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I've had a few days to reflect on this as I just sold my entire, small collection of records (~250). As I went through them with the buyer (a friend of mine), I realized it was a very eclectic collection indeed. It became clear that he had essentially purchased 20 years of my life (my Japanese phase, my meditative phase, German Folk music phase, my Partridge Family phase, my Jethro Tull phase, my whale song phase, etc.).
These records really are a kind of musical diary of sorts, perhaps much more personal than we realize in our day to day activities.
Follow Ups:
It says a lot about us and our tastes/preferences. Other forms of art are to look at and enjoy, the LP is a unique form of art that has something to look at and listen to. It can say more about us than any other possession.
We listen as a foreground activity. I'm sure most of us select music that sounds great and makes us feel something. My mood dictates what I want to listen to. Sometimes I just listen but others times I really become a part of the performance. I love those sessions where I know exactly what I want to listen to and the selection of LPs seem to follow a magical order.
The LPs just seem to jump into my mind and the end of one LP tells me what I want to hear next. My LPs have music to cover all sorts of moods. I have bluegrass that has happy banjo sounds and blues that reaches my pain.
When the music is just right the hair stands up on my arms and I play all sorts of air instruments. I also think I can sing well when the music is reaching me. When the music reaches me I feel renewed. Everything is better after a great listening session.
When I don't listen for a long time I get very moody. Personally I need music to keep me happy. Its like a drug and it has terrible withdrawal symptoms.
I cannot remember not listening to music and humming a tune. All that I know is that its part of my life and I need to listen.
I'm glad I have this problem. Its a good one.
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
It may seem goofy, but I often wake up hearing a song from a particular artist or an era playing in mind (or several songs in a row) and plan that day to listen to those LP's. I grew up playing classical music pretty intensively (also big-band jazz) when I was a young feller. When you're rehearsing a piece you hear it in your mind all the time, every note on the charts means something. Hearing it like that is necessary to get proficient at playing it.
The thing that makes record-listening a distinctive hobby is what you refer to as "foreground" listening. I explain to non-musical people that "I listen to music in a focused way, like you'd read a book let's say." Having an LP there to experience the touch and feel engages you so as to enhance the experience.
I may be wrong but it seems that the majority of folks listen to music today the way we used to listen to the AM car radio when we were kids- just pushing the station buttons until a familiar ditty appears. That's all good- it's just for the pure enjoyment and ditties are an important part of a healthy brain- read the little article below. Who doesn't still sing the "Alphabet Song" occasionally to remember the order of the letters? Maybe that's why a good rock song needs a good hook. Its working a different part of the brain however than genuine music listening.
it made him who he was and he pulled from that source both anecdotal history and personal presence, he was larger than life. After he was gone his record collection became just large number of liquorish pizza.
A collection is not the same without its curator.
dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
quote by Kurt Vonnegut
Yes, when someone passes, all the memories and experiences they had stored in their brain goes with them. Such a loss. Records are but a small part by comparison, but 11,000 records must reflect a lot of experiences.
In my case, at least all my records went to a friend....maybe us older audiophiles would benefit from having younger audiophiles as friends; this has certainly proved valuable to me as I begin my downsizing.
I declined because I wanted to live my own life!
I just took 20 and could have gone for 50, maybe, but all 250 would have been strange to me.
As I wrote below.. I would never pay more than fifty cents for a Classical album. I have owned as many as 8,000 Classical albums. I threw most of them out. And now have only about 1,300 Classical albums.
IMO there is nothing in any $2, $30, or $7,000 LP I can't find in my fifty cent albums.
The difference in two of the same work is not enough to be to justify the price.
So any work... I can find a good performance for fifty cents. Period.
In fact, $1,000 is way too much for a bad 2,000 classical LP collection. For a good one that hasn't been cherry picked, it may be a good deal.
Yes, I agree. They do conjure memories.
In some cases, it is the music and the memories associated with playing that music with a certain person or in a certain period of my life.
In other situations, it's a reflection of a time period and the music I was listening to during an era of my life.
I'm not particularly sentimental, but I still love listening to LPs and still buy a few each year. (Although, unfortunately, I do find that I buy more SACD and CDs than LPs these days, just because LPs of the music I want is rarely available on LP now.)
HOWEVER, as I get older, I wonder what to do with the 2,000+ LPs I now own, neatly organized, every one in NM condition. I have no children or other relatives to just dump them on. I hate to just begin taking a box periodically to Goodwill or other dumping spots. There are no resale places in my city that want any classical at all (although I'm sure they'd love all the pristine classic rock, folk and jazz-rock fusion).
