I don’t know about you guys but I generally like to have something playing in the background while I’m working on the layout. Sometimes I’ll put on an Allan Keller video but most times I’m listening to music. Sometimes it will be something appropriate for the mood like Gordon Lightfoot Canadian Railroad Trilogy, Gerry Mulligan K4 Pacific or something like Devin Townsend or Rush.
What’s on your layout-building playlists?
I listen to an eclectic internet radio station.
https://www.radioparadise.com/rp_2.php?#
I think figuring out what to play next is a job I prefer to have done for me.
I’ll second the Rush and Devin Townsend. With copious helpings of Porcupine Tree, Spocks Beard, and Yes. Sprinkle in some Buddy Rich, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, and Pat Metheny. When nothing is going right, a bit of Opeth, Lamb of God and/or Meshuggah usually hit the spot. Music is a wonderful thing. It can elevate a mood, transform a mood, or take you to an entirely different mood of your choosing. Or it can just be background music.
My music preferences swings now I’m enjoying the Tavern songs from Dragon Age Inquisition next week who knows?
A example:
Usually, I’ll have an audio book running in the background. Especially helpful when doing mundane tasks, ballasting, weathering, routine car kits.
Your library should be able to set you up with free downloads. The book I’m listening to now runs 65 hours [:|] that will ballast a LOT of track!
If I’m programming decoders, though, it requires more concentration so I’ll throw on some Floyd, Beatles, Springsteen, Big band, WWII or theater pipe organ music or even soundtracks from musicals! An ecclectic mix.
I might have a railroad DVD running, too, but with the sound nearly muted. I’ve heard all the Green Frog narration I need to hear for a lifetime!
Fun Stuff! Ed
No music when working on the layout, but in the workshop, working on trains, I’ll use the stereo if it’s not covered in train projects.
Selections run from '40s big band stuff, the mid-'60s to early seventies rock of all types, and Dylan, AC/DC, Ted Nugent, Motorhead, etc.
I like it loud, though, so there’s not much music when I’m in the shop, as I work mostly at night.
Wayne
My mix is the what I listen to when I hike to work (on my phone). It’s a mix ranging from Billie Holliday to Ziggie Marlee. Those are the extremes of the mix. But most of the mix is 3 Doors Down, Creed, Nickelback, Hootie & the Blowfish, OneRepublic, SmashMouth, etc. A mix of 90s, 2000s, and today with a few other oddballs mixed in. For the most part, go for tracks rather than groups. 3 Doors Down is an exception to that, however.
I do have to watch for catching the earphone cords on things. I keep the music to myself as some of it might be a little much for my family. (Nothing bad, just not what my parents and uncle listen to for the most part.)
Unless I’m listening to how an engine is running, I have music on most of the time. I’ve got a pretty catholic taste in music, Beethoven to Poets of the Fall and a bit of most things in between; though light on jazz, but NO Country & Western or Rap.
The current playlist on while I’m writing this has a mixture of Genesis, Mike Oldfield, Focus, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, The Foo Fighters, ELO, Split Enz, Uriah Heep, Nightwish and Dream Theater.
It’s funny, a lot of people like to have quiet, relaxing music when working on stuff. I’m the opposite. I tend to blast Amon Amarth and Rammstein. I have a hard time hearing (or in Rammstein’s case understanding German), but the fast beat just gets my heart cranking and I have a rythym to work to.
This is a forum to discuss model trains. Isn’t there a forum somewhere for discussing music?
There’s nothing wrong with people who have bonded with each other over model trains starting the occasional thread to get to know each other. If the Forum gets flooded with this kind of thread, we’ll crack down, but there’s no harm in one or two of them.
One or two is one thing, but judgying by the past year or so, there seems to be a pattern.
For about 6 years I was a moderator for a gaming company forum, and they had a single topic which was for “off topic” chatter - music, other hobbies, whatever. Everything was limited to that topic to keep the forum from being constantly spammed with non-game topic discussion. There seems to be a topic like that here already if I’m not mistaken for non-model train discussion - the Jeffries Trackside Diner. Just sayin …
Would everyone feel better if the songs were train related? Depending on my mood, I can be listening to everything from Mack Gordon’s Chatanooga Choo Choo to Ozzy’s Crazy Train!
I listen to sports radio when working on trains.
I like watching train videos when I work on my layout or run trains.
As a kid on the West Coast, I loved Oldies Radio Kearth 101, It was the only station in Los Angeles with an Oldies format and It had a pretty good signal around Mission Viejo and the rest of SoCal . The other stations were either Adult hits or Classic Rock. Nowadays, I seldom listen to KRTH because it is now a clone of Jack FM and I have Sirius XM on my Phone which plays a much better and larger variety. The playlist was late 60’s - early 70’s with a handful of pre 64 mixed in.
Well here comes the Bakersfield Weirdo, I enjoy old time mysteries on DVDs. I have a 25” TV and a DVD Player in the garage with my layout and the complete Agatha Christies Poirot series as well as Ellery Queen and Nero Wolfe. That is 115 eposiodes totaling 145 hours of mysteries before repeating.
Mel
Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951
My Model Railroad
http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/
Bakersfield, California
I’m beginning to realize that aging is not for
I play 70’s and 80’s Rock on my stero with Bose speakers. Get more work done when I play music.
I have a drive in movie screen on my layout behind the screen is a groove cube speaker that entertains the “audiance” with whatever suits my fancy while I am working so it could be anything from 70s rock to the baseball game.
On my I-pod connected to a Bose speaker system I have 10,046 songs. I have artists from Aaron Neville to Wolfgang Amadeous Mozart and every type of song in between. I always have music on when at the work bench but not while running the trains as I feel that is its own music. I tend to listen to the full list of songs per artist, I may listen to 50 Elton John, 10 Bach, a few Katy Perry to 15 Tina Turner to something from Alabama. I still have my cleaned up playlist from the office of 800 songs that helped to satisify many a tough day on the job.
One thing about threads, if you disagree with what they are discussing you either can contribute positively your views or move on. Complaining you think the thread is not right, is useless, thats what the moderator is here for.
Enjoy the day
TomO