tgrssn

Do you all bring an MP3 player or something along with you when you ride? I haven't before. I don't ride with headphones for safety reasons. In the future though I'd like to have some music or a book on tape or something. I don't really need my ears as much on long country roads as I do when I'm whipping around the city.

If yes -

Post your touring mix.

wheel

Nature by mother
or
Urban by people

mr geeker

various artists... i have a little over 200 songs on it. though i suppose that might be a little excesive for a daytripper/weekender.

nun

I mostly listen to the radio, NPR is my friend and companion.

If I listen to music it's Bowie, Velvet Underground, Cure, Clash, Dresden Dolls........a long list. I also have the complete Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy on MP3 that is fun to listen to. It sort of puts traveling into perspective.

AngrySaki

I pretty much always listen to music, but quietly. If there's cars going by I can barely hear it.

As far as the content, it's ~70% hip hop, 20% classical, 10% other

Yan 

I take a Degen 1103 AM FM shortwave radio on tour. It serves as campsite entertainment and morning alarm clock.

I recently bought a Cowon D2+ mp3/video player/FM radio, which claims 52 hours of music playback time per charge. I'll be taking it on future tours, as it's much lighter than the radio.

arctos

For the last twenty-five years I have carried the Sony ICF-SW100 AM, FM and Shortwave radio. It is very small yet powerful and only weighs 8 ounces.

I have never acquired the habit of listening while riding. I prefer to hear what is going on around me. The radio keeps me in touch with events in country while traveling. I have been alerted to coups in progress that helped me alter my routing at times for safety reasons.

BigAura

I have an iPhone but don't use it much. That said, once in a while, music gives me an extra boost when my mood slips.

jamawani 

Sweet home Alabama
Rumble, rumble.
Where the skies are so blue
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
Sweet Home Alabama
Rumble, RUMBLE, RUMBLE. SCREEEEEE!
Lord, I'm coming home to you.

KLW2

I listen to books and NPR but with just one ear plug/bud on the non traffic side...doesn't keep me from hearing anything.

oldranger

I always carry a small Sony (37?) which has AM-FM and the weather band, usually something of concern when touring.

Wogster

I carry a Oregon Scientific WR103, this is a SAME based weather radio, that doubles as a clock and alarm. These radios will alert you when there is a serious weather event approaching, like a bad thunderstorm, tornado, hail, and other such nonsense. This allows you to get off the road into a sheltered place, while the storm blows over.

As for riding, well no, I like to hear traffic and other nonsense around me, would probably carry the MP3 player for if I want some music in camp, although I like the songs of birds, insects and other animals as well. The MP3 player is handier for blocking out the mindless blather of cell phone users, when riding on the bus. Why is it the volume spoken into a phone seems to be inversely proportionate to the intelligence level of the speaker.

BigBlueToe

I carry a Sansa mp3 player. It has an FM radio and voice dictation. It also uses micro SD cards for memory expansion, so the amount of music I can carry is limitless. I use Sony Fontopia earbuds. They sound good, the silicon earpieces do a pretty good job of isolating wind noise, and they're not too expensive - $35-40.

I find myself listening to it about half the time while riding, depending on my mood. Sometimes I just don't feel like listening to music and I want to hear the ambient noise around me. Sometimes I'm on an unfamiliar road with no shoulder and want to concentrate on traffic.

In camp I like to listen to NPR if I can receive it. Otherwise I don't usually listen to anything in camp.

The voice dictation is awesome. I used to write in a journal every afternoon. It was a bit of a pain to make myself sit and write for half an hour when I was pooped. Now I lie down in my tent and dictate to my heart's content. I type up the account when I get home for my CrazyGuy journals - not word-for-word, just a summation. However, it's nice to have the recordings saved for posterity. Sometimes I like to listen and recall the experience. Having the recordings makes it much more vivid in a way.

antokelly

yeah the mp3 is always with me when im cycling alone that is im not that anti social.what i listen to, led zeplin great for when you want to put the hammer down, bob dylan/neil young/simon and what's that other guy's name oh yeah garfunkel,the adventures of huckelberry finn brilliant .planxty great for getting your blood going,love to get mp3 with radio as big blus toe was talking about but there quiet expensive over here, (ireland),.

staehpj1

I sent my iPod home from the TA after a few days. On the entire 73 day coast to coast tour, I never really missed having an mp3 player.

Since then I did carry an iPod Shuffle on tour loaded with audiobooks. That worked out well since the Shuffle and the light weight 3rd party charger weigh much less than a single paperback.

Now I am inclined to use my Blackberry since I carry it as a cell phone any way and it doubles as an mp3/audiobook player, a GPS, an email device, and it does web browsing both via cellular and WiFi. The iPhone, gPhone, and soon to be released Nokia N900 offer similar capability and when I retire and no longer have my work Blackberry I will probably buy one of those or a Blackberry.

