Guide series ยท Hoes & HiFi
Listening ritual
Guides to making more room at home for attentive listening.
1 guides
More attention for an album
In this series
All guides on the listening ritual
Every guide starts from a concrete choice for your collection, room or listening moment.
About this series
More time for the music you already own
This series is about what you do with the records you already have. Many people with a turntable and a shelf full of records play less than they would like. That is rarely the equipment. It is the number of steps between you and the first note, and the phone within reach.
The guide on the listening evening without a plan starts small: one side is twenty minutes. Choose in advance what you put on, leave your phone in another room and give your hands something to do, such as reading the sleeve. Nothing more is needed to make it a habit.
The spot helps. A chair that is free, a turntable that is not behind something and a box with this month's records within reach take away the barrier. How to set up such a corner is in the guide on setting up a listening corner. A cabinet in which you cannot find anything works the other way; that is what the guide on organising your collection is for.
The light matters too. A lamp that makes the sleeve readable and leaves the rest of the room dark changes the pace of an evening, and it often starts with switching off the ceiling light.
The unplayed pile belongs here as well. A collection does not get better with the next album, but with the evenings on which you pull one out. The guide on building a collection on a small budget explains why that pile costs more than any purchase.
Listening together is the simplest form of the ritual and needs the least preparation: one side each in turn, and whoever chose the record does not explain it.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make more time to listen to records?
Keep the start small: one twenty-minute side instead of a whole evening. Choose in advance what you will play, make sure the chair is free and the amplifier comes on with one button, and leave your phone in another room.
How do you listen to a record together?
Taking turns, one side each, works well. Whoever chose the record does not explain it, not beforehand and not while listening. Talking is fine afterwards, and that conversation is usually better than the one you would have had over the top of it.
What do you do if months go by without listening?
Look at the setup first and only then at yourself. A chair that is not free, a turntable that is behind something or a cabinet in which you cannot find anything holds the listening back. Fix the smallest barrier first.
Do you have to listen to a whole record in one go?
No. One side is a complete whole of about twenty minutes, and that is exactly why it works on a weekday evening. Feel free to play the same one again; you get to know a record by hearing it more often.
Listen without hurry
A good choice usually starts small.
Choose one guide that suits your next listening moment. You can always build on it afterwards.