# Music to Whos Ears?



## stevejack (Apr 5, 2020)

Curious? Do you you prefer a Quiet shop or a noisy shop such as music.

I listen to Coast to Coast AM myself


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## AMZ (Jan 27, 2020)

I need background noise, period. Doesn't have to be music (I prefer music) and it can be TV, or my beagle barking.


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## stevejack (Apr 5, 2020)

I have a friend that lives in Chicago who says the gunfire keeps him entertained while in his shop


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## metolius (May 26, 2016)

an interesting Q 
quiet is perfectly fine; otherwise npr or vintage jazz

I've been wanting to get something of the sort of an ISOtunes bluetooth headset. Airpods under my decibal defenders aren't entirely comfortable.


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

One of the things that adds to my joy of being in the shop is listening to music.


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## stevejack (Apr 5, 2020)

Let me guess 'RIDIN DIRTY" 


> One of the things that adds to my joy of being in the shop is listening to music.
> 
> - Fred Hargis


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

If that was recorded and played in the 60s then I guess it shows up from time to time on my stereo.


> Let me guess RIDIN DIRTY"
> 
> - stevejack


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## TravisH (Feb 6, 2013)

Typically don't play music in the shop but doesn't bother me one way or the other.


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## Eeyore (Jul 18, 2020)

I prefer to listen to the radio because it reminds me that time is passing in the world outside. Without this reminder I might miss meals, bedtime, etc.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

gotta have tunes on always,usually classic rock sometimes country.


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## MadMark (Jun 3, 2014)

No music. Need to hear tools running for safety.


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## wildwoodbybrianjohns (Aug 22, 2019)

> No music. Need to hear tools running for safety.
> 
> - Madmark2


This^^^^^^^^^^ And Nature.


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## mccojr02 (Sep 27, 2011)

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it but I have taken to Bluegrass in the shop lately.


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## MrWolfe (Jan 23, 2018)

Here ya go John!

I love music in the shop or some good podcasts. 
Dark Journalist is a great podcast on Youtube… the X series (100 episodes).


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> I m almost embarrassed to admit it but I have taken to Bluegrass in the shop lately.
> 
> - John


hey bluegrass can be badass !


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## wildwoodbybrianjohns (Aug 22, 2019)

> Here ya go John!
> 
> I love music in the shop or some good podcasts.
> Dark Journalist is a great podcast on Youtube… the X series (100 episodes).
> ...


Wow. Peter Dale Scott. You surprised me again, Jon. Corbett Report is also good, same vein to some extent, but none of the more speculative stuff.


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

> I m almost embarrassed to admit it but I have taken to Bluegrass in the shop lately.
> 
> - John


Allson Kraus and Union Station is my normal Opera…..


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## MrWolfe (Jan 23, 2018)

Yep… all good stuff.
Listen to the same stuff while jogging or doing yard work.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> Yep… all good stuff.
> Listen to the same stuff while jogging or doing yard work.
> 
> - MrWolfe


gardening is the only time i want silence,i want the serenity of the garden and no more.


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## hkmiller (Mar 6, 2018)

> I m almost embarrassed to admit it but I have taken to Bluegrass in the shop lately.
> 
> - John


Bluegrass is good music


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> I m almost embarrassed to admit it but I have taken to Bluegrass in the shop lately.
> 
> - John
> 
> ...


+1 hell ya!!!!


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

I prefer silence, helps me hear the feedback needed to refine hand tool techniques.


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

> No music. Need to hear tools running for safety.
> 
> - Madmark2
> 
> ...


But how can I dance at the table saw with no music?

Louder the better.


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## SMP (Aug 29, 2018)

> But how can I dance the jig at the table saw with no music?
> 
> Louder the better.
> 
> - CWWoodworking


Fixed that for you


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> No music. Need to hear tools running for safety.
> 
> - Madmark2
> 
> ...


damn straight cw!


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## RKW (Dec 17, 2008)

Music when I'm cleaning, usually stream the Orville and watch if I'm hand sanding, otherwise I like to hear the machines and I prefer quiet.


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## Sark (May 31, 2017)

I cannot concentrate with music running, maybe because I'm also a musician. The music just draws me in, and I lose focus on the work. Unless the work is really repetitive like sanding out a stack of cabinet doors. Then music helps a lot.


