What do you listen to while working on the computer?

[jliechty]

Well, aside from the fans, which can be quite loud for some of us who have DIY systems, if we were too cheap to invest in high-quality units... ;)

Right now I am catching up on some forums and preparing to work on some of my photos from this past Saturday's trip to McCormick's Creek State Park, while I listen to "An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess" (by John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, if you couldn't have guessed). :D

There is one of these kind of threads on another forum that I visit that has reached 3614 posts. While I doubt we'll get near that number any time soon, please feel free to fill us all in on what you're enjoying every now and then. :cool:

[Steve Mitchell]

You read my mind! I was thinking of starting a similar thread. Glad you did! I'll list the top five artists that I've been listening to quite a bit lately:

In no particular order...

Tom Waits
Smashing Pumpkins
My Chemical Romance
P.J Harvey
Nina Simone

[mzdial]

Funny this thread comes up.. I've been working on a way to share my tunes online.

I have my iTunes on my Powerbook setup using a 3rd party program called 'Recent Tunes' to send my listening data (using HTTP GET) to a php script that I hacked on to post to a sql db on my personal website.. Why? Because I wanted to see if I could share with my friends and family what I'm currently listening to.

This page shows the last 50 tracks I've listened to:

http://www.mzdial.com/itunes

-- Matt

[Anders Östberg]

I usually don't have music on while working, it's often to distracting/interesting.
Sometimes I tune in some less dynamic classical music on the radio.

[jpreston]

Usually my wife and/or kids yelling at me to get off of the computer:D .

[FredG]

The sounds of silence. I usually prefer undisturbed time for image processing. If I'm culling or reading forums/emails, I will sometimes have a TV going, but it is too distracting for serious editing.

[NikNikon]

Well, aside from the fans, which can be quite loud for some of us who have DIY systems, if we were too cheap to invest in high-quality units... ;)

Right now I am catching up on some forums and preparing to work on some of my photos from this past Saturday's trip to McCormick's Creek State Park, while I listen to "An Evening With John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess" (by John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, if you couldn't have guessed). :D

There is one of these kind of threads on another forum that I visit that has reached 3614 posts. While I doubt we'll get near that number any time soon, please feel free to fill us all in on what you're enjoying every now and then. :cool:

I'd post my picture when I met Petrucci & Rudess if I didn't look so damn goofy in them. :o J, do you follow any Dream Theater or Liquid Tension Experiment music. That's about my favorite stuff in the world audio wise. I collaborated on a DT tune with a drummer on the east coast, a keyboardist from Sweden and my now ex-girl friend. I played the guitars, we never had any luck finding some one to lay down the bass. It was just for fun anyway.

[sparky63]

[QUOTE=NikNikon]I'd post my picture when I met Petrucci & Rudess if I didn't look so damn goofy in them. :o QUOTE]

I now have one more reason to be impressed by you (besides your "photoshopgraphy" skills). I'm a long time fan of DT, own most of their recordings, and recently purchased the Live at Budokan DVD ... WOW!

I've recently been listening to:

Dream Theater
Vertical Horizon
Juliana Theory (footnote: almost anything else produced by Jerry Harrison is exceptional)
Peter Gabriel
Will Ackerman

Good idea for a thread

[NikNikon]

OK Sparky, this ones for you. The drummer recorded his part first with only a computer mic (he was 19 at the time), I had never met him, I just happened to meet him on Mike Portnoy's forum. I after downloading his mp3 and hearing his drumming I was quite impressed. I decided to learn the guitars and record myself playing to his drum track. My ex-girlfriend laid down the vocal track soon after and sometime after that I came across a keyboardist online who could do the key parts. I tried lining up the tracks in a sound editing program the best I could but there are mistakes, but it's DT (a very tough band to cover) and no one on the recording ever played in the same room with each other at the time of recording their tracks. So it is what it is.

http://www.flashpointe.net/temp/metropolis.mp3

P.S. I have the same DVD and it is mind boggling. I've seen DT 3 times and Petrucci & Portnoy on the G3 tour with Steve Vai & Joe Satriani as well.

