Double Bass Do you listen to recorded music?

[Who da Ville]

I was a serious music junky my entire adult life; until I started playing bass. Seriously, I went through recorded music like a junky goes through dope. I still have large shelves full of LPs, CDs, and even cassette tapes that I now rarely listen to.

Then when I started playing, everything somehow changed. The music in my head changed to songs I knew how to play, or songs I was trying to learn. The only time that I now seek out recorded music is when I am trying to figure out details with a song I'm trying to learn. Even then, I'll try to learn the song without listening to the recording if I can; I want to play the music in my head, not duplicate the recording. When listening a live band, I spend all my time studying how the bassist responds to different musical challenges/situations rather than enjoying the song as such.

I'm not a song writer at all, but every song I play brings out something in me that I really don't hear in the popular recording. This has caused some issues when playing with others who always want to play it like the record, but I guess I'm probably not the right bassist for them...

I suspect most of you started the bass much younger than I did, so your listening habits probably developed with your bass playing.

My musical taste also has changed, in that many songs I used to not like, I now appreciate because I realize when playing them that they have an interesting structure. X-mas songs are a great example of this. Another example: I never bought or listened to classical music, but I now really enjoy playing the Bach minuets and folk dances I've been working on the last couple of months.

Another interesting change: John was always my favorite Beatle. I viewed Paul as some sort of sissy wimp that the girls liked 'cause he was cute. Now, after playing his songs, I realize his songwriting ranks up with the greats (like Duke Ellington), and that he was really a badass bassist. I still think John's OK, but musically, it really seems that Paul was the true genius of the group. Go figure...

 

[Jim Dombrowski]

I spend time listening to music almost every day. Mostly jazz. It is my inspiration to keep practicing and learning. My listening is almost always intentional. I don't listen to music just to have something on in the background - I treat it like going to see a band, where I am there solely to listen.

 

[bassdude51]

Sure do! Got a decent home stereo system too. It is as important in this house as the refrigerator!

I own well over 4,000 Lps and a 1,000 Cds but at my older age of 69, it seems like there are probably only 100 albums that make up most of what I listen to.

Also, I used to play stuff in the house everyday but now......maybe once or twice a month I'll binge out on music.

Just about my main source for playing the bass......... with the stereo, Lps and Cds.

 

[-Shaun-]

While my listening habits vary, I do listen to music pretty regularly. Sometimes it's just on in the background but, even then, I'm listening; it's just that I may be focusing more on something else. At other times, it is my sole focus. Recently I've had music on for a few hours every day and for a lot of that time, I'm listening pretty closely. I probably don't listen as much as I used to, though. When I was at university, I would have music playing in the house all day, and you'd usually find me watching a jazz trio somewhere a few nights a week. Life changes!

 

[birgebass]

I'm constantly listening to and buying new (or just new to me) music. Listening is part of my regular practice routine. Not only that, it's one of my favorite hobbies. Collecting albums, reading the notes, checking out the side musicians, and of course internalizing good music, is all very exciting to me.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

Yes

 

[Tom Lane]

Yes, but not as much as I used to. Part of it is that there are Podcasts to get news and current events. Part of it, also, is that I frequently find it difficult to concentrate if I'm listening to what I consider to be "good" music. I find myself concentrating on what the band is doing, or what the composition is, rather than whatever I am doing. Even while driving, I can find good music distracting. There is so much good music out there. I'm constantly hearing something that catches my fancy and then feeling compelled to analyze it and figure out what it was. I don't usually have trouble personalizing a tune so usually the first step in learning a new tune is to listen to a lot of existing versions to try to get to the original intent and then find what I like that's been afterwards.

 

[Keith Rawlings]

I've spent the pandemic enjoying lots of different music; and since my sports team stinks my podcast and musical tastes have expanded as well. I'm listening to mostly Jazz now as well as progressive rock (quarantine has led me to get into some great prog stuff like Gentle Giant and Camel). Lately I've even been checking out some classic conjunto music as the double bassists who play in that genre slap the heck out of their basses (I'm also part Czech so polkas are kind of cool).

The wife and I also painted the living area of our house during this time so we were enjoying music the whole time we were painting. I also love driving and listening to music and lately the Duke has dominated my driving trips — specifically the Wellman Braud years in the earliest Ellington recordings. I could never not listen to music in everything I do.

 

[damonsmith]

I do two to three hours of listening first thing every morning. 99% physical media in order of preference: CD/LP/tapes.
I will do digital if it is extra special and only released in that format. Case in point:


I far prefer recordings to live performance for improvised music and free jazz. Too many of the details get lost in a live performance and the emoting and other performance antics can distract from the sounds themselves. A good recording you can revisit over the course of decades is the most valuable form music takes for me.

