Darkroom Music

[Jim Chinn]

I usually listen to Jazz, or calssical with a good dose of 60s-80s rock mixed in.

I pretty much only listen to it while I am setting up the darkroom and after the printing is done and I am breaking things down for the night. Sometimes I get involved in the music to much and get forgetful while I'm printing.

I have been listening more to popular radio music of the 30s, 40s and early 50s. I have been on this modern art thing for the past year learning as much as I can about American and European art in the 20th century up to the 60s.
So along with the music I go the the library once in awhile and look up old issues of NY Times to get a flavor of the times especially late 40s early 50s, the fertile and formative years for Rothko, Pollock, de Kooning, Guston, Siskind, Calahan etc.

 

[Shesh]

Good Afternoon,

Its TV time because the Cardinals are about to play game 6 of the NLCS; fingers are crossed!

Konical

I cannot cross my fingers anymore, they are all chewed up - Red Sox plays Yankees for Game 7 of ALCS tonight.

 

[Melanie]

ZAPPA, is always good, or some time my two year old granddaughters TV shows music can be heard and helps keep time with filling and emptying my tank. "the wiggles" LOL
Melanie

 

[Flotsam]

ZAPPA, is always good

Watch out where the huskies go and don't you use that yellow shortstop.

 

[Jorge]

Mostly jazz and rock both instrumental and vocal. When developing film it's usually hard loud rock from Led Zeplin, faster and louder when I want to increase the contrast, I agitate the tank to the beat of the music, and one or two of the less agressive tracks when I want less contrast? Scientific stuff this film developing lark.

LOL....I can just picture Les shaking his booty.....

 

[tbm]

My darkroom episodes are deeply enhanced by many different artists, all of who create various moods while I am printing and make that event a wonderful joy. I switch from Beethoven to Enya to Joni Mitchell to Frank Sinatra to Sting to Wham, George Michael after Wham, to Rachmaninoff to Debussy to Delius to Gershwin and so on and so forth. The CDs are placed into my outstanding BOSE Wave CD player which emits fantastic sound in my 8 x 6 feet darkroom. If you have an opportunity to listen to sound produced by the Wave CD player somewhere, do so, for it will amaze you.

 

[ThomHarrop]

I put on my iPod and just listen to whatever comes along. It keeps me awake and aware to respond to random music. I think the surprise of going from Keb Mo to Cheryl Crow to Led Zeppelin keeps the music from getting boring. It's like having the best radio station in the world because it's all the music I love and no political ads.

 

[rogueish]

Enigma, Jesse Cooke, The "Get Shorty" soundtrack, Joe Satriani, Natalie Imbruglia's (hope I spelled that right) first album, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zepplin, the "Oceans Eleven" soundtrack (the newer one not the Rat Pack one). Allannis Morestte's first album, and a few mixed cd's I burned.
Sometimes just the radio.

 

[TPPhotog]

Nothing to beat some Tangerine Dream for surreal processing. Other than that Bob Marley, Eddy Grant, UB40, Madness, Sting, Boom Town Rats and more up to date Evanescence, Black Eyed Peas, Red Hot Chilly Peppers and sometimes TMF/The Hits TV channels blaring through the closed door. Must not forget The Hot Rodinals!

 

[Nicole]

OK, I don't have a darkroom, but when I'm on here with my APUG friends I love listening to Carla Bruni (Quelqu'un M'a Dit), Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Pete Murray, Jack Johnson, etc... and pretty much anything with classical guitar or piano...
and sipping a glass of red. Hi everyone!

 

[Ed Sukach]

John Cage's "433".

- Or, maybe ... Philip Glass' "The Photographer".

 

[Huram]

I listen to books on tape -- the latest being Hardy's Tess of the Durbervilles -- a great depressing book for the dark. It is quite an agonizing book to go through, really. You know that feeling you get when you watch Disney's The Little Mermaid when Ursula's eels flip over the boat right before Prince Eric kisses Ariel to get her voice back? It's kind of like experiencing that feeling for 12 hours. Lately, my prints have ended up being a little darker than normal.

 

[rogueish]

Nothing to beat some Tangerine Dream for surreal processing.

Thanks I forgot about those ones and the Tubular Bells I put on ocasionally.
er, the album, not the bells themselves...

 

[TPPhotog]

Thanks I forgot about those ones and the Tubular Bells I put on ocasionally.
er, the album, not the bells themselves...

Excellent choice - I forgot that one

 

[mark]

I listen to books on tape -- the latest being Hardy's Tess of the Durbervilles -- a great depressing book for the dark. It is quite an agonizing book to go through, really. You know that feeling you get when you watch Disney's The Little Mermaid when Ursula's eels flip over the boat right before Prince Eric kisses Ariel to get her voice back? It's kind of like experiencing that feeling for 12 hours. Lately, my prints have ended up being a little darker than normal.