[jliechty]

That's a very interesting recording, to be sure... While a bit "out of sync" in places, it's a heck of a lot better than I could do! Maybe I'll have to find a way to record my hacked up attempt at "wait for sleep," about their only keyboard piece that's within my reach - and that was B.R. (Before Rudess). :o

You might be a DT trivia geek if you know what the "Nightmare Cinema" was... bonus points if you can name who played what instrument (I can't). :D

[takapica]

I have all of my music ripped to my computer, so mostly snobbish indie stuff :P
Only kidding. That and the ridiculously loud fans of my computer. Nooo!

[NikNikon]

That's a very interesting recording, to be sure... While a bit "out of sync" in places, it's a heck of a lot better than I could do! Maybe I'll have to find a way to record my hacked up attempt at "wait for sleep," about their only keyboard piece that's within my reach - and that was B.R. (Before Rudess). :o

You might be a DT trivia geek if you know what the "Nightmare Cinema" was... bonus points if you can name who played what instrument (I can't). :D

NC:
Petrucci - drums
Potnoy - bass
Sherinian - guitar

Hmmm...just woke up, having trouble remembering.

[jliechty]

NC:
Petrucci - drums
Potnoy - bass
Sherinian - guitar

Hmmm...just woke up, having trouble remembering.
I looked it up at MP's website... John Myung was on keys, and James did the vocals as usual (he doesn't play any instruments, according to the FAQ). :)

[Queen Josephine]

Well, I had to think about this because I usually am listening to silence. But, when I do put on music, it's likely to be a sedative... like Thomas Goodlunas, Enya, Soggy Bottom Boys, or Sister Saphire Sings the Blues... "Wild Woman Never Get the Blues".... hehehhehe..

Gotta Go.... it's 5:00 PM and there kicking me out of here!

[cox]

Gotta Go.... it's 5:00 PM and there kicking me out of here!

Are there openings there? ;) I listen to everything I can get my hands on - right now, Alan Parsons Project, Instrumental Works.

[Puncher]

For relaxation music I like to listen to soundtracks (currently have the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack running, and also like orchestralic sountracks like from John Williams or James Horner or the Blus Brothers). For more aggressive stuff I have a lot of rock and metal, ex. Ken Tamplin, Whitecross, Mortification, In Extremo, Hammerfall, Blind Guardian, the Allman Brothers.

[Steve Mitchell]

It's pretty interesting to see the musical tastes of the members. I hope this becomes an evergreen thread.

[jliechty]

At the moment I'm listening to Brahms' Piano Concerto #2... I have unique varieties of musical taste for being a teenager. ;)

[sparky63]

[QUOTE=NikNikon]The drummer recorded his part first with only a computer mic (he was 19 at the time), I had never met him, I just happened to meet him on Mike Portnoy's forum. I after downloading his mp3 and hearing his drumming I was quite impressed. I decided to learn the guitars and record myself playing to his drum track. My ex-girlfriend laid down the vocal track soon after and sometime after that I came across a keyboardist online who could do the key parts. I tried lining up the tracks in a sound editing program the best I could but there are mistakes, but it's DT (a very tough band to cover) and no one on the recording ever played in the same room with each other at the time of recording their tracks. So it is what it is.[QUOTE]

Nik, this is pretty cool. It's not too bad as amateur recordings go (I've personally produced much worse using tape loops and inferior equipment), but the back story makes it quite impressive. With all the time signature and phrasing changes, plus pure technical playing skill needed to cover almost any Dream Theatre song, tackling Metropolis was a huge challenge.

Not to blow smoke up your butt or anything, but I really liked the guitar playing best. It seemed the truest to the original recording. It was difficult for me to really qualify the drumming, as that small mic compressed the crap out of the sound. Your ex has an impressive set of pipes and her intonation was good for the most part, but I just can't get past a female lead singing a part created for male voice. I feel similarly about female tenors singing in chorus settings, so it's not just a "rock thing" ... guess that makes me a consistent bigot.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing this. Consider me more impressed than ever :cool:

[NikNikon]

Thanks Sparky, I had a similar outlook towards females singing songs originally done by men too. But to tell you the truth she had most powerful voice and range of anyone I had ever played in a band with. And as a bonus it was a joy having a girlfriend who enjoyed DT as much as I did, she even has seen them live more than me. In fact she happened to be in New York for a week at the same time DT was recording the "Scenes From a Memory" DVD and was able to go to the show. Anyway, thanks for listening, I haven't played my guitar much lately, I'll have to dust it off one of these days.