Are you in tune with your aural environment?

[BlueGreene]

I haven't lived in a home with a TV in years. But whenever I'm around the standard programming, I can't handle advertisements. There's something about them that makes my eyes twitchy and I impulsively grab the remote to mute it. Once the audio is off, I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Plus, I cannot sleep with music. Hours and hours can go by.

[americansinner]

Originally Posted by Folder

I'm apparently always listening to my aural environment.

Sometimes I'll be in a restaurant or some other public place and I will make a comment about a song playing in the background and someone will inevitably say "What song ?" or "Oh yeah, I didn't notice it." - I can't help but notice it.

I can't stand the sound of multiple audio sources playing simultaneously.

I recently had lunch in a restaurant that had two TVs blaring on different stations. Also there was pop music playing over the sound system. I could hear spanish language music wafting out of the kitchen and then somebody had the nerve to put a dollar in the jukebox.

As I sat there with the cacophony of five different sound sources blasting around the place I looked around to see if anybody else was as irritated as I was.

Not a single person seemed to notice it.

Do you think as a musician or audio engineer you hear differently than normal people?

I am always sitting in the spot where I can get decent stereo positioning in public. Or I should say trying to... so many coffee shops n restaurants don't even try to put speakers in a reasonable place.

[Raymar]

I've just turned off the tube, it got me through the Holidays. If I haven't had it on in a few months the ads get to me, then I'll just hit the mute button or toggle to another show, but I do get used to it, then get to the point where I have to let it go. I do tend to notice a void after that and I'll start reading or learning some music.

If I can adjust the environment I will, if not I'll either leave it or endure it until I can leave. I do own some ear plugs.

[Anderton]

I was waiting for a plane at LAX and found a corridor that had power outlets. Great!! I could use my laptop without running down the battery!

BUT because it was an isolated corridor, I could hear the muzak in all its glory. Wow, did it ever suck. The sax player sounded like a morph between Kenny G and Honey Boo Boo. After a while I just couldn't take it any more, and went back to the main part of the terminal. I did find an outlet

[Folder]

 

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philbo wrote:

 

I vote with my feet and dollars whenever any shop or restaurant decides they know what I want to hear and how loud. I just leave.

 

 

I'm musically in tune with my environment.

If any music is playing and I have a guitar in my hand I automatically find the key and try to play along to it. Guitar Center always has music playing and when I've been there trying out guitars I always play along to it. Often I hear other people doing it too but it amazes me how many people don't. Some people will sit there playing their "Stairway to Heaven" or "Smoke on the Water" totally oblivious to the music playing over the sound system.

Lately Guitar Center has had TV screens playing concert videos throughout the store, sometimes more than one, but they also still play the music over the loudspeakers. It's very distracting and when you add in the "Stairway to Heavens" and "Smoke on the Waters" it becomes a cacophony of noise.

The other day I went there to try out the digital pianos and they had a big TV screen playing some sort of Jazz piano tutorial in the keyboard department. I don't improvise on the piano the same way that I do on guitar so I wanted to sit down and play some original piano pieces. The whole time I'm there the guy on the video is talking and playing all these Jazz riffs very loudly. After a few minutes I got frustrated and just left. They lost a potential sale that day because I couldn't hear the keyboards over the video.

[coyote-1]

I turn down sound usually, because it interferes with experiencing the here and now. And long ago I got past needing to analyze every piece of music I hear.

 

The aural environment is FAR more than the man made sounds within it.