Thing is, I don't want to get rid of them yet, because (I hope) there's still music to be enjoyed for years to come by me and wifey.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
I had to answer this one.
For me, records represent my SF days with Dad and Bro. Pics are from even earlier than late 50's and early 60's, and first record purchased was a Mozart 35/39 Epic blue label LP with Szell/Clev. There remains a ~1000 LP collection, mint, plastic on, unwarped, mostly classical piano, orchestra and concerto collection at late Dad's house. Now siblings live there, still. Almost the entire Szell stereo recordings. We haven't discussed it recently.
Now own over 1500 records at home, getting older but busy also. Do listen some, enjoy immensely esp with new Hana HO MC. Bro has perhaps 400, no time to enjoy, due to work and family.
250 records is a good size. I have slightly less, and, for the most part, it's plenty. Although, there are a few records - maybe 15 or 20 at the most - that I'd like to own that I don't have. But even with my couple of hundred or so, there are many which I haven't played in years or even decades. Barbra Streisand's "Songbird" comes to mind. On the other hand, some are such classics (to me, at least) and so well done that I still play them regularly. Carly Simon's "No Secrets" and Maynard Ferguson's "M.F. Horn" are examples.Yes, our record collections are an insight into who we are and where we've been in our journey through life. I'm pleased to say that I have no, none, zero, Partridge Family records. Pink Floyd and The Moody Blues, on the other hand...
:)
Edits: 03/15/17
My son (and my wife, should I predecease her, which is a strong possibility) will be saddled with figuring out what to do with 20,000+ LPs, 45s, CDs, 78s, tapes, flash drives, cylinders, and assorted discs of various sizes and speeds of which I have no idea why they were made or on what they were played. Once upon a time they were filed neatly, but that went by the wayside long ago; I'd say less than half are now in even a semblance of order.Some of them (well, a lot of them) have stories behind them, but even that is not a factor in my collecting them, as I make a conscious effort to live in the present and eschew mindless nostalgia and trips down memory lane. Too much to learn today, too much fun to be had now, and too many new experiences waiting, to spend time dumpster diving in my past. (like too many new records to buy, listen to, and add to the shelf...)
... which leads me to conclude there's some kind of obsessive tic buried somewhere in my psyche that compels me to accumulate recorded music that I'll listen to once or twice, then put aside (except Starker's Bach solo suites. Them I listen to over and over and over...). Probably should see a shrink about it, but there's too much new stuff to do.
Edits: 03/15/17 03/15/17 03/15/17
...but you can visit that vengeance upon me if that'll help. Spare those heirs!
Still spinnin'...
;^)
Thank you for reminding me of the collecting process-
My father is passing and he has given me his records- (All at his house in MA; as I am in CA)-
I need to visit and talk with him about the gathering phase-
Happy Listening
Sorry to read about your Dad.
With regard to visiting him, I'll just say - don't dawdle, you'll regret it.
:)
Thank You-
It is a slow process - and I have - and will continue to visit-
Happy Listening
My mate marvels at when I pull an LP off the shelf and I begin tell of tales of the hunt, treasures unearthed, the disappointments, the close calls, the people met and the places found/visited in my pursuit for that LP. I know of what you speak. One day I will be doing as you and parting with my many memories and sounds. They have been a much valued treasure.Thank you for sharing and all the best!
Still spinnin'...
;^)
Edits: 03/14/17
you have what about 20K records? you can really recall that many memories? I have trouble remembering when i went to the bathroom last, or had what for breakfast.
dee
;-D
True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country.
quote by Kurt Vonnegut
...only the ones I remember. I confess that I'm a little OCD when it comes to vinyl. No, I do not have that many LPs and I have major purging to do.
Still spinnin'...
;^)
Hot damn- your memory must be a whole lot better than mine. I often go through my collection and find albums I didn't know I had...and have no idea of how they got there. Even worse, I occasionally buy records I already have.
...and then there are records I remember buying but I have NO idea of where they are any more.
My collection has reached the size where I sometimes will purchased used records that I already own. Time to get more organized about it some day ...
I remember the provenance of a few of my records but none of the older purchases (70s & 80s) and none of the online purchases. It's not really a memory thing, there just wasn't anything special to remember about the act.
Mike
A large portion of my LP purchases were through house/yard/street sales. Living in a city where there are some 3 dozen plus colleges and universities has given me opportunity to meet and experience people and music with no bounds. Some of these people have become friends and their LPs part of my collection. Many of my acquisitions are memorable for more than just the vinyl.
Still spinnin'...
;^)
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