Music Recommendations for when you are Watching or Clocking.

[Michael1962]

So along the same lines as the movie thread, but this is probably more relevant.

As mentioned in other places, there is generally music playing in Mark's Youtube videos. I am not sure, but I think it is him playing, but I could be very wrong.

What do people have playing when they are working on watches or clocks?

I would lean toward playing peaceful, ambient type of music. A group that I am listening to a lot at the moment is A Winged Victory For The Sullen. I listen a lot to Brian Eno. A lot of the Hang Drum music on YouTube is also really peaceful to listen to.

So what does everyone else listen to?

[oldhippy]

In my time it would have been BBC radio 2 but in the summer test cricket and Wimbledon.    

[Michael1962]

I am not sure what sort of music you would get on BBC Radio 2, but I would not think that I would be working on watches or clocks to Test Cricket or Wimbledon.

Hey, we're all different.  

[nickelsilver]

I usually listen to WFMU radio over the net. Back in the mid 2000s  I spent a month making the gearing for the 1st Cabestan watch; that whole month I only listened to Captain Beefheart's Bat Chain Puller, hahaha. 

 

Since the wife got me to do Spotify, I'll do their suggested mixes (based on our listening) which might go from Glenn Gould to the Stooges and lots I've never heard of in between.  It's a great service.

[oldhippy]

I have loads of Beefheart including bootlegs. Trout Mask Replica is my favorite followed by Mirror Man. 

This cracks me up everytime I watch it.

 

[spectre6000]

Depending on my mood, the best musical accompaniment for a watch and scotch could be The Bad Plus, Tord Gustavsen, Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, either of the Avishai Cohens (though I prefer the bassist), Brad Mehldau, Aaron Parks, Bill Evans, and a long list of other similar groups and artists. If they had anything at all on vinyl, I'd love to add Hiromi or Grand Pianoramax to the mix. One of these days, I'll get around to adding a CD player to my audio system. Unfortunately, odd meter and dissonance is a hallmark of most of the above, and my wife isn't fully on board most of the time. I have to save them for when she's down in her office or not home. 

[KarlvonKoln]

My spouse, Sarah, is often already playing something while at the computer nearby.  So she's gotten me hooked on Big Band, and old school Swing and Jazz.  And I already listened to classical and early music.

But sometimes it's old Led Zeppelin or Donovan, or Weird Al, or Blütengel, or whatever pops into my head.

[dadistic]

On 3/14/2021 at 12:27 PM, spectre6000 said:

Depending on my mood, the best musical accompaniment for a watch and scotch could be The Bad Plus, Tord Gustavsen, Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, either of the Avishai Cohens (though I prefer the bassist), Brad Mehldau, Aaron Parks, Bill Evans, and a long list of other similar groups and artists. If they had anything at all on vinyl, I'd love to add Hiromi or Grand Pianoramax to the mix. One of these days, I'll get around to adding a CD player to my audio system. Unfortunately, odd meter and dissonance is a hallmark of most of the above, and my wife isn't fully on board most of the time. I have to save them for when she's down in her office or not home. 

Thanks for the playlist! The only problem with me and music is that I often pay too much attention to the music and not enough to what I'm doing with sometimes tragic consequences 

[spectre6000]

What is it that caught your attention? The odd meter/dissonance, or annoying the wife?

[Apestapatas]

Tupac and Wu-Tang for me.  If I am in a bad mood I tend to lose parts. I tried servicing after a beer and ended up messing up a hairspring, but I do that from time to time without the beer. 

[dadistic]

On 3/16/2021 at 8:26 PM, spectre6000 said:

What is it that caught your attention? The odd meter/dissonance, or annoying the wife?

Well, annoying the wife is a great pastime, but in my case it's not possible to do with music (She has been a vinyl collector for many years). 

Really, it's the strong showing of the piano players in the list that got me. Picked up the most recent Hiromi cd, and wifey and I got a great kick out of it.  Manic fingers, oh my

Cheers!

[spectre6000]

Manic indeed! She is the extreme end of frenetic, without losing musicality. Pretty incredible. I honestly can't think of another musician quite like her. She did an album (available on vinyl) with a South American harpist. I haven't heard it, but it's the only recording I would be able to listen to of her at this point.

I'm a fan of the piano/drums/bass jazz trio combo. Hard to beat. Add a sultry female vocalist, and you've got my less-concentration-required mix. My wife and I have quite a history in jazz. I was a luthier to a number of world class guitarists, and my wife ran sound for at least one multi-grammy winning ensemble. 

[dadistic]

20 hours ago, spectre6000 said:

My wife and I have quite a history in jazz. I was a luthier to a number of world class guitarists, and my wife ran sound for at least one multi-grammy winning ensemble. 

Fun!

I was keyboard player back in the day, pop stuff ranging from country rock to jazz fusion to new wave and punk. Did some recording, but nothing that really went anywhere. Was on some small vinyl releases. These days, I don't play anymore, but Liz, my wife, is mad for the Ukulele. She started a number of years ago, and has gotten somewhat accomplished, so I let her do all of the playing in the house. 

My piano background is what attracts me to the likes of Hiromi, I can really appreciate the chops

[spectre6000]

I was semi-pro back in college; as in I made money, but not enough to pay rent. Got a sponsorship deal with a gear manufacturer, and got gear at cost at a couple of retailers (not that I could afford anything to make that worthwhile). Also never ultimately went anywhere with it; lots of friends who did though. I was ultimately more excited about making guitars than playing them. Toward the end of college, I was working for a number of musicians as a luthier, and with a few other paying jobs to make ends meet, essentially burned out on music entirely. Too many concerts, too many people doing stupid, drunken things, too many late nights stacked on top of each other, too many shitty gigs, too much loudness in general (they weren't all jazz musicians). It took me years to finally start getting into it again, but I haven't played much for a long time.

