Category Archives: Blog Post #2

blog post 2

Technology has significantly impacted my experiences with music, especially in my engagements with both the public as well as public spheres. Musical components such as the iPod, the Walkman, the boombox utilized in making, manipulating, and listening to music have profoundly influenced my experience with music. One of the influences involves having a localized ‘spaced’ when using these devices in public places such as streets or in populated areas. These devices allow me to expel all the other external factors existing around me and indulge in listening to music with little or no distractions. This is similar to Matt Alt’s observations. According to Alt, these musical devices enabled the users to domesticate the unpredictability of urban spaces, often characterized by unforeseen intrusions and loud noises. Putting on these devices works both as a personal sign which outlines an invincible message of ‘do not disturb’ and an optional soundtrack to the unmusicality of public spaces.

Also, these devices have shaped my localization of hearing to the music. Krukowski observes that the music hearing devices make individuals entirely self-absorbed through localized hearing integration. Self-absorption means that being preoccupied with one’s situation or circumstance. Self-absorption occurs in different places, including in the house, in school, while walking, or carrying out any other activities. Therefore, these devices have provided me with a novel type of human experience, involved disconnection, a technological shield from the public, and a remedy to boredom. Besides, these experiences could be projected in any place.

Blog post 2

Music has always been a significant part of my life and it has been a major help for me as well. With all of the advances made in technology, I can say we have come a very long way. From sound quality, to the new rhythms, etc. I remember when I first got a walkman and an iPod, the sound quality and just overall use was so different from the devices we use now such as iPhones, iPads, etc. We can listen to music through wireless headphones such as air-pods. Who would have thought that we would be walking around listening to music that sounds almost crystal-clear, back then? At the time, I did not know it could get any better than that. Even though the sound quality of the music I was listening to with my old devices wasn’t that great, it was still so interesting and great to me that I was able to listen to music on the go, whenever I wanted. The thought of it was just fascinating. These devices made it so much easier for people to find out about artists and listen to all their songs because they would be able to do so while on their way to go do something. This must have been very therapeutic for people as well, as it sure was for me. If we are already so advanced when it comes to our technology and the benefits it brings in the world of music, I can only imagine how much we are going to progress in the future and what new inventions are going to be made to make listening to music easier and more exciting.

Blog Post #2 – Mariah

With the advancement of technology making our lives more convenient, music also is changed with it. It gives us a way to get even closes to music. When you think of ways people used to listen to music back then, the first thought might be a jukebox where people share the music and listen to the same thing; however, my first experience with music was a big stereo in my living room and a TV. The Tv was pretty much used in the mornings when music videos will play on the channels, and the stereo was mainly on for parties and whenever there was no other way to access music. The point I realized that music was advancing along with technology wasn’t until I learned to use a computer and was able to go on youtube and listen to anything I wanted to and started to get portable when the iPhone 4 came out.
Now in the modern-day, our iPhone allows us to do way more than just listen to music. Now people don’t really need fancy equipment to edit or alter songs they can do it off a simple app called GarageBand from the iPhone in addition now recently there settings to alter the way music sound through your headphones or speakers where you can turn a feature on in order to get more of a better hearing quality out of the music you listen to so you can notice more details in the songs.

Joselyne Ponce – Blog Post #2

In the article “The Walkman, Forty Years On” Matt Alt discusses the significance that the walkman had on us. The creation of the Walkman gave us the ability to carry our favorite tunes in our pockets, as opposed to carrying a giant boombox. This device allowed us to isolate ourselves from the world with the use of headphones, creating our own personal space from other noises. Not only did the walkman unlock the power of music on the go, it also created a space where a person could immerse themselves to different types of music with discretion. This let us have a whole new experience in public spaces once we had the ability to block out background noise.

I remember when I got my first iPod and how addicted I became to it. I lived in the Bronx at the time and had to travel to Queens. The commute was over an hour long and terrible. There was always so much going on inside the train and it was impossible to even read a book but once I had my iPod the journey to places was so much more enjoyable. Another reason why I was addicted to my iPod was the privacy it gave me. I could listen to whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted without interrupting anyone else. The creation of these portable music devices were the main reason why my relationship with music has evolved over time. Now I use music even when I need to focus. My favorite thing to do is to put on my AirPod Pro’s turn on noise cancellation, add some crossfade between tracks, and listen to an endless loop of my LoFi beats playlist.

Blog # 2

Commuting in the subway can be a stressing experience, delays, creepy people doing crazy things, or annoy people who want to sell anything. All these things can be ignored with headphones, play your favorite music, and disconnect from everything around. This is my experience using headphones in the subway as a personal oasis from all the noises around. Some places are not designed to share music, I don’t want to hear your music and you don’t want to hear mine, so the solution to this problem is headphones. Matt Alt describe the Walkman as a “Do Not Disturb” sign telling others that I don’t want to engage with them at that moment. It seems like antisocial, but we all need a personal space in this busy city.

 In contrast to headphones, we have speakers, radios and other devices that are portable and are made to share music with others. It is common in the summer to hear music in the streets coming from everywhere. The old folks listening to salsa in their apartment’s doorsteps, the car blasting the speakers with a sound that is so loud that is indistinguishable to enjoy or bike riders playing music from their portable speaking hanging from their shoulders. All these scenarios are pleasant to the ears, because it is expected to find a street corner in NYC filled with music. It is not self-centrist as the use of headphones, it is the socialization of music. Krukowski essay is very interesting, the analysis between music and space is important to define or judge human behavior. Making music made us humans and we have the control to manipulate sounds and noises and use it for our personal and collective interests.

Lyza Cotrich: Blog#2

In the article “The Walkman, Forty Years off” by Matt Alt he discusses the walkman and then begins to talk about what modern technology came after the walkman. The walkman back in the 80’s and 90’s was used every single day and was just part of people’s daily lives as Alt said “the walkman instantly entrenched itself in daily life as a convenient personal music-delivery device” (Alt 3). That was the music player for people at that time. In “Headspace” by Damon Kruowski he talks about how we get lost within ourselves because of music we tend to not focus on what is going on around in the outside world. This is why he talks about people creating their own space. We get distracted from the devices and headsets we use when we are listening to music. Relating this to my own experience my very first music player was a sort of Mp3 player but it was a very old one my mother had that she had given to me as a kid and had a lot of old school songs downloaded on it but as time went on I started to get newer and more modern devices that play music, like an iPod, an iPod mini, then as I got older of course technology became even more advanced and I got my phone and bluetooth speakers. I also had discs and tapes that I would put in a radio to listen to music when I was younger. No matter what device it was I used it in my everyday life just like how the walkman was used in people’s daily lives. When using my devices that require headphones I do use them and when listening to the music I kind of get lost in the music at that moment so all I am really focusing on is what is going on inside my headphones. So I do get stuck in my own “space”

Assignment: Blog Post #2

Matt Alt and Damon Krukowski discuss the ways technology has shaped our experiences with music, particularly in our engagements with the public and public spaces. Think about your own experiences with musical devices–the walkman, the boombox, the iPod, or some other gadget you use to make, manipulate, and listen to music–and compare these experiences to ideas discussed by Alt and Krukowski.