 

[TroyK]

Absolutely.

 

[Joshua]

As often as possible.

 

[tb-player]

I've always enjoyed listening to music and podcasts. Recently, I discovered this recording from 2017 and it's been on repeat. Only two instruments, but it seriously swings.

 

[TroyK]

...Recently, I discovered this recording from 2017 and it's been on repeat. Only two instruments, but it seriously swings.
...

Hey, I know that guy!

Those are some very nice sides.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Glad to hear that one is still getting some spins! David passed last year, and being close to the family, I was at his service right at the beginning of the Covid lockdown here. Really loved and miss that guy.

I listen when I can, but it's very eclectic. I've always been an obsessive serial monogamist, and that includes music. When i find something that captures me, I listen to it over and over, with no regard for whether or not it is in my wheelhouse. Lately I've been listening a lot to this duo...



but it can be anything from Bonnie Raitt to Jessye Norman to Bach to Mahler to Bartok to Punch Brothers as long as it resonates. There are a set of studio monitors in my office and I'll often have the latest obsession playing over and over as I do paperwork, or as a break between tasks. I'm sure my neighbors at the office love me for it...

 

[Who da Ville]

Thanks for all of the responses. I guess I really am alone in this one.

i understand that listening to all types of good music is a great way to train your ear and come up with ideas. I'm sure that my 'music junky' years led to the development of whatever
'ear' I now have. But for whatever reason, I'm just not compelled to search out new music like I used to be; and not compelled to listen much to what I've already collected unless I'm specifically working on something. I'd rather spend that time & energy playing my own instrument...by myself...in my room.

It's not that i don't still love all kinds of music. There is music playing in my head almost all the time. I just relate to it differently than I did before I started playing.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Glad to hear that one is still getting some spins! David passed last year, and being close to the family, I was at his service right at the beginning of the Covid lockdown here. Really loved and miss that guy.

I listen when I can, but it's very eclectic. I've always been an obsessive serial monogamist, and that includes music. When i find something that captures me, I listen to it over and over, with no regard for whether or not it is in my wheelhouse. Lately I've been listening a lot to this duo...



but it can be anything from Bonnie Raitt to Jessye Norman to Bach to Mahler to Bartok to Punch Brothers as long as it resonates. There are a set of studio monitors in my office and I'll often have the latest obsession playing over and over as I do paperwork, or as a break between tasks. I'm sure my neighbors at the office love me for it...

Whoah. Amazing vocal chops, and interesting writing/playing there.
Thanks

 

[Carl Hillman]

Thanks for all of the responses. I guess I really am alone in this one.

i understand that listening to all types of good music is a great way to train your ear and come up with ideas. I'm sure that my 'music junky' years led to the development of whatever
'ear' I now have. But for whatever reason, I'm just not compelled to search out new music like I used to be; and not compelled to listen much to what I've already collected unless I'm specifically working on something. I'd rather spend that time & energy playing my own instrument...by myself...in my room.

It's not that i don't still love all kinds of music. There is music playing in my head almost all the time. I just relate to it differently than I did before I started playing.

When I was in school almost forty years ago, I saw pianist Joanne Brackeen give a clinic.

When she took questions, someone asked her what she was listening to. Her reply, that she wasn't listening to other people's music, shocked me at the time, but I think I can understand it now that I'm older.

If you've got music you have heard going on in your head all the time, sometimes it can be difficult to silence it long enough to come up with your own ideas.

 

[J_Bass]

Everyday.

Music is my anxiolytic. I am a compulsive music listener.

I listen between 2 to 4 hours of music a day, on average.

90% of all the music I listen to is Jazz. I listen to every genres, but this one is, by far, my favorite.

I love my CD collection, it's slowly growing. I like to read the booklets, to check the personnel and organize all of it on CLZ music app. I also have spotify.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Every couple of years I get stale with my playing and what I'm listening to, I deep dive into a genre or niche that's new to me.
- 2019 was 70's Funk.
- 2017/18 I was working a lot on DB & lead vocals simultaneously.
- 2015/16 was UK neo-soul, rare grooves & soundtrack music.

 

[Chris Fitzgerald]

When I was in school almost forty years ago, I saw pianist Joanne Brackeen give a clinic.

When she took questions, someone asked her what she was listening to. Her reply, that she wasn't listening to other people's music, shocked me at the time, but I think I can understand it now that I'm older.

If you've got music you have heard going on in your head all the time, sometimes it can be difficult to silence it long enough to come up with your own ideas.

I got to play a trio concert with her back in 2007. She was a true original and I had to be on my toes the whole night. Your story makes sense to me based on my experience.