Weasel9

Music really helps me when I'm feeling alone, and like Bigaura said, when my mood slips. I don't listen to it much more than those times. Really just at random times, but I'm always glad I have it.

I listen to everything, but for riding and touring I particularly like music sans lyrics, such as Ratatat and bluegrass instrumentals. I find newgrass like Yonder Mountain String Band, OCMR, O.A.R., and Infamous Stringdusters particularly suitable on backroads in the middle of nowhere *sigh* For going up big hills like passes in the Rockies, music like hiphop and alt rock get me AMPED! Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine, Fort Minor and Linkin Park, Flogging Molly, Breaking Benjamin, ect.

For winding down at night before sleep, I'll do a little bit of Coldplay, Iron & Wine, Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, and a few songs that remind me of a few people

Yeah, I like having music.

antokelly

weasel9 you sure do have great taste in music ,im a bit like that myself listen to most nearly anything as long as you can whistle along.

antokelly

how often would you need to recharge your blackberry ,im just curious i know when i was in france it was a pain in the ass charging my mobile phone.

staehpj1

I have not toured with the Blackberry yet, but around home it is good for a few days of use. Factor in that I check email throughout the day and listen to audiobooks on my long commute (2+ hours of audiobook listening per day), but I do not talk on the phone much.

I have found that cell phone batteries in general die very quickly if left on when there is no signal. It must use a lot of power searching for a signal. If you turn on your phone only when you make a call the batteries will probably last a long time, especially if you talk on the phone as little as I do. If you are riding where there is no signal and leave it on the battery may not last the first day.

Also remember that if you want to use the Blackberry or other phone to do stuff off line like compose journal entries for upload later, or listen to audiobooks/music you can turn off the cellular and WiFi until you need them and have a signal. That greatly extends the battery life, but not as much as leaving the phone off.

BTW most phones now will charge with a mini-USB connector and there are some really light weight usb chargers that can be found cheaply. Just add a usb to mini usb adaptor. The one I have was a few dollars and weighs less than an ounce. I have not been able to find the same one lately, but it looks a little like this one. Another one that a friend has is this one.

Neil_B

I've thought about touring in Alabama, but I'm told a southern man don't need old Neil around anyhow, so I decided against it.

Neil_B

OK, here goes.... from my two week tour in June

Bizet: Symphony in C Major - Thomas Beecham, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (EMI)
Haydn: Symphonies 73, 74, 75 - Roy Goodman, Hanover Band (Hyperion)
Haydn: Symphonie Concertante - Adam Fischer, Austria-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra (Nimbus)
Schubert: "Trout" Quintet - Emmanuel Ax, Yo Yo Ma, Edgar Mayer, et al (Sony)
Smetana: The Bartered Bride (complete opera sung in English translation) - Charles Mackerras, soloists, Philharmonia (Chandos)
Bach: Transcriptions for orchestra - various recordings
Bach: Concertos for Keyboard - Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein, Columbia Symphony Orchestra (Sony); Andrei Garalov, Neville Marriner, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields (EMI)
Bach: Violin Concertos - Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, New York Philharmonic (Sony)
Wagner: Excerpts from "The Ring" (sung in English) - Soloists, Goodall, English National Opera (Chandos)
Shostakovich: Piano Quintet - Lev Oberlin, Moscow String Quartet (Out of print Russian CD)
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn and Sonata for Two Pianos - Duo Mattes (Naxos)
Liszt: Les Preludes, Mazeppa, Orpheus, Tasso - Kurt Masur, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (EMI)

As you can tell, I've chosen to keep the playlist upbeat and lively.

Thulsadoom

I always have my mp3 player, and it's packed with a little bit of everything. I think it's a lot more important to have a good rear view mirror and be conditioned to use it than having unobstructed hearing, as far as safety goes. I'd be lost without my music. Of course, I'm lost half the time while touring anyways...

jamawani 

Well, that would be close to my playlist, too.
Without the Wagner.
With Ravel, Debussy, and Poulenc.
If I had a playlist.

I don't ever bring an MP3 player or other such.
I stop at small-town churches and ask to play.
I ended up playing on Sunday for one.

Wogster

I also have a little of a lot of things, right now there is a little country, a few movie soundtrack songs, a lot of Christian stuff, a couple of bluegrass tunes, and this week I add some Christmas music..... The classical stuff I have is all on Vinyl and the turntable needs a new needle. Connecting the turntable to the computer would mean going through the pre-amp then line out to the computer which is in another room.

capejohn

I bring an MP3 player on every tour.

Van Morrison
Martin Sexton
The Waifs
Dylan
Derek Trucks
Ray LaMontagne
Ben Harper
Rusted Roots
Medeline Peroux
Alice Russle
Joan Osborne

The sampling shows my taste of a mix of jazz and blues.