a mix that suits the mood and theme of whatever I'm reading.
Katrina wrote: "Lately, I've been using http://www.ambient-mixer.com/ while I read. My go-to ones are ocean or rain related, but I sometimes try to find (or build) a mix that suits the mood and theme of whatever ..."That's a very cool site. Thanks!
Scott wrote: "Funny story in regards to this.My wife and I are pretty opposite in many ways. She is very into sports and I would rather have a curling iron poked into my eye than watch the barbaric contests.
..."
Barbaric Contests?!? o,0 I dont think Ive ever actually heard someone say that outside of TV. Also I feel for people who cant see the beauty, skill and strategy behind a sport. I played football and Hockey into college and I hardly would consider myself barbaric in any way. I think it's much more of a barbaric practice to pass judgement on something because you dont understand it, thats what kept science stagnant for 800 years.
I'm with the instrumental-only crowd on this one.My main go-to is Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, with Holst's The Planets a close second, particularly when reading Space Opera. ;-)
Another good pick for me is Beethoven, though when listening to the glorious Ninth, I have to stop reading during the "Ode to Joy" to sing along (in my BAD German.... "Freude schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium! ...")
Mod
The 9th is a particular favorite of mine for reading and coding (thanks to A Clockwork Orange for introducing me to it..lol). In fact since Wish You Were Here just ended, I think I'm going to break that out for my morning coding session.
Rob wrote: "The 9th is a particular favorite of mine for reading and coding (thanks to A Clockwork Orange for introducing me to it..lol). In fact since Wish You Were Here just ended, I think I'm going to break that out for my morning coding session. "I viddy what you skazat, my droog! ;-)
I prefer no music or television in the background when I'm reading. changes in the cadence, volume, tone, etc. tend to snap me out of my "reading mode," which then annoys me. When we were younger, my sister and I would get into fights because we were trying to read, and the other would interrupt.The same for listening while trying to sleep, the changes in the music yank me awake right when I'm almost asleep.
Give me a nice open window with a light breeze, and chirping birds or crickets or katydids, even a random car or ten over voices and lyrics any time. Peaceful and serene environments really let me get into the book, to the point where if someone DOES try to get my attention, they have to yell or phycically touch me.
Usually whatever happens to be on BBC Radio 3 at the time as I tend to have it on permanently.Naughty to have classical as wallpaper sound but I find it helps relax and experience wonderful moments of fantastic sound worlds.
When I was reading The Lord of the Rings very many yonks ago, I constantly listened to my Moody Blues LP collection. (33rpm vinyl that required manual turning over of sides :P ) Also would listen to Renaissance.
There was just something in the colour of this music which matched the mood of the book for me.
I find that I am able to focus more clearly and read faster when I put on music. My mind tends to wander and sometimes I'll read a few paragraphs and have no idea what I just read, but something about having music on engages that subconscious part of my brain and enables the rest to focus on reading. It has to be music without lyrics though. Typically I choose classical. I love the "Set Your Life to Music" series. Bach (or Brahms/Beethoven) for Book Lovers, Beethoven at Bedtime, etc. But lately it's been Ludovico Einaudi, he's a modern day classical composer/piano player that just really engages me.
Walter wrote: "Soundtracks by Cliff Martinez (Solaris, Drive) are great for laser picks. I was listening to the new Sherlock Holmes soundtrack while reading Sherlock Holmes."Walter - I couldn't agree more...
Cliff Martinez literally produces 'music to read by'. Listening to Solaris while reading a great book is a transcendent experience.
When I read the Wheel of Time Books, I like to listen to the Chrono Cross soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda on random—it's not too distracting and sometimes the scenes match up to a song of similar intensity or feeling and it's a neat experience! Can't wait for AMOL!!!
I am currently reading Ghost by John Ringo and in the back of the book he includes a playlist of music to listen to while reading the book.
In general I don't listen to music while reading. The only time I do listen to music while reading is if there are distracting sounds like converstaions that I want to cover so that I can concentrate on the book.
Movie/videogame soundtracks (instrumental), if anything. Generally I try to match the mood of the music with the mood in the book...I found that the soundtrack to "Age of Empires III" worked quite well when I was reading The Hound of the Baskervilles!
New Member here. I always listen to soundtracks, jazz, or New Age music when I read. Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Christopher Young, Jay Chattaway, Lalo Schifrin, John Carpenter, Ennio Morricone, Goblin, Richard Band, Bob James, Earl Klugh, 2002, George Winston, William Ackerman, and David Arkenstone are my favorites.
I got through college by listening to the Gladiator, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Hero soundtracks. They made it a lot easier to focus on reading as I could pace my reading to match the music.Now I tend to listen to Nightwish, the soundtracks to Tron: Legacy and The Fountain, and Imogen Heap instrumentals while I'm writing.
I read a lot of military sf and action hero zombie stuff, so the many halo soundtracks on shuffle get a lot of play while I read.
I don't listen to anything while reading. I like to give my full attention to a novel. If I'm happily listening to anything while reading. I'd presume the book wasn't worth my full attention and not worth the read.
I can listen to music when reading but nothing with vocals. Soundtracks are great and post-rock/ambient music. Bands like Hammock, The American Dollar and Eluvium are great.
Like many others on here, I tend to listen to classical music or movie scores. If it's instrumental then I can focus on the reading better. But if there is singing or words in the music I tend to be distracted from my reading. For composers I tend to favor Danny Elfman and Michael Giaccino.
I find it hard to listen to music when reading, partially because of formerly being a music major. My brain switches from read mode to analysis mode pretty quickly.
I first read the first 5 Anne McCafferey Pern novels while listening primarily to Journey albums. To this day, I can't hear a Journey song without thinking about Pernese dragons and Thread.
Mod
I'm the same way with the Dark Tower and Pink Floyd.
Two more great ambient soundtracks are the scores to the game "Limbo" and the movie "The Prestige."
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
The Hound of the Baskervilles (other topics)Ghost (other topics)
Among Others (other topics)
Redwall (other topics)
Magician: Apprentice (other topics)
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Please allow me to express my gratitude for you and this thread! Being a fan of silence, I never listen to music while reading, and it would never have occurred to me to listen to nature sounds to block out other noises. I'm currently working on an essay, and I just don't know how I could have managed all the progress I've made on it these last few hours had I not had RainyMood.com playing in my headphones to drown out the sound of my roommate snoring. Also, rain storms are among some of the loveliest things to listen to ever. I feel so zen right now, which works - my essay is about tea ceremony. :D