When reading garden blogs I have noticed something that really turns me off : Music!
You go to a garden blog directory and scan the posts to see if there is some interesting posts you want to read, and when you click and the page loads - music starts blazing out the computer loudspeakers.
I read garden blogs to READ about gardeners experience with different plants, gardening and SEE beautiful pictures of flowers and gardens. I did not ask for loud music or LOUD Bird noise and water tinkling (always makes me want to P..)or classical music. Has garden blogs turned into 24-7 garden parties? I often quickly leave these blogs with music gadgets. I really wonder if these garden bloggers play music in their gardens all the time too? I like a quiet peaceful garden. If I want to hear music I can turn on my stereo and close the doors and windows, because I do not assume that my neighbours like my taste in music. I actually like to HEAR the wind in the big willow tree, and in the grasses and leaves. Sound pollution is a big problem, and gardeners are part of the problem with many of their power tools. The sound of peace and quietness and natural sounds is the ultimate luxury in our sound polluted world.
I wish garden bloggers would turn off these music gadgets. Or at least let readers choose whether they want to listen to music, screaming birds and cascading water, by clicking that option. On some Blogs you can actually turn the noise off. But it is easier to leave. Or am I one of the few gardeners who like the sound of silence, when reading garden blogs? I don´t think reading about or watching pictures of the beautiful rose "Quietness" becomes more interesting accompanied to music, screaming birds or tinkling water - do you?
Blooming in my garden: Allium schubertii
1 hour ago
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17 comments:
Yet again I agree with you Niels. I am less bothered by the music because I keep my computer on mute but squeaks get through and as soon as I realise there is noise on a blog I leave - never to return!
I have difficulty understanding gardeners who have their ear pieces in listening to something other than the garden and then tell me they are country lovers!! The only valid reason to have noise while you are working is if you are using noisy equipment in my view. But I do except that we are all different. Like you I only play music in the privacy of my car or house, I love music but not outside.
Best wishes Sylvia (England)
I'm trying to imagine a garden with no birds singing, no bees buzzing, no water dripping, no leaves rustling in the wind, no frogs croaking.... Nope, can't do it. I do love your blog especially when you speak of the things you love.
I find myself agreeing once again Niels.
So much so in fact, that despite living outside a village in the Hampshire countryside, we are seriously contemplating moving to a location with no neighbours, no planes, (especially the light aircraft and microlights who if I had a canon I would shoot out the sky, they are more annoying than flies) and no major roads. Since they have started felling woodland and forest to build houses along the M3 and M4 corridors, road noise is a serious issue too. On wet days when the wind blows towards us, I can hear the motorways, despite the nearest being 2 miles away.
I don't understand others thoughtlessness when it comes to playing loud music too. Occasionally its fine, people have parties and celebrations, but when it becomes nightly, especially when you dislike the type of music, it gets to be a real intrusion. Some years ago we had a neighbour with a penchant for Opera, we were treated to it several nights a week, they now live in Suffolk, far enough away for us not to hear! Thankfully noise pollution issues are taken much more seriously now, and councils can and do act on it if you let them know what's bothering you.
Some mornings we are woken by an orchestra of chainsaws, as they clear more land (half a mile away)for development.
I love music, and will often attend open air musical events in stunning gardens, but don't want to hear it outside all the time.
Zoë
I agree that it's sometimes startling to have music suddenly play when looking at a blog, and it'd be nice to have a pop-up window or something ask me if I wanted the music before it started playing, but like sylvia, I usually have my speaker volume turned off anyway, so it's only an issue for me in that it takes so much longer for some pages to load.
It's not always a bad thing, though, when I forget the speakers are on.
I think some are okay. In fact, it kind of adds to the experience of reading the blog and says a little something about the person-they are creative and want to share an experience with you. I just turn off my speaker if I don't want to hear it but it can sometimes be distracting I suppose.
Ah, I can hop right up there with you on this soapbox, Niels.
The Noble Pig (a food and wine blog) was just talking about this the other day, but about general blogs, not just one specific category. I said there that I don't like music unless it has a point - if I go to a classical pianist's blog or visit the site of a band, it makes a little sense.
