Do you listen to music when you are out tramping?
I have been asked this question before and in my case the answer is yes....I like to listen to music when I am walking as I find it increases my enjoyment and makes me cover distance quicker.
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| Music makes the gravel bash up the Waimakiriri River Valley bearable... |
There are caveats though; I do not listen to music when I am walking through a bird filled forest, alongside a lake or river or when I am looking at a beautiful vista. I would never spoil another persons enjoyment of the outdoors by blaring music out as I walk or in a hut unless they asked.
"...Jesus freaks out in the street
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The Boulevard is not that bad
Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows the tune she hums..."
If I'm playing music I do so through headphones....old school, Walkman style headphones with the foam pads over the ear piece.
Handing tickets out for God
Turning back she just laughs
The Boulevard is not that bad
Piano man he makes his stand
In the auditorium
Looking on she sings the songs
The words she knows the tune she hums..."
If I'm playing music I do so through headphones....old school, Walkman style headphones with the foam pads over the ear piece.
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| Out walking on the Summit Walkway in 2016 |
I don't mind listening to music in huts...its quite nice to lay on your bunk and zone the rest of the people out with music. If I could find a super light weight blue tooth speaker I would take one as I have been in huts when people have one and it can make for a nice ambiance. I just don't want to carry the extra weight....
"...Way down the lane away, living for another day
The aphids swarm up in the drifting haze
Swim seagull in the sky towards that hollow western isle
My envied lady holds you fast in her gaze..."
Using music to burn the miles...
I would normally only listen to music when I'm walking if I was doing a long, boring road walk or gravel bash up some braided river. In both these cases the walking is relatively easy and concentration is not required.
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| Out waking around the Travis Wetlands in 2017 |
"...Off the wind on this heading lie the Marquesas
We got eighty feet of waterline, nicely making way
In a noisy bar in Avalon I tried to call you
But on a midnight watch I realised why twice you ran away..."
Music is also an integral part of my fitness walking, wither it is up the beach, along the Port Hills or just around town music makes the distance fade.
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| Fitness walking out by the Travis Wetlands |
I would never wear headphones or listen to music if I was in a hazard zone as you need all your faculties to stay save in those situations. Take an avalanche zone...you are going to hear it before you see it so if your hearing is impaired your going to be toast....!!!
What gear do I use....
I was a denizen of the 80-90's so I still use a MP3 player...for you youngster out there an MP3 player is a small electronic device with digital music stored on it. I know you can use your phone for music storage but I still prefer the small size and light weight of a late model MP3.
I currently have six MP3 players from Sony, Apple and other generic brands but the one I use most often is a Sony Digital Walkman. It is about 5cms long by 2 cms wide, holds 16GB of data and weights about 50gms.
"...Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake..."
With a full charge it will last for about 4 hours constant play and can be recharged with a power bank. This beast will hold about 40 albums or roughly 400 songs which is way more music than battery life.
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| My MP3 player is similar to this Sony product |
I currently have six MP3 players from Sony, Apple and other generic brands but the one I use most often is a Sony Digital Walkman. It is about 5cms long by 2 cms wide, holds 16GB of data and weights about 50gms.
"...Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake..."
With a full charge it will last for about 4 hours constant play and can be recharged with a power bank. This beast will hold about 40 albums or roughly 400 songs which is way more music than battery life.
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| Sony MP3 player....easy controls, good memory, long battery life... |
I pair this with a set of $15 dollar headphones from the Warehouse or JB Hifi, not ear buds as I find them incredibly uncomfortable to wear.
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| Old style Sony Walkman over ear headphones |
This type of headphone is becoming difficult to find now so I guess I will be looking for an alternate soon...
"..And if we should die tonight
Then we should all die together
Raise a glass of wine for the last time
Calling out for the rope
Prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn on and on the mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky..."
Good tramping tunes....
What music do I like...1960's music through to now really,... a bit of classic 60-70's rock/folk, punk and post punk, anything from the 1980's, 90's grunge and clubbing music, modern jazz styles (cool, acid, trip, crossover and fusion), some rap and hip-hop....an eclectic mixture.
"..Well I wonder some times as I look at you
Was it so very long ago
There were times
There were so many times....
Holding on
And it comes only
Once in your life..."
