# What kind of music goes with woodworking?



## craftsman on the lake (Dec 27, 2008)

I have a computer with itunes and a radio in the shop both with powered speakers. on the computer I have a ton of songs in every genre (not rap). After listening to everything from AC/DC to classical I've found that for my tastes, bluegrass and fiddle or mandolin folk, and old time music seem to match what I'm doing when I'm working with wood. Classical or soft rock sometimes works. Rock for example just doesn't seem to fit and even though I like it and listen to it outside the shop. I'm compelled to change it to something else in the shop.

Do you listen to music in your shop? If so, what?


----------



## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

WOODy Guthrie? sorry


----------



## cabinetmaster (Aug 28, 2008)

Golden oldies or country


----------



## oldskoolmodder (Apr 28, 2008)

Good One Charlie. Thought having met him, I'll throw in Arlo Guthrie as well. Though, listening to Alice's Restaurant while trying to cut wood, is a bit of a hit and miss at times.

Everything, including SOME rap is ok. If I don't like what I'm listening to, then it'll be over soon enough.


----------



## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

I listen to classical music, love the old masters like Mozart,...................


----------



## kiwi1969 (Dec 22, 2008)

Gotta say im a sucker for both the Woody and Arlo guthrie tunes but I find myself laughing too much at Alices Restaurant to concentrate on what i,m doin. Try some Cowboy junkies for the fine work or a bit of the Pogues or The Reverend Horton Heat if you,re doin some heavy ripping and when it all goes wrong how about a bit of Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen. I gotta agree with you Daniel on the Bluegrass/ folk thing, it just fits somehow if you,re useing hand tools. I WOULD RATHER STICK A GIMLET IN MY EYE THAN LISTEN TO [email protected]#$&%G RAP IN THE SHOP!!! sorry thats just my opinion, each to his own!


----------



## bhack (Mar 19, 2008)

Traditional country- George Jones, Merle Haggard. etc..- conservative talk.


----------



## Karson (May 9, 2006)

C & W. When I remember to turn on the CD's The metal walls kill the antenna. I guess I need an outside one.


----------



## wooddon (Jul 11, 2007)

jazz


----------



## MedicKen (Dec 2, 2008)

For me its what they are now calling "classic rock". How can they call it that? Does that mean i am also a classic? Its the stuff I grew up with and will have played at my funeral. I will also occasionally listen to country when the mood strikes, thats usually when I am using hand tools, planing, scraping etc.


----------



## gbvinc (Aug 6, 2007)

Let's see…currently my stereo in the shop is loaded with Led Zeppelin, Little Feat, Jethro Tull, and ZZ Top. When I get tired of those, I'll put in something else.


----------



## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

Old time rock and roll! 1956 thru 1964


----------



## jm540 (Jan 14, 2009)

I also find myself listening to things I would not normally in the shop
classic rock is ok 
wide spread panic is great
elton john and louie armstrong
The sound tracks to Cirque de sole sp? are great

Dave ramsey is the best
The dust has killed my cd player and I get really bad reseption in my parents basement so I've been listening to the only fm station I get clear in the day mix something and if i hear "put a ring on it" or I hate this part right here again I'm gonna have to buy a new one


----------



## Rxmpo (Feb 23, 2008)

I agree with Roman…nothing like classical or opera… Stimulates the mind!


----------



## bowyer (Feb 6, 2009)

Stevie Ray Von and "The Motorcycle Song" from Arlo Guthrie during the planning process, but I like to listen to the music of my tools in the building stage.


----------



## davidroberts (Nov 8, 2008)

wonderful subject. try the band "New Grass Revival", or any david grisman, or bela fleck if you like a virtuoso on bango. I like the early allman brothers albums such as Fillmore East, Eat a Peach, Idlewild South, or just a good allman complilation. I like early Yes albums especially Close to the Edge, Relayer and Tales From Topographic Ocean. Any Beatles, CSNY, neal young, some 40s big band stuff, some 50s jazz especially saxophonist Stan Getz and guitarist João Gilberto together. a wonderful cd is Nova Bossa: Red Hot on Verve, verve is the producer. It is a collection of smooth latin jazz, beautiful. just type in the above and buy it used on amazon for $3.25. jean-luc ponty - the struggle of the turtle to the sea, is beautiful. andrea bocelli and itzhak pearlman as a change. dan fogelberg, michael murphey, leon russell if you can find him. miles davis and just about anyone who played with him. chris botti, and probably my favorite - pat metheny. that's quite a bit of music for a guy who has never posted a project! can you trust a guy like that….

old Yes music such as


----------



## ccpenco (Feb 19, 2009)

hmm i'm not really sure. i grew up around hip-hop but it doesn't really go with the noise of a tablesaw that well!