When referencing garden blogs, I would say it's really distracting - especially if people put up so many ads that you can't find the specific location of the "off" button for music or birds or whatever noise is playing. I wonder if those people read too many blogs. Whether I like the music or not, it's just hard for me to focus. I know the right volume and the right style of music to listen to if I want to be able to read at the same time. But that's so different for everyone!
And, any musical choice I could add would say nothing about my garden or gardening skills (or lack there of.) It would just say that I like that song. Now, whatever I chose to listen to while I'm weeding or otherwise is between me and my headphones, thank you very much. And I definitely won't be posting THAT on my blog! (I do have some strange tastes.)
Also, I like the last comment you left on the cottage garden post. I don't expect you to answer on your blog, but I just wanted you to know that I am researching garden designs that will go well with my craftsman style house (an official one, not just a romanced one). I consider myself fairly young, both in years and in this gardening business, and I never thought about gardens complimenting your home. I just thought I'd plant what's pretty. (which will probably make you gasp!) I don't need a pretentious garden, but perhaps trusting some others' advice on complimentary combinations and placements might help me enjoy my garden even more. Thanks for all the inspiration!
I totally agree - I hate having noise thrown at me. I tend to have my speakers turned off on my PC so I dont really notice the music etc but have been startled at few times when I have forgotten to turn the speaker off. If I want to listen to music I would prefer to choose my own.
I would have to agree with you. Sometimes I might have my volume up and not expecting to hear anything and music plays and scares me to death, LOL.
I'm with ya 100% brother! It's easier to switch to another website than search the cluttered blog to find the off button. I often listen to music through my computer so my mute button is usually not on. I recently wrote about the sound of a cicada but I intentionally didn't include the sound because I thought people would find it annoying-if they want to hear a cicada they can wiki it! Recorded birdsong always sounds really weird to me...canned.
I feel the same way about garden blogs, and garden centers.
I had a few extra moments before a lunch date last week and stopped at a garden center on the far side of town where I rarely stop. Music was blaring out of outdoor speakers. I couldn't escape it. I felt no desire to stay and browse (and maybe buy a plant). I wanted to escape as quickly as possible. As you might guess, I won't be going back to that garden center again.
My problem with music on blogs is that it invariably takes longer to load. I have a computer that can't walk & chew gum at the same time. When there's too much to load in a site, my computer chokes & freezes up. Not fun. I used to enjoy music a lot more, but now with the kids home for summer, blaring the TV & playing their kiddy pop music, I find myself yearning for quiet.
So true; noise pollution is getting to be a big problem. As I get older, one of the things I like about using hand tools is the silence. The only power tool I regularly use is the lawn mower in the yard which is a necessity since I have too much to mow to use a hand mower as I did as a child. I use hand tools out of preference these days for their quietness. The sounds of nature are a pleasant sensuous experience and are not obliterated by background noise of motors and engines though I DO love classical music and some popular music in its place. Excellent point Niels.
JimEast Coast/
I had music on my blog before, but I thought it detracted from my posts. So I took it down and after reading all the anti-music comments here. I'm glad I did! I don't want a visitor to feel like they have to run away from music they don't want to hear. Thanks for the insight!
Niels, I agree. I find it jarring, even if it's beautiful, even if it's a piece I love. I turn off my speakers when I'm reading blogs. I don't play music when I'm in the garden. I love the sounds of nature too much to drown them out.
They play classical music at the nursery where I work. The place is bordered and intersected by a creek, woods and wildlife. I much prefer the sounds of nature around us. Seems more appropriate for a garden center to sound like a garden than like Orchestra Hall.
Ditto. And I am always on mute. I visit garden blogs to read about gardening, not to listen to music and besides I already know what music I like.
I am not happy about music on blogs either. I hate having to scramble through a blog to find the "player" to turn the thing off.
Makes me reluctant to re-visit a blog when I remember it has music.
Such a shame
Karen
An Artists Garden
Hahaha! I like the way you put it, it makes me laugh, I do understand what you mean. Maybe that's the difference between men and women? Or you must feel like a minority in this department of blogland quite dominated by females? I don't really mind music, especailly when it's soft classical, even birds singing and water trickling in the background while I read blogs, I quite like them in fact. However, I really appreciate what you're saying.
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