cleve callison’s blog

When the iPod Shuffle debuted I thought the idea was ridiculous. I assumed I would want a more purposeful way of listening.

But I find that the more I use my iPod Classic, the more often I use the “Shuffle Songs” option. And when I use iTunes on my laptop, I use the equivalent (the DJ setting). Freeing yourself from the question “What do I want to hear now?” is, it turns out, truly liberating.

And I really enjoy the novelty of hearing something unexpected — not just the new song, but the juxtaposition. I’m rarely (truly, never) jarred by a weird segue of styles. At times at seems that there MUST be someone deciding “I’ll bet these two would sound interesting back to back.”

I recall the debates we public radio types used to have in classical music programming about the need for a”buffer.” I came to believe that 30 seconds was plenty of time. Now I think even that may be too long.

Major elements in my iPod are Bach, other classical, swing jazz/popular song, Bach, Renaissance and Tudor choral, Appalachian roots/old time, more Bach, Sacred Harp, selected pop music, still more Bach, and a few others. I’d never program that mix on a classical station, but it works for me as a listener.

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