I am sitting here listening to the music of my friend, Michael Ward-Bergeman on his MySpace page. It is fantastic music, but cranking it on the living room speakers would have less than ideal consequences considering it is almost midnight as I write this (I have a whole house full of people that need to stay asleep while I indulge myself in the hyper-accordion). So what am I doing? I’m cranking the music on my headphones!

I love headphones. And by headphones I don’t mean the cheap little earbuds that come with your iPod (and no, not the old ones that came with your Walkman that have all the foam falling off the earpiece either. If you don’t know what a Walkman is, then don’t talk to me). I am talking about really good quality headphones; the kind that put you right into the middle of the music you are listening to, immersing you in the sound. My personal favorites are a pair of Sennheiser’s that I bought in London while on tour (Think airplane seat. Think demolished plug on old headphones). I paid a lot of money for them, but then again, I have had them for (gulp) 10 years. I think it has been worth it!

Anyway, the point is, there is really nothing like experiencing music played through a really good set of headphones. It is your own private concert in the best stereo you will ever hear. There is something about retreating to your own space and immersing yourself in the music you are hearing and that only you are hearing: your own audio world to observe and explore. Good music needs focus to be fully appreciated. It shouldn’t be relegated to some background soundtrack for dishes and laundry. Listening on headphones provides that. It provides you the opportunity to absorb music on a level it deserves. So grab your ‘phones, put on some fantastic music, close your eyes, and disappear for a while. You will be glad you did.

Plus, it doesn’t wake the baby. And at this particular point in my life, that is a pretty important thing.

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Tagged: listening