Vinyl time... and the living is busy
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us" — J.R.R. Tolkien
Listening to music on vinyl seems to imply this notion that you have to take the time to listen to records properly. That is, with no distractions.
Some of us make a point of doing this daily by sacrificing—or investing, depending on your angle—an extra hour to indulge in the pleasure and practise the craft.
But sometimes life gets in the way and you are simply unable to listen to your records as often or as attentively as you think you should.
Work, commitments, appointments, tight schedules, trips, events. The summer period, for example, is usually packed with so much extra stuff that, even if you enjoy the activities (and the warm weather), you can’t wait to regain some sense of normality.
The result? You end up not listening to your records. At all. For weeks. Months, even.
And that sucks. Because you’ve invested time, money and effort in your setup and collection.
During busy periods, the temptation to just grab your phone and stream the damn record is too great.
That’s when you need to be strategic. Got an hour to catch up with emails before leaving the house? Spin a short LP. Ten tracks, five a side, 40 minutes. Easy.
20 minutes before that dinner party you’re too tired to join but can’t (easily) miss? Grab one of your 45s. Nice pump, if you ask me.
I’ve been known to spin a 7” when I only had ten minutes to pack before heading to the airport to catch a flight.
The key is: cut off the red tape but keep the essentials. Don’t clog your turntable with unnecessary clutter. Don’t bureaucratise your processes. Have everything (kind of) ready to spin at all times.
I still disconnect my amp from the main power when not in use, pull the dust cover up and down accordingly, and even take off (and put back on) the grills of my speakers. Protective sleeves for my records and all that jazz.
I follow standard vinyl practice, but my records, cleaning kit and turntable are all strategically placed so I don’t waste an extra second.
Life is busy. We don’t always have time to listen to records in an ideal setting. Don’t let this stop you from spinning.
If vinyl is not in your life organically, if it’s only for a special occasion, or something you only do when you can afford some extra time, it ends up being a rare occurrence.
A chore. An inconvenience. Like that dinner party you were so tempted to skip.
The rarer the occurrence, the less prominent in your life. Habits don’t make themselves.
You won’t always find the right time to play your records. But when you let vinyl flow naturally into your life, you can be sure your records will always find you.
Thanks for reading/listening. Happy spinning!
Great post. I remember a frustrating time when unshelved CDs ended up stacked on my turntable - not great for the equipment and a massive inconvenience, too. When we had custom shelving built that absorbed all the CDs I started engaging with my vinyl on a regular basis and haven't looked back!
My vinyl spent years not seeing the light of day, kids, commitments, and life in general seem to push everything away. Now that I'm a empty nester of sorts, I have set up my home office next to my music room and find myself playing vinyl on a much more regular basis. I find playing obscure punk, or 12-in dance remixes in the background while on a team's meeting to be quite enjoyable. Just loud enough to keep me awake, but not interfere with the conversation taking place.
This year's been a great year as I've actually started going back to record stores and adding to my stash of vinyl.