Thread: Music

Sometimes It's hard to listen to music and do any work since I get more into the music if I really like it. It's like a job of it's own ;b

I listen to music practically 100% of the time. I'm probably a major oddball in the fact that I can go on for days or even weeks without changing songs or even the speed. My record is 46 consecutive days for the same song and 12 consecutive days at the same speed, and I'm talking 23 hours a day on average. Sure the song may be about 2 minutes long at 60% true speed, but 20,000 plays isn't anything new and this doesn't include my MP3 player, of which I have playing while I'm sleeping. My second place record is 42 days for the same song with third place at a distant 27. A few songs have passed the 6-figure lifetime play count and one is theoretically 7-figures (on the border based on calculations). I've had my current song going on for almost 2 weeks in a row now (I'd have to check my logs), but that's far from my record, even 4th place record (that's 22 days).

I listen to video game music at various speeds. I just change the sample rate in a hex editor to do so (uncompressed WAV files - bytes 0x18 through 0x1F are changed). Changing speeds dates back well before I got involved with the computer. Originally, I used WinDAT, but it won't work with XP (it's from Windows 3.1, May 1994) so I resorted to using a hex editor instead. By changing the sample rate, quality is preserved no matter how many times the speed is changed.

Originally Posted by Happy_Reaper

Must have been a good song...

Which one are you referring to? The one with a 7-figure lifetime play count? The one with 46 consecutive days at listening to?

Part of the cause for the 46-day record is the record-high compatibility spike, the highest recorded for anything (not just music, but everything).

The other one comes from an extremely high compatibility, a little more than half the current record, the amount of time I've had it 12 years versus just 5).

This has far more detail, but is quite a bit out of date. Those flagged in orange are special attributes such as records or other extremes and noteworthy details. The "compatibility" item tells how much I like the song.

I listen to music pretty much all the time but I don't listen more than most people when it comes what is widely regarded as music. It's mostly ambient that I listen to, which is pretty 'transparent' in that it goes right through without being a bunch of noise that your brain has to process. It's really good for moodsetting and keeps me calm (I sure make myself sound like an ADHD patient).

Originally Posted by Govtcheez

Have you ever gone to a psychologist or anything? Because that's really not normal.

Yes I have. I have severe OCD which has a strong influence. Combine this with the extreme compatibility with the song and it leads to going on for days and weeks on end. Most music on the radio is liked very little in comparison and one loop is sometimes more than enough for me there. Some of my songs are liked over a thousand times as much which means being able to remain listening to it for over a million times as long given my current theories. It's only well other well-liked songs take over that prevents going on for longer durations.

I rarely listen to music, although right now I'm trying to get one of my piano exam pieces into my head, so I play it from a CD every time I go on my computer . . .

Originally Posted by Govtcheez

That's fascinating. Your webpage implies you really like video game music (which seems odd to me, but whatever). Is there anything in particular that draws you to certain pieces of music?

Anything instrumental stands a much better chance. Even without changing the speed, I can still go on for 2 to 5 days (the typical) before changing speeds. Songs with lyrics have an extremely narrow speed range as either speeding it up or slowing it down will cause the lyrics to sound weird. Also, I strongly dislike lyrics (the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" is as high as it gets, still only 4% as good as the record). I base my concepts on as much science as possible and it's only being "researched". Instrumentals don't have this and instrumentals are very common in video games. Any particulars beyond that, I don't know. New insights say that the more "active" a song is, the slower the speed preferred is. Relaxing songs are better at faster-than-normal speeds (my current song, the early world map music from Final Fantasy 6, is slightly in the relaxing group and preferred at a faster-than-normal speed). The speeds used range from 20 to as much as 400% true speed. Target Zone (Monkey Target 2 from Super Monkey Ball 2) goes to 400% true speed (that's quadruple the speed) and it's very relaxing, expected. Out Where the Lake Is (levels 10 through 12 on the Sega Genesis game "Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind") is very active and goes as far back as 20% true speed and still sound decent. That document I pointed to goes in far more depth than this. 7 or so songs are missing though and the compatibility for Go Sailing Along is wrong (it should be 1400, 2080 is the highest spike).

I hope you don't take offense in me saying that your crazy, ulillillia. In class we were reading tracts outta the DSM-IV-TR today, describing anxiety disorders, and I think that you fit the bill for bein' crazy.

I like video game music too, games like Megaman 2, Sonic 2, Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Pokemon, Zelda are some of my fav's. My friends and I have made some a pretty sweet Sonic medley. I also like this funny little style of music called 'blip-blop', funny analog synthesizer noises that reminds me of vidjagame muziik.

i listen to noise, ambient, and idm in the background while i'm programming. and pretty much the same when i'm not programming.