Music in the Darkroom - What's playing?

[emeraldcity_grain]

I'm sure most of us have music or simply have the radio playing in the background while in the darkroom.
There are times when silence is appreciated. But for the most part, music is part of the environment in my darkroom.
Currently the following are getting a ton of play.
- Bach Well-Tempered Clavier Book 1 & 2 - Angela Hewitt
- A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
- Brad Mehldau Trio Live
- Blade Runner 2049 Original Soundtrack - Hans Zimmer

So what's playing in yours? Current favorites?

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Back in the 1970's when I was very active in doing my own processing, inevitably I would hear Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly with His Song". Absolutely beautiful. Every time I hear it, I'm transported into the hallway of my Venice apartment, 1973, developing prints in trays.

 

[winger]

Anything and everything. Clannad, Enya, Dropkick Murphys, Metallica, Queensryche, Queen, Glengarry Bhoys, Indigo Girls, the Corrs, Evanescence... (yes, I have very eclectic tastes in music)

 

[c41]

The John Coltrane has to be a good selection. I'm loving the 60s/70s soul, funk and first wave ska right now, upbeat music with sweet basslines keeps things moving under the red light.
What a weepin and a wailin down a' Caymanas Park

Totally agree that music is part of the darkroom environment, it's a golden age to be able to access pretty much all of music ever from a little phone, hook it up to the speakers, set it running and stick it in a box whilst the printing happens.
Whatever keeps you moving is fine by me.

It's nice when the music somehow suits the images as well, I like keeping it period appropriate on my headphones when I'm wandering with the Rolleiflex sometimes just b/c.

 

[Roger Cole]

Interesting that two others have mentioned Coletrane already. If CDs wore out I would have worn out several copies of Giant Steps over the years while printing.

 

[Doremus Scudder]

Never music in the darkroom. It's too distracting or too annoying. Music is my other profession; I can't not listen critically and carefully. I listen to NPR and OPB news and talk shows when in the darkroom and even turn them off when they get distracting.

Doremus

 

[bsdunek]

Interesting Coltrane is so popular. I can identify with that, although, mine is more likely to be Brubeck/Desmond.

 

[removed account4]

i used to only listen to speed metal when i am in the darkroom
but now that motorhead is on dumb car-ads im going to have to do something else
i mean next thing you know johnny rotten will be advertising bottled water and tea

maybe i'll have to change things up
only fugazi, minor threat, flipper, the germs
caberet voltaire boards of canada and charles aznavour

 

[dasBlute]

rachmaninov's vespers, orlando di lassus, dunstable, anything by paul o'dettte,
I played heavy metal for years, can't listen to any of that anymore

 

[macfred]

Max Richter - Out of the Dark Room (2017) - a present from my daughter ...

 

[piffey]

Anything with a good flow that I can move with while developing. Often times that ends up being either jazz, soul or 80s/90s hip hop. I keep a remote in my pocket and change the song immediately if it's not fitting my motion. Google Play Music has slowly figured out what works for me and I can make a radio station of a 200+ song playlist and it almost never gives me a bad egg now.

 

[Cholentpot]

Interesting that two others have mentioned Coletrane already. If CDs wore out I would have worn out several copies of Giant Steps over the years while printing.

Interesting Coltrane is so popular. I can identify with that, although, mine is more likely to be Brubeck/Desmond.

Don't generally like Jazz or the ilk but in the darkroom I end up listening to jazz. Last time it was the guy with the fuzzy hat.

 

[MattKing]

In the darkroom, I don't have music playing. Just don't have speakers in the bathroom!
But if I did, it would almost certainly be either jazz or classical.
And if there were lyrics, they would be in a language that I don't understand.
Words engage the parts of my brain that I need for darkroom work.

 

[Craig75]

i used to only listen to speed metal when i am in the darkroom
but now that motorhead is on dumb car-ads im going to have to do something else
i mean next thing you know johnny rotten will be advertising bottled water and tea

maybe i'll have to change things up
only fugazi, minor threat, flipper, the germs
caberet voltaire boards of canada and charles aznavour

 

[Craig75]

70s reggae to keep up the good vibes while i battle my own incompetence with an enlarger

 

[Ko.Fe.]

I have Morantz amp and DUAL TT. It is in the same area where enlarger is. Two LP are long enough .
Music is nothing special. Rolling Stones, Kraftwerk ect.

 

[Andrew O'Neill]

104.3 FM. Evenings it's all the Blues. Sometimes I'll switch over to CBC and listen to jazz.

 

[winger]

Kraftwerk

Wow, cool - haven't listened to them since college. I still have one of theirs on vinyl.

 

[hoffy]

I found a pretty good 50's and 60's instrumentals and surf music play list on Spotify. This is my go to when I want to listen to something, but need to concentrate.

https://open.spotify.com/user/1121819432/playlist/2V36jzjQvEKtZAzpVghap7

But, otherwise, its what ever I am into at the time. It could be some sort of Jazz, Blues, Rockabilly or Rock.

Or if that fails, its the sound of my own tears.....

 

[destroya]

last session...
it was prog play list which next to mozart is my preferred format
in the cage afterglow medley
suppers ready
firth of fifth
battle of epping forest
jacobs ladder
trees
xanadu
la villa strangiato
2112
hemispheres
karn evil 9
take a pebble
topographic oceans

 

[M Carter]

I do 10-hour driving days every 60 days or so for one client. Drive 5 hours, shoot for 2, drive back home. Hey, they pay my day rate, overtime, travel...

I've found long-form podcasts to be the SH*T for those days. No "I wanna nod off" feeling. The quality that young people are putting into DIY journalism these days is simply stunning and gives me hope for the next generation.

Drove to West Texas with the Mrs. - 9 hours. she concurs - it makes a long drive really interesting. And now I listen for long darkroom sessions. Some of the best:

Dan Carlin's Hard Core History - start with the (free) "Wrath of the Khans" - 8 hour history of Ghengis Khan. Mindblowing stuff.
"S-Town" is amazing. Started as a mystery, morphed into another very personal mystery.
"In the Dark" is amazing, a true-crime story with a pretty startling summation of small-town county sheriff law enforcement in the US (hint: don't get murdered in rural America if you want justice).
"Crime Town" - 1st season is crazy-entertaining and fascinating.

Pick a subject you're into, chances are there's an excellent podcast about it. Several analog photography shows out there.

 

[Patrick Robert James]

I don't like listening to any talking/podcasts/news when I am in the darkroom. I've found that engages my brain and distracts me from what I am doing, then I concentrate on what I am doing, and miss something someone said. Too aggravating! I stick to music. I have a small Sony player that has a dock for an old IPhone, so I dump music onto that before I go into the darkroom if I want to listen to anything specific. Otherwise, I have a bunch of music stored on it with different playlists and just change as my mood suits. Off the top of my head the lists on the phone right now are Coltrane/Davis, Social D., Kuepper/Cave, BMRC, London Grammar/DumDumGirls, then a playlist of the top 100 I've most played and one of all the songs I've rated 5 stars. I also sometimes listen to SOMAFM or another internet radio music station. Radio around here really suc....

There is another huge thread here that is basically the same as this thread. FYI.

 

[Eric Rose]

Sirius/XM channel 26

 

[Old_Dick]

Pharoah Sanders, Leon Thomas, Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

 

[1kgcoffee]

A lot of podcasts. Favourites include FPP, Candid Frame, Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan