Friday, July 22, 2011

Re-kindling A Lost Love

This week marked a significant milestone in my life.

I held out.
I resisted.
I refused to succumb to the frenzy. 

But, at last, I gave in...and purchased my 1st Apple device: an iPod Nano Touch.

(Has anyone else ever thought The Doors "Touch Me Babe" 
should be the official song for iPod Touch?)


I'm old school I guess, and that doesn't bother me. It's (only) 16GB which, I feel, is plenty for what I want on it at any given time. I've never been one to want my entire music library on my hip at all times. To each their own I guess.

Now, any of you fellow iPod owners out there know that in order to use the device you have to download and install iTunes, a user interface that allows the creation and organization of songs, playlists and other media. So as it happens, I was just about to install iTunes when I received an email informing me that my Spotify account was finally available.

If you don't know, Spotify is a digital music service that allows you to stream almost any song you could ever want, as well as organize the music on your computer or phone for on the go enjoyment. On top of that, it easily intergrates with social media, so you can share songs and playlists with your friends on Facebook. Being the genius that I am, I decided to go ahead and just use Spotify with my new iPod. I quickly learned that organizing all this music I've accumulated over the years can be quite time consuming. I really haven't even gotten into the whole "getting new music" aspect of the program yet.

But I gotta say, it's been a real blast discovering all of this music I've had on my computer that I totally forgot about, then taking it with me to work, playing it in the car, even listening to my "Nap Time" playlist as I drift off. Who knew I had all this ACDC/Zeppelin/Aerosmith stuff? (It's a good mix of that, and Mariah Carey...don't hate)

Music is really starting to become a part of my life again since I've transitioned to Cochlear Implants. Just last night I was picking out some notes on a guitar, and (by ear) figuring out a line to a song I've never played before. I still verify the accuracy with someone else for my own sanity, but seriously, it is sounding good to me.

I'd be lying to say it sounds "completely" like I remember music sounding...or like you hear music. I know when I listen that the quality is diminished and the pitches are slightly off at times. That said, I've spent this whole week listening to more music than the past year it feels like, and it's VERY enjoyable. I'm actually shocked that it even sounds as good as it does at this point...I was certainly expecting much less going in, though I really didn't know what to expect. It's getting to the point where it's just normal music, normal sounding, with a little less definition and clarity than I remember, but other than that, it's really spot on and the notes sound right.

It's pretty dang cool honestly, coming from a guy who injected music to his bloodstream at a very early age.

(No, this is not why I lost my hearing)