I was reading a little bit of a recent post about travel instruments, and I realizing how incredibly focused on spinnaker, nylon, and titanium, we haven't talked about the sounds of spruce, maple,pernambuco, brass, or the good ol' ivory. What instruments do you guys and gals play, and what songs are in your head when your on the road.

I'm incredibly lucky to have a musical family, my Dad plays Organ and Piano, my brother Piano and Guitar, and my Grandma keeps her fingers moving on Violin. I play a little Violin, Mandolin, a tiny bit of Piano, but now I'm really into Guitar and my late grandfather's viola. I record a little bit, maybe I'll post an MP3 up here when I get them all kinked out.

As for influences myself, I enjoy most chamber and trio music, but above all, gimme a little fingerlickin, fingerpickin! the great Nick Drake, and some newer M ward or Sufjan Stevens, but if you really want something good, check out Iron and Wine, and you'll never want to be angry again.

I hike with an Iriver T10 2gb mp3 player (uses 1 AA battery), has fm radio too. I put about 20 audiobooks on it (I belong to audible.com and also get 'em from public library) and listen to audiobooks on the trail. I'm going out for 17 days in one week and this will be 4th year with audiobooks on the trail. I'm curious what FM radio station is reachable from within SEKI boundaries if one wants to pick up a weather forecast? Does anyone know the call numbers?

No musical talent here...
I've been too cheap so far to invest in an MP3 player but I always have some kind of music going on in my head. A lot of times it is the last song I heard before I got on the trail.
As for music that I like; I love Pink Floyd. Any and all Pink Floyd. I'm also a big fan of Metallica and Rush. Behind that is Led Zep, AC/DC, and Van Halen and really all of the 'classic' rock (would I be going too far to call it the 'good' rock?). I sometimes like to listen to Slayer and Dragonforce too. Dragonforce brings a smile to my face for some reason.

Adam

I have played the drums since I was 5. Not conducive to travel.

I have used a simple Sony MP3 player for the last several years. It is tiny, and with proprietary compression files Atrac3, can hold upwards of 20 hours of data.

While I enjoy many kinds of music for many different moods, I prefer music that is less "produced" for the outdoors. Good rock, reggae, blue-grass, or instrumental, as long as it is all played by hand and sung without electronic layers is best. Acoustic guitar seems to lend itself to nature very well.

Some more recent finds for me:

Willy Porter (guitar and song craftsman)
Eric Lindell (good ol' Nawlins rockin songs with a groove)
Brightblack Morning Light (Ethereal hippy space music, that is perfect for trail...all produced with tech. no newer than hammond organ)
Kings of Leon (new brand of southern rock...that some how comes up unique)

I'm glad to see that someone else appreciates the Kings of Leon.

While hiking, I listen to NPR podcasts on an iPod Shuffle...Wait Wait Dont' Tell Me is a great show, as is On Point, both of which iTunes carries. 60 minutes and Meet the Press are also good polical talk, and I've also downloaded PTI from ESPN. Got some rock and roll too.

Edited by GNR on 08/02/2007 08:31:07 MDT.

As I posted in the "Musical Instruments" thread, I sometimes bring my 11oz ukulele along with me. I enjoy creating my own music, and recording is another one of my hobbies (I play guitar, bass, banjo, and ukulele). I like to listen to and play blues, jazz, and funk mostly.

I don't think I'll ever bring along an mp3 player. I like to be immersed in nature while I'm backpacking and having all my senses at my disposal so I don't miss a thing.

I used to bring a little creative mp3 player along on hikes but realized that I almost never used it, once I turned it on just because I felt like I had to since I brought it along so now it stayes at home.

At home I am an aspiring jazz guitarist, not that I dont enjoy ripping through some jamgrass or delta blues with friends. My main axe is a heritage H575 straight into a fender hot rod deluxe. Every time I head out to a gig I hope and pray the next lightweight revolution will be sub 10 lb tube amps!!

Anyone listen to Django Reinhardt?

coz ya should ; )
incredible gypsy jazz guitarist for those he don't know. His left hand ring and pinky fingers were irreparably damaged in a caravan fire, so he learned to solo with just his index and middle fingers, theres a youtube clip (which I believe is the only footage ever of him in concert) which shows his technique, very aesthetically pleasing in my opinion. Died of a stroke in 1953. Jazz is not really up my alley, but I don't think I'll tire of Django.
hope you like it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6nkHJQnEPs

Gregorian chants, renaissance music, baroque, classical, romantic, folk, country, barber quartets, jazz, pop, rock n' roll -- basically everything but rap!

Edited by ben2world on 08/09/2007 13:21:45 MDT.

90% Audiobooks
10% Something with a beat (for use when I have a long, nasty climb to tackle.

Sometimes I carry a Sony am/fm radio, runs on a single AAA battery. I use it mainly for weather, but that can be inaccurate, but I rarely use it for listening to music on the trail. Weighs 2.1 oz complete, so it's hard not to leave behind.

I've been learning guitar for 25 years, but plateaued after 1 year (read: I realy suck), but I enjoy playing along with albums and otherwise making noise. My current setup is an original 1988 (hah!) Aria Pro II Strat-copy with a Khaler tremolo and a BOSS GT-3 pedal effect/sound processor. I've always used Ernie Ball SuperSlinky No. 9's, and even have them on my brand-X acoustic. My iPod and GT-3 are connected to an old Realistic (Radio Shack) mixer, and I listen thru headphones (we have a toddler now). The GT-3 provides amazing sound thru the headphone jack, and the pre-programmed digital effects (sampled from the old BOSS analog pedal effects, among others) are incredible. My Line6 amp and BOSS parametric EQ are languishing these days (should have bought a Pod), but I really don't miss them.

For the guitar playing, my interests are with Joe Satriani, Pink Floyd, Ozzy Osbourne (mainly Randy Rhoads, but also Zakk Wylde), Santana, AC/DC, Van Halen (brown sound!), and of course Led Zep. I listen to a much larger variety of music, from Chuck Mangione to C+C Music Factory, and everything in between.

Played in bands for 20 years and retired to "get a life". Won't mention what bands, but have had some pretty famous bandmates. I play bass and guitar. I don't listen to music on the trail. Sometimes in camp I have an am/fm radio to catch a baseball game or listen to whatever I can get. As for Seki, you can get some stations. Depends on how the line is to Fresno to get stuff.

I listen to punk rock, hardcore and ska music (mainly traditional 60's stuff).