I like whole albums as originally arranged over singles...hey the artist placed the songs in that order on an album for a reason. Also just listening to the hit singles deprives you of all those good songs that don't make it into the charts. Single sales are one of the things wrong with modern music...but I digress!
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| One of my favorite albums: Icehouse, Sidewalk, 1984...its a long story... |
"..Well I wonder some times as I look at you
Was it so very long ago
There were times
There were so many times....
Holding on
And it comes only
Once in your life..."
I like whole albums as originally arranged over singles...hey the artist placed the songs in that order on an album for a reason. Also just listening to the hit singles deprives you of all those good songs that don't make it into the charts. Single sales are one of the things wrong with modern music...but I digress!
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| More Waimakiriri gravel bashing......flat, hot and never ending |
Artists....?
I'm a old dude so people who were around when I was in my teens, twenties and thirties....and others I have enjoyed since.
Miles Davis, Chet Baker, George Benson, Crosby Stills and Nash, Beatles/Stones, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Smiths/Cure/Cult ( yeah I know....), Split Enz/Tim Finn/Crowded House, U2, Police/Sting, Icehouse, Dire Straits, Wham/George Micheal, Elton John (I like those old Bernie Taupin songs...),
I also like any Kiwi band, Ultravox/Visage/Midge Ure, Peter Gabriel/Genesis/Mike and the Mechanics/Phil Collins (all much maligned) any new romantic 1980's band....1990-2000's bands like Level 42, Foo Fighters, Chilli Peppers, REM, Paramore, Eminen, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, ... a bit of Gary Moore, Queen, Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd.....Metallica, AC-DC..more modern stuff like Six-60, Sons of Zion, Halsey, Ed Sheeran, Khalid and I like some of Post Malones songs...
I'm a old dude so people who were around when I was in my teens, twenties and thirties....and others I have enjoyed since.
Miles Davis, Chet Baker, George Benson, Crosby Stills and Nash, Beatles/Stones, Gordon Lightfoot, John Denver, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Smiths/Cure/Cult ( yeah I know....), Split Enz/Tim Finn/Crowded House, U2, Police/Sting, Icehouse, Dire Straits, Wham/George Micheal, Elton John (I like those old Bernie Taupin songs...),
I also like any Kiwi band, Ultravox/Visage/Midge Ure, Peter Gabriel/Genesis/Mike and the Mechanics/Phil Collins (all much maligned) any new romantic 1980's band....1990-2000's bands like Level 42, Foo Fighters, Chilli Peppers, REM, Paramore, Eminen, Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, ... a bit of Gary Moore, Queen, Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd.....Metallica, AC-DC..more modern stuff like Six-60, Sons of Zion, Halsey, Ed Sheeran, Khalid and I like some of Post Malones songs...
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| On the Christchurch 360 Trail listening to some tunes... |
Name these song....
"Oh mother, I can feel...
the soil falling over my head...
and as I climb into an empty bed...
Oh well, enough said.."
How about this...
"So over the mountains and over the plains
into the Muskeg and into the rain
Up the St Lawrence all the way to Gaspe
Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay
Drivin' 'em in and tyin' 'em down
Away to the bunkhouse and into the town
A dollar a day and a place for my head
A drink to the livin' and a toast to the dead...."
How about this...
"So over the mountains and over the plains
into the Muskeg and into the rain
Up the St Lawrence all the way to Gaspe
Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay
Drivin' 'em in and tyin' 'em down
Away to the bunkhouse and into the town
A dollar a day and a place for my head
A drink to the livin' and a toast to the dead...."
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| Genesis, Invisible Touch, 1986...a stonking good album |
If you know any of these lyrics then we probably like the same kind of music...
"...You're hiding from me now
There's something in the way that you're talking
Words don't sound right
But I hear them all moving inside you
Go, I'll be waiting when you call..."
And of course my favorite song I first remember hearing when I was about 6-7 years old...Wildfire by Micheal Murphy:
"...By the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl outside my window now
'Bout six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go..."
Party on dudes......chur!!!!
There's something in the way that you're talking
Words don't sound right
But I hear them all moving inside you
Go, I'll be waiting when you call..."
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| On the beach between North Beach and Spencer Park, Canterbury |
"...By the dark of the moon, I planted
But there came an early snow
Been a hoot-owl outside my window now
'Bout six nights in a row
She's coming for me, I know
And on Wildfire we're both gonna go..."
Party on dudes......chur!!!!