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## ac0rn (Jan 31, 2020)

KSQM our local radio station. They play a variety of music, and reports the local news. This is not a distraction to my attention. The alarm clock radio was a birthday present from 1966. Had to be up on time for school (freshman).


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## Knockonit (Nov 5, 2017)

combination of a local station plays old time rock and roll, and satelite radio, i change it up, and lotsa of times wear the radio ear protection, especially on the louder equipment, shoulda worn them a long time ago, with a lot of hearing loss and the need for hearing aides its a bad decision on my part decades ago. 
rj in az


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## wapakfred (Jul 29, 2011)

> No music. Need to hear tools running for safety.
> 
> - Madmark2


I have no trouble hearing my tools run, they are much louder than the music.


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## Rich1955 (Jan 26, 2020)

I usually listen to podcasts like Finewoodworking, and Woodtalk. I use the ISO bluetooth ear buds because they help with noise. The only time I don't listen to anything is when I hand cut or I'm laying out a joint,


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## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

All the years of working in cabinet shops, I've listened to it all… my shop full blast. I listen to everything from Elvis Presley to Mudvayne…


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

Rush Limbaugh in the morning, Country in the afternoon and good coffee all day long.


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## EllenWoodHead (Feb 9, 2020)

Podcasts, music, Wagner operas to chase away visitors who get in the way.


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## WalkerR (Feb 8, 2017)

I listen to music, but also like the safety of hearing the tools. Therefore, the music is not overly loud, and I won't use earbuds.

Bluegrass and folk music seems to go along well with woodworking, especially when I'm using the hand tools. Some of my favorites are Avett Brothers, the Wood Brothers, Trampled by Turtles, the Dead South, Orville Peck, Colter Wall.


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## stevejack (Apr 5, 2020)

I am getting hooked oh Adam Savage "TESTED" and "ONE DAY BUILDS!" on youtube.


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## BB1 (Jan 29, 2016)

Typically quiet as I seem to be distracted by radio playing. If I'm painting or doing "simple" (non-decision like painting) tasks, may turn on the radio. In the past, would listen to my university football game on Saturday afternoon while in the shop.


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

I set up a Raspberry Pi with Volumio for listening to internet radio. A Gazillion sources for streamed music, I seem to be stuck on classic rock.


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## GR8HUNTER (Jun 13, 2016)

CLASSIC ROCK is what keeps me singing along very loudly sometimes and playing the air drums and guitars REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN :<))


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## xeddog (Mar 2, 2010)

Silence for me for a couple of reasons. If a music station, when good tunes come on they are a distraction. When bad tunes come on they are a DISTRACTION!!!!!! But the biggest problem with music stations is that now days there just isn't any music at all, just gawd awful racket!! Some of the most famous females have voices that can cut steel. Others, including (or maybe especially) males, can't carry a tune to save their lives. How in the hell did they even get a contract at all??? Talk radio is maddening and depressing.


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## sansoo22 (May 7, 2019)

It depends on what I'm doing really. If I'm heavily using machines I typically turn off the music to avoid distractions….plus I can't really hear it anyway. For just background noise I throw on country or classic rock. If I've got a lot of hand tools out its bluegrass or blues. Not sure why those last two go with hand tools but I can't listen to anything else while working at my hand tool bench.


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## EricFai (Sep 30, 2018)

Classic rock is the way to go.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> Classic rock is the way to go.
> 
> - Eric


+1


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## CWWoodworking (Nov 28, 2017)

Good tunes is good tunes. Rock, country, jass, labels don't matter. The key is passion.

I listen to anything from Billie ellish to Merle haggard.


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## EricFai (Sep 30, 2018)

Very true about the tunes. A good mix


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## Foghorn (Jan 30, 2020)

Classic rock or talk radio and occasionally country. Sometimes the TV is on.


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## david2011 (Apr 1, 2008)

Before the walls were closed in for my new shop build I ran speaker wire from where the sound system will live to the four corners of the room. If I need my concentration I can stop the radio or music. Otherwise, I like to listen to tropical rock (in the style of Jimmy Buffet) which is hard to come by on the radio. I have a big collection of trop rock artist CDs that I need to transfer to an old iPhone or iPod for shop use. We also have great talk radio in Houston. I'll also install Wi-Fi over powerline which uses the AC lines in the house wiring to extend Wi-Fi much in the way that DSL sends a signal over phone lines.


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## GregoryH (Apr 15, 2021)

Coast to Coast ftw!


