whats in your headphones?

Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.
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giantbrookie
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Re: whats in your headphones?

Post by giantbrookie »

Like many others, I don't listen to tunes while hiking (like to imagine them in my head while hiking instead), but I enjoy music at all other times, and my tastes span a rather broad range with different tunes for different purposes.

When I work, I prefer classical music, especially Romantic era composers (esp Beethoven, Schubert, Dvorak, etc.). If my work doesn't involve serious writing (suppose I'm grading assignments or something) I like listening to jazz spanning a large range from traditional to more electronic jazz-rock/jazz-funk stuff. My native party mode is old-school soul and funk: Earth, Wind & Fire, P-Funk (and derivatives), Cameo, Confunkshun, Barkays, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, etc. My preferred workout music is hip hop or old school soul and funk. That works for driving music, too, but I actually like listening to jazz and classics while driving, too. What was playing this afternoon on my large living room stereo this weekend was a good example: yesterday I recall playing Mahler's 2nd symphony and Schubert's 5th and 9th, then I played some Jack DeJohnette (1st Sorcery album), Joshua Redman (one of his early albums), then the last scene (immolation scene) of Wagner's Götterdämmerung to honor the Stone's 17th Anniverary IPA of the same name (which I was drinking), and Miles Davis' Someday My Prince Will Come. Today it was two different Stanley Jordan albums, then John Coltrane's My Favorite Things, and Return to Forever's Romantic Warrior.

In the way long ago days (60's and 70's mainly but tradition going into the 90's) my dad and I would record these cassette tapes of our favorite classical performances and we'd play them on whatever limited system my dad had jury rigged in our 1966 Suburban. One tape was particularly treasured, and we usually timed it entry into the tape deck so that one particular selection on it came just as we reached the first view of the High Sierra along Hwy 120 as we drove up from the Bay Area (although this was commonly in the dark--the view south of the Clark Range). It was usually timed so that Wagner's Tannhäuser overture kicked on at about that point. This meant that the opening selection (recall it was Franck's violin sonata) kicked off around Groveland. When my dad passed away it made me too teary eyed to play our go-to tape driving to the mountains, so I made a different go-to classical tape and the "enter the high country" selection on that one is Dvorak's Op. 65 piano trio.
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Re: whats in your headphones?

Post by fishmonger »

always on my cell phone when in the mountains is this track - one of the few that fit on the old Motorola Razr, but I usually mange to remember to bring the earphones for those lonely nights in the mountains. I recall playing this in April when all alone on Whitney putting in a fresh track in the snow up to Trail Crest
Last edited by fishmonger on Wed Oct 10, 2018 10:11 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: whats in your headphones?

Post by J ney »

I generally only use my headphones in the evening before I knockout for the night... it really varies widely but recently it has been a lot of grassy stuff: Trampled by Turtles, Yonder Mountain String Band, .357 String Band, Alison Krauss & Union Station. Occasionally I'll throw in some Hank Jr, Waylon, or Willie.

Generally, while hiking, my mind drifts off and really bizarre songs start running on repeat in my head. Last year, just after Christmas, I had "Go Tell it on the Mountain" running in my head for an hour or so while trudging around the Hurricane Deck in Santa Barbara. Eventually it transitioned to, "Coming 'Round the Mountain" for another hour and I decided I either needed to take a break or jump off a cliff! :whistle:
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Re: whats in your headphones?

Post by fishmonger »

I never listen while walking - most of the music I like doesn't work very well with wind buzzing around my headphones, although Radiohead will be loud enough most of the time to work, but I don't really need that while moving. In camp, when it's all quiet and nothing other than rest is on the menu, it's perfect listening time for albums that are quiet, lots of dynamics, sometimes you'll hear the wind outside the tent or the stream nearby through the quiet passages in the music.

and since this old post was deleted from youtube, something I listed to this summer while heading up double passes on the JMT each day
Last edited by fishmonger on Wed Oct 10, 2018 10:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: whats in your headphones?

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Re: whats in your headphones?

Post by dave54 »

Never while hiking. i rather listen to birds, wind, animals calls, etc.

In the evening I listen to a chapter or two of audible books. I use a MP3 player rather than my phone, as the batteries last longer, and unit is smaller and lighter. In addition to several books, I also have the complete audubon collection of bird calls. Sometimes when I just cannot pin down a call, I can listen to the audubon collection and determine the species.

I have some tunes in there also. Mostly Beatles, Grateful Dead, John Coltrane and other jazz artists.
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