If that's how people feel about listening to music, maybe they're in the wrong hobby, or are listening to the wrong music.
I can't listen to music for long periods of time because of how intense the listening experience is. It wears me out, emotionally, mentally, and sometimes physically, if I'm listening too loudly or dancing like a madman all the while.
I usually listen to a disk in its entirety and take a break, mentally resetting myself for the next one, though these days I rarely have the time to invest in listening to several albums straight up.
If I find the listening tedious or not involving (or even not involving enough) I stop. What's the point, other than as a background distraction - but I don't really need a background distraction even when doing tedious tasks. There's usually enough going on in my head to keep myself entertained.
If a disk has a few good tracks and mainly filler, then it's not worth adding to my collection, so I don't have the problem of listening to long periods of filler at a time. Sometimes I will skip tracks if they stick out like a sore thumb but it's more the exception than the rule.
My obsession with audiophilia is entirely due to heightening the audio experience and making it more intense, and while I enjoy the gear in a purely abstract analytical sense, it exists only to serve the music. I suppose that having grown up as a musician I have a different perspective on music, and that listening to music technically, as well as properly surrendering to the effects of the music, are skills that have to be learned - but if you haven't taken the time to learn them, then what's the point of wasting thousands on making a tedious hobby better?
I think you should a) change up the music that you listen to, b) change your listening environment (I prefer listening in bed but if your SO objects then a comfy recliner, pillow, and blanket will help), and c) change the mental state in which you're listening to the music. While it isn't appropriate on this forum to advocate, uhm... chemical ways of improving your auditory perception (though this could be exactly the type of experience shock you need), I can advocate listening in the right state of mind. Try listening right before you go to sleep in the dreamy, surreal, quazi-sleep state if the music calls for it. Listen right after a hot bath or jacuzzi, right after a good exercise session or a meal - basically, listen in a mental state that you wouldn't ordinarily listen in to shake yourself out of whatever mental routine you've built up that's associated with music listening. In other words, experiment, and the sharper the contrast the better. Do something to make the listening an experience, and a different one than whatever you're used to, and in doing so, you will break down the mental barriers you have constructed and learn to surrender to the music and let it have its effect.
But, of course, it all comes down to the music, and if your collection isn't engaging enough, then it's time to branch out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Music is a language. You have to learn to understand it, or it's just tedious babble. Understanding requires thinking and learning about the music. You may occasionally have to crack a book, do a google search or read liner notes. If you aren't willing or intellectually able to do that, music can make fine background wallpaper. But that isn't listening to music.
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Extremely well put, especially the part in bold.