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## OldBull (Apr 30, 2020)

Eagles, Steppenwolf, Crosby Stills and Nash, Lynard Skynard, Johann Strauss, Handel, Christina Aguilera, old (1980's) Madonna, Hank Williams Jr., Faith Hill, Billy Joel, Pink Floyd.


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## Rich1955 (Jan 26, 2020)

It depends on what I'm doing, if I am doing a final layout on a project I prefer a quiet shop. Otherwise i usually listen to podcasts.


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## controlfreak (Jun 29, 2019)

Podcasts here. Lately have been catching up on Woodtalk episodes. I often like to just get lost in the project at hand in complete silence. As to loud music interfering with hearing tools run, my dust control does that without the music playing.


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## Wood_Scraps (Jan 31, 2021)

Not music all that often. But almost always have my Plugfones in (32db nrr). For some reason I really enjoy putting on strange, bizarre, creepy mystery type podcasts. If not that, I'll listen to things like Steven Crowder episode.


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## Planeman40 (Nov 3, 2010)

I'm 80 years old and grew up listening to the wonderful radio programs of the 1940's and 1950's. These are still available at https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio. Lots of comedies, mysteries, etc. Give it a try. I record these and play them back while I work. Lots of fun!!!


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## PaulDoug (Sep 26, 2013)

Mostly quiet but once and I while I put on some classical or Jazz….


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## Badgerstate (Jan 18, 2021)

I can do either but I tend to like listening to music while Im working. Ive got a little Milwaukee M12 jobsite radio and its awesome because you can either listen to AM/FM radio or connect it to your phone and stream music or podcasts.
Its also nice that it serves as a battery charger and can run cordless off of an M12 battery.


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## BurlyBob (Mar 13, 2012)

Now that Rush past away I'm having a hard time in the morning. It's either country or Christian music. Nobody can ever replace Rush Limbaugh!


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

how about some ac/dc cranked up until the sawdust dances -lol.


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

I keep the classical station on all the time. Nothing I have to pay attention to that might distract me when using power tools. Soft enough I don't hear it with a machine running.


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## EricFai (Sep 30, 2018)

AC/DC, yeah. Guns & Roses.


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## DaveM123 (May 2, 2020)

I enjoy some country music is the background.


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## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

> AC/DC, yeah. Guns & Roses.
> 
> - Eric


now were talkin ! poweful machines need powerful music !


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

As long as I am up and around, I have music playing. I listen to an internet radio station, KBRD out of Olympia, Wa; advertised as the 9th best radio station. It broadcasts in AM and you never hear the same song twice. They cover music that was played during the 78's era. You can hear a song by Al Jolson followed by one by Spike Jones then Ernest Tubb; the variety is endless.


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## Bearcontrare (Oct 6, 2020)

Nowadays, the ONLY sounds I want to hear in the shop are the ones I make, with hand or power tools. The relative quiet provides a theraputic atmosphere, which allows the mind to settle and lets you be alone with your thoughts.
EVERYWHERE ELSE you go nowadays, they're blaring "music" at too high a volume to "improve your experience". Meaning they just want to annoy the ******************** out of you. I go to the shop to ESCAPE the noise of the modern world!!!


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## 987Ron (Apr 9, 2020)

Sometimes music via CD player. Found though that I get engrossed with the project that I don't really hear the music or radio if it is on. Power tools, dust collector, vacuum etc. out do the music anyway So usually a quiet shop except for the tools.


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## darthford (Feb 17, 2013)

Fast bluegrass and I prefer instrumentals only, no vocals. I find vocals in background music fatiguing after a few songs.


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## AlaskaGuy (Jan 29, 2012)

When I'm in the shop I'll listen to news and talk shows mostly.

Nothing wrong with Bluegrass music. Back in the day I used to do a little Scruggs style banjo.


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## Sylvain (Jul 23, 2011)

Listening to your (hand) tools gives you a precious feedback.
for example 
- it prevent nailing your chisel in the mortise.
- the variation in the "swish" sound of a plane indicates if you go above a hollow;
- the sound when ripping by hand might indicate the board is pinching (experienced this very afternoon);
- vibration sound might indicate the clamping is not good;

and so on
Paul Sellers says he can tune the left right lever of his plane by the sound; he has various blogs and video on the subject.

This guy advocates also the absence of distracting sounds:
https://covingtonandsons.com/2021/04/03/the-four-habits-and-three-mysteries/


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