----------



## WoodSpanker (Feb 10, 2009)

I listen to Tom Petty in my shop.


----------



## GuyK (Mar 26, 2007)

Depends on the time of day. In the morning, mostly talk radio, then in the afternoon and evening classical music. Classical lets me focus more on what I am doing.


----------



## PG_Zac (Feb 14, 2009)

When I have the big machines going, then music is wasted.

When I am hand working or fine working with small machines, I find that most music distracts me and I'm liable to make mistakes.

The music that helps me keep focus and concentration is the likes of ERA, Deep Forest, anything Gregorian, Vangelis, Evanescence.

I need introspective and meditative to keep on track.

Outside the shop? Well, that's a whole different subject all together.


----------



## Harley130 (Nov 1, 2008)

I have a XM radio hooked to stereo speakers in my shop. During the day I listen to some shows on talk radio. My favorite music to listen to is the Blues. XM has a channel called Bluesville that plays a lot of the classical blues as well as the newer stuff. I also have the speakers setup where I can hook my Ipod into it and listen to podcasts that I've download from Itunes. This is great for the woodworking audio podcasts.


----------



## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

My son bought me a i pod for Christmas so i have that loaded up with all classic rock , Led Zeppelin , Black Sabbath , nirvana . It,s amazing how many songs they can hold and they sound great.


----------



## Mario (Apr 23, 2007)

I am with Don Jazz. I have a Sirrius radio and it is always on classic Jazz.


----------



## Toolz (Feb 26, 2008)

Old time rock and roll! 1956 thru 1964, folk music, and of course "Click and Clack" on Car Talk NPR Saturday mornings.


----------



## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

None. 
FM reception sucks and AM is all talk radio. Don't need no advice on cleansing my colon.
Sawdust killed one CD player. LOML won't let me take another from the house.


----------



## mtnwild (Sep 28, 2008)

I listen to blue grass. Any and all. If you turn it up you can even hear that banjo over the noise and ear protectors. Yee ha!


----------



## dennis (Aug 3, 2006)

Check out Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. 
What a great name!


----------



## DannyBoy (Oct 26, 2007)

This depends on my mood. Usually, I have a local radio station playing classic rock. If I'm in the mood to put in CDs (no ipod), then I range from Ben Folds, to jazz/blues/soul, to Smashing Pumpkins. If I'm working on a day when it is on, I'll have "Prairie Home Companion" or "Dave Ramsey" on talk radio.

Recently, I listened to Smashing Pumpkins' album "Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness" while box making after a bad day at real work. I enjoyed that entire night and made a pretty darn good box (from "Box by Box") out of some scrape pine.

~DB


----------



## juniorjock (Feb 3, 2008)

I've got the XM station Octane from DirecTV going to the shop on a wire-less speaker system. They say they play "new hard rock". Most of it is pretty good, just can't take the songs that have a lot of screaming in them. If I'm listening to CDs it's usually SRV, Kenny Wayne Shepherd (any kind of blues) or rock, AC/DC, STP, ZZ or whatever I pick out of my collection. Always have to have music, even if I can't hear it. I've seen a thread like this before. You could probably run a search and see what a lot of Jocks listen to.
- JJ


----------



## BassBully (Mar 8, 2007)

Rock 'n Roll - AC/DC, Metallica, Whatever's on the rock channel. Also like classic rock. However, when the kiddies come in I turn it off for their innocent ears-mainly because the commercials advertise the local strip club and I don't want them asking questions yet. As a Christian, I should probably change the channel for my ears too but the music that's played is what I grew up with so it's kind of hard to do.


----------



## pommy (Apr 17, 2008)

Well i'v guessd the age group of LJ's here 40 to 50 lol….

well i listen to stereophonics, ac/dc most old metal and my favourite at the moment is KINGS OF LEON

ANDY


----------



## Moai (Feb 9, 2009)

rock is overwhelming to me when working in a shop. I tune a radio station from a Local High School, they play 30's, 40's and the sounds of the swing era, what a great music to work with!


----------



## joey (Sep 17, 2007)

I listen to bluegrass, or classic rock. if I,m doing a lot production work. and for work that takes more focus I listen to Native American flute music.

