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Sep 21, 2023Liked by Ethan Sabatella

I have never been able to write or do any kind of focused activity with music playing. I tend to get too drawn into the music and I am not able to concentrate on the task at hand. Even when doing mundane tasks at work, I opt for silence. I may try to introduce music into my work day and see what effect it has, as my general level of concentration has degraded. Maybe introducing music will stimulate me just enough to increase focus.

What you said (rather pretentiously, I might add 😉) about the audio aesthetics was intriguing and does make sense.

For working out during the past few years, I would always go with the standard 80’s rock playlist. Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve switched to listening to audio books or a podcast. They don’t give you that extra boost of energy, but it does seem to allow me to focus on the exercise and ensure I have good form, etc. I had not realized that until reading your post.

Can’t wait for the rest of the story!

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I haven't tried audiobooks or podcasts when working out, probably because I don't like to think while I'm performing other than how my form is. Though if I did, my "listen list" for books and podcasts would be much smaller!

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Looking forward to Phantom Hill. Music is, and has always been an integral part of my daily life. My tastes are eclectic, ranging from classical to contemporary to country to 50s rock and roll.

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In that case it makes more sense to know where my own eclectic music tastes came from!

I'm excited to share the story at the end of the month!

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I usually listen to whatever comes to my head first, whether it's something as soothing as Tamino or as aggressive as HolyName. I tend to edit in silence or with ambient music.

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Interesting! So pretty much the opposite of how I've described my process above. Though I can understand wanting to bounce around sentences in your head while you're editing them without extra lyrics in the way.

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