I tried this once. I got so caught up in the story I ruined a roll of film by pouring the stop into the tank instead of the developer.

I find that wghile processing film I cannot listen to anything other wise I screw things up. Too easily distracted I guess.

While doing the POP printing-I have no darkroom- I listen to whatever is in the machine at the time. I have no set preference. If i had to choose two, they would either be Woods Tea Company or Metallica. Good stuff to sing along with.

 

[dr bob]

It all depends of the activity. For tank development I usually run Mozart, Bach, and maybe Beethoven (if in a certain mood). For tray development, Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann – anything which I do not have to “listen” to and be distracted. Printing covers a lot of ground from Debussy through Stravinski with side orders of Villa Lobos, the Russian composers, and Grieg, Smetena and Dvorak. Please, no opera while processing except some of the Wagner overtures (after all, I am a landscape photographer for the most part). For clean-up et c. ZZTOP, oh YES!! Makes work go FAST. I’m really a redneck at heart.

Music is a side avocation, so I sort of appreciate all types. I do find listening to certain musical moods aids in the post-visualization and printing of many photographs. This would make a great article for someone in the psyc field with an APUG habit.

 

[Louis Nargi]

Ansel Adams did'nt listen to any music in the darkroom he said it would interrupte his consentration, but the suggestion makes sence I'll try it. I tryed to listen to talk radio onece,all it did was pis me off.

 

[Fintan]

radio would be too much of a distraction IMHO

 

[Ed Sukach]

Michael Franks recorded "Popsicle Toes" ... also done by Dianna Krall ... there is a line in there about taking nude photographs with a Pentax ... might be appropriate ...

Or if you wanted a quick shot of energy ... The Introduction to Herold's "Zampa"...

 

[John McCallum]

It all depends of the activity. For tank development I usually run Mozart, Bach, and maybe Beethoven (if in a certain mood). For tray development, Bach, Vivaldi, and Telemann – anything which I do not have to “listen” to and be distracted. Printing covers a lot of ground from Debussy through Stravinski with side orders of Villa Lobos, the Russian composers, and Grieg, Smetena and Dvorak. Please, no opera while processing except some of the Wagner overtures (after all, I am a landscape photographer for the most part). For clean-up et c. ZZTOP, oh YES!! Makes work go FAST. I’m really a redneck at heart.

Music is a side avocation, so I sort of appreciate all types. I do find listening to certain musical moods aids in the post-visualization and printing of many photographs. This would make a great article for someone in the psyc field with an APUG habit.

That's a fine selection. I once tried my all time favourite concerto - Grieg's in A Minor while tray processing some sheet negs. Sure beats the monotony of a metronome, and it was one I used to enjoy bashing beyond recognition myself, on the piano back in the days before photography. Made a heck of a mess , developer everywhere except the walls.

Mood and state of mind certainly help with visualisation. Lately it's been the dark lazy beats of Kruder & Dorfmeister.

 

[Flotsam]

One of the pleasures of darkroom work is that it provides an opportunity to enjoy music. I like to listen to radio stations that play a variety of artists and music. I generally stream WFUV from Fordham University in NY on my computer. I also use it as a chance to catch up on listening to CDs that I may have not given a good, uninterrupted listen in the past.

 

[Lee Shively]

I love music. I have hundreds of CD's packed around the house and a couple hundred old LP's I couldn't bear to part with. I listen to lots of music from country/bluegrass to rhythm & blues to rock to jazz to symphony to opera. I love female jazz vocalists. I love Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan, Thelonius Monk, George Strait, Sammy Hagar, Carlos Santana, Kiri Takanawa, Frank Zappa, the Vienna Philharmonic and anything conducted by Herbert von Karajan. I have a good stereo and I've wired the back yard for sound.

But when I'm doing darkroom work, I'm doing darkroom work. No music.

 

[Leon]

I cant listen to music when printing, it jsut disturbs me to much, but I do liek some background noise so BBC radio 4 is usually on. Developing film, as others say, is an entirely different matter -- I have mostly been a retro-rock (I call it this because I was definitely too young to appreciate it the 1st time around) fan and faves are definitely Zep, Cream, Hendrix and a few others. I also have a penchant for Floyd, Mike Oldfield and some other 70s -80s people. I went through a phase of heavy dance stuff in the mid 90's and must admit, nothing beats pyrocatting to BT, Orbital and Leftfield.

BTW - anyone heard of the Black keys? superb new old rock stuff.

 

[VoidoidRamone]

Just a little tidbit I have to add whenever someone mentions the band Cream. A few years ago I used to take druming lessons from Ginger Baker's son, Kofi Baker. It was so amazing to watch him play. Unfortunately I never got to meet his father, but he had some good stories about him. -Grant
ps- I'm glad to see how many people like Frank Zappa!

 

[lee]

let me guess Grant, you listen to the Ramones....

lee\c