Joey


----------



## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

Music played by blowing on a cider jug and rubbing scrub brushes on a wash pail, accompanied by a guy "playing" a tree saw.
Guess they call that "Hillbilly Music."


----------



## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

Sirens?

Bob


----------



## Loucarb (Dec 19, 2008)

I go from rock to CW to classical depending on my mood I guess???


----------



## Bureaucrat (May 26, 2008)

Celtic, New Age, Fusion Jazz and Classical.


----------



## mmh (Mar 17, 2008)

We listen to a wide variety including: Classical, Opera, Jazz/R&B, Hawaiian, Some Country (Willie Nelson, Patsy Klein), 50's-80's rock n roll (Elvis, Buddy Holly, Beatles, etc.) , How about the Sons of the Pioneers? Depends on the mood. Although with power equipment on, it's hard to hear much of anything. Sometimes the sounds of silence are nice.


----------



## Hersh328 (Jan 10, 2009)

I've always listened to rock, in and out of the shop, but nowadays I have found that a rather unusual one puts me at ease and seems to go well with working in the shop. Johnny Cash reading the New Testament. I like a lot of his music, but hearing him speak is great, and his reading the scriptures is just awesome. Though I must admit a few instances of just standing there waiting for him to finish a passage before I put on the earmuffs and start up the router.

And for hardware, a digital audio player of some kind is a must, as was mentioned above, CD players don't like dust. (Not to mention their paltry music capacity)


----------



## CelticDreamer (May 24, 2008)

I plug my Ipod into my workmuffs and enjoy the sounds of British heavy metal - Saxon, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Deep Purple…..


----------



## Josh (Aug 14, 2007)

I usually play music that will balance out my mood. If I'm a little to fired up i'll play some something that will help relax me. For instance the dead, bob marley, or ben harper. If I'm in a lazy mood I'll play something that helps get me moving. For instance rage against the machine, tupac, otis redding, or bob marley. Trouble with the wife? I usually turn to zz hill, rehab, or pantera. If I'm working with the doors open in the early spring I love some johnny cash, david allen cole, OAR, or arrested development. If I'm working with loud machines I'll usually stick with the reggae sounds of peter tosh, burning spear, and of course marley. For some reason the reggae and loud machines seem to work in harmony.


----------



## deadheadderek (Feb 24, 2009)

Well as the screen name might suggest, I do have over 15 days of live Dead on my iPod, along with a ton of the artist of the last 40 years, plus a smattering of Buddy Holly and old Johnny Cash.
My shop is always rockin'


----------



## boboswin (May 23, 2007)

The most important issue for me regarding music in the shop is being able to have some control over the choice of music, and when to turn it off, otherwise it may becomes anything but calming.

I am in the process of getting a new radio with remote control as I dropped my old one.
It's important to me when working to be able to shut out certain kinds of "cacophony" from various radio stations when they get too abusive with their commercials etc.

I find talk shows can make me grumpy if I don't go over to the box and shut them off.
Goes to show you what subliminal processes are going on while you are focusing on something else.

Bob


----------



## StevenAntonucci (Aug 14, 2007)

Anything that you know well. For me, it's more about "knowing what's coming next" as to avoid any surprises. That said, it tends to be heavy metal or progressive rock.

Metallica
Iron Maiden
Rush
Yes
Queen

I have been known to air guitar on a bowl gouge once in a while…


----------



## Woodburner (Feb 28, 2008)

How about "Big Band" music from the 30's and 40's? It has a good beat to it when I'm cutting wood and especially turning wood in the shop.


----------



## Darell (Jul 23, 2008)

Sirius NASCAR Radio. Listening to the whiners and complainers is as entertaining, if not more so, than watching the races.


----------



## Mx329 (Feb 19, 2008)

Mostly country, sometimes oldies from the 60-80s and sometimes NPR radio when I like to argue.


----------



## brianinpa (Mar 16, 2008)

Classic rock, heavy metal, and depending on the mood Country, but sorry - NO RAP!


----------



## Dadoo (Jun 23, 2007)

Born and raised in the 70's and mostly listen to that today. But then I also really get into KORN and Godsmack and Nickleback… and some of those other, newer bands…keeps the flies off my finish and the Bible Thumpers fear me.

Rap??? No freakin' way, but I would like to get a hold of their stereo systems!

But then I'd be gettin' dust in my finish right?


----------