Now though, I have a 15 month old daughter, and she has the music gene BAD. Even when she was just a few months old, any time something with an even marginally recognizable beat entered her auditory world view, she'd start dancing. It could be an album, a commercial jingle, a passing motorcycle, and even a pulsing blender. She doesn't care a lick for television when my wife and I watch things in the evening... but the second there's a hint of music, she stops everything to dance. She's a pandemic baby (born right before the world shut down), and hasn't spent much time in the car. Once she's had her fill, she gets fussy and starts crying. I switch from podcasts to music, and it's like a switch. We got her a real deal (albeit only 54 keys) keyboard, and she immediately figured out what was up. Nothing all that musical, but she's 15 months old (in a week). As excited as she is by music, I've been digging out one of my acoustic archtops from time to time, and she sings along. Every night right before bedtime, she runs into our bedroom where that archtop is hanging on a stand, and she strums it a few times before going to bed. My ambitions for her are generally more along the lines of the hard sciences, but that may be a train that can't be stopped!

[HSL]

To get into the watchmaking mood I put some Finish heavy bluegrass ticking away, shore makes the lathe turn!

 

[spectre6000]

Finnish guys playing an Australian song in an American style. Interesting. Then it autoplays to another (Metallica) conglomerated track. Can't click away...

[DavidADav]

What a great topic! I must admit I fall in the “whatever fits the mood” category. This has ranged from George Winston (classical piano), to Metallica. However I’ve recently started listening to audiobooks while I work. My wife loves them while she knits, so we’ll turn one on and both just work away. 

[dadistic]

On 3/19/2021 at 9:17 PM, spectre6000 said:

<snip>Toward the end of college, I was working for a number of musicians as a luthier, and with a few other paying jobs to make ends meet, essentially burned out on music entirely. Too many concerts, too many people doing stupid, drunken things, too many late nights stacked on top of each other, too many shitty gigs, too much loudness in general (they weren't all jazz musicians). It took me years to finally start getting into it again, but I haven't played much for a long time.<snip>

Now though, I have a 15 month old daughter, and she has the music gene BAD. Even when she was just a few months old, any time something with an even marginally recognizable beat entered her auditory world view, she'd start dancing. It could be an album, a commercial jingle, a passing motorcycle, and even a pulsing blender. She doesn't care a lick for television when my wife and I watch things in the evening... but the second there's a hint of music, she stops everything to dance. She's a pandemic baby (born right before the world shut down), and hasn't spent much time in the car. Once she's had her fill, she gets fussy and starts crying. I switch from podcasts to music, and it's like a switch. We got her a real deal (albeit only 54 keys) keyboard, and she immediately figured out what was up. Nothing all that musical, but she's 15 months old (in a week). As excited as she is by music, I've been digging out one of my acoustic archtops from time to time, and she sings along. Every night right before bedtime, she runs into our bedroom where that archtop is hanging on a stand, and she strums it a few times before going to bed. My ambitions for her are generally more along the lines of the hard sciences, but that may be a train that can't be stopped!

That's the problem with the performing lifestyle, it can completely burn you out on music.  The trick seems to be to enjoy music for its own sake, that way it can stay a joy for a lifetime. 

So many folks that I know that only play for themselves or with their family and friends are still doing it, and enjoying it immensely. 

Don't try and stop the train  

[Klassiker]

Whatever Radcliffe & Maconie play on their weekend shows on BBC 6 Music. 2x 3 hours a week seems to match my bench time fairly well on average.

[Graziano]

1930s for early 1900s pocket watch. When I'm in the nude, I mean mood...... 

[AshF]

@GrazianoI love how you couldn't help yourself from dancing.

[watchweasol]

Usually its just the ticking of the clocks and the two cuckoo clocks that accompany me, I find that peaceful no music just the clocks.

[AndyHull]

I tend to work on watches in relative quiet, but for some reason if I'm working on software, debugging or writing code, I have more of a need to block out the world, so the headphones will be on. Here are a couple of random items from my Youtube playlists.

First a classical piece, but not from the usual suspects.
 

Then something a little different. 

 

..  perhaps a little Aly Bain and company..

.. maybe something in the Christmas spirit...

 

.. maybe something a little dark and Scandinavian 

There's loads more, but that should hopefully provide a little something for everyone.

Enjoy, and seasons greetings and all the best for a healthy and prosperous 2022 to you all and all of yours.

Edited December 25, 2021 by AndyHull

[AndyHull]

On 3/20/2021 at 6:30 PM, HSL said:

To get into the watchmaking mood I put some Finish heavy bluegrass ticking away, shore makes the lathe turn!

 

They do a great version of "NOTHING ELSE MATTERS".

[spectre6000]

No kidding, I was at my parents' house two days ago, and we were sitting around the table talking. Probably over a meal. Somehow, a Richard Cheese cover of a Disturbed song came up. We all got a laugh. Fast forward 36 hours or so, and then that pops up. I had to watch it. Stopped the Marcin Wasilewski album mid-song. 2yo is sitting here eating cheerios before going to grandparents' house for xmas, and she starts singing along (obviously doesn't know the words, but just musical noises to go with the tune). She stopped once Draiman really got going though. Seems she might be underexposed to more... energetic music. Once it was clearly over, I started to turn the laptop back around to type this. She wasn't done until the orchestra was.

Edited December 25, 2021 by spectre6000