The gift of music....

Jason bought me an iPod for Christmas. Its tiny, in a physical sense - I'm terrified of losing it. But it has an 8 GB capacity - not the largest by any means, but able to put all my CD's on and still be only half full....

I love music, and I have fairly eclectic tastes. But, I have to admit, I don't listen to my CD collection often. Neither of our cars have CD players, and I very rarely put music on to listen to at home. Unless I'm torching. I have rediscovered some of my CD's lately, playing them on the stereo near my studio. But it's tended to be a a few faithful favourites that I have played repeatedly.

In the last 2 days, I have set up my iPod to play in my studio. It was rather a performance - taking my laptop in, finding a spare powerboard so I could also plug the iPod in to charge, then plugging the speakers into the laptop... (yes, I know, I need a docking station for my birthday!). But Oh so worth it! The music! On Monday I played my 'Suzanne's Favourites' playlist - and found that to make it to my favourite list (which was created in a big hurry the other night, after I accidentally wiped everything from my iPod) a song basically had to suit me vocally. I cant listen to music without singing along, but the songs I had selected all specifically suited my vocal range and style, and I had a pleasant couple of hours, belting out tunes while I tried to get my torch mojo back (and remembering to stop singing when doing detailed stringer work - the vibrations, you know).

Yesterday, I scrolled through my album list, and found Hot August Night. Yes, Neil Diamond. Seriously. His studio recordings have never inspired me, but live - well, that would have been an amazing concert to be at. I used to listen to that album on tape on long car trips with my parents when I was a child - I know every word, even though I haven't listened to them in well over 10 years. I had forgotten I even owned the CD's. What fun it was to listen to that album, to sing along with all the songs and remember the crazy lyrics. It's very creative music - perfect for torching - a good beat, and great visuals. I completed a whole set in one sitting, which is the first since well before Christmas.

We often bemoan some of the changes that technology are causing - but thank heavens for the iPod, for giving me the gift of instant access to my CD collection, and for getting my torch time jumping!