Official forums for BZFlag.org

Well? What if anything do you all listen to when playing BZFlag?

Because of my compulsion to have some white noise I often prefer the tunes of Junkie XL - although I personally depsise modern British Music, Beatles and Rolling Stones are still pretty good in my book. Sadly "All you Need is Love" does not go hand in hand with bullet shots and tanks - so Junkie XL it is.

On rare occasion when I'm not playing at work or home - I enjoy the company of a ticking overhead fan - or the hissing of a heater.

And you?

Anything that's a good tune: I like a lot of rock, alternative and indie, which is what takes up about 60% of my library - right through from the 60s to current. I like a lot of dance music too, from funky house to ambient stuff. Bit of metal, some jazz and funk, one pop-latin band (check out The Cat Empire). Throw in a few pop hits for a good mix, the odd podcast and some audiobooks, and you've got my music library.

I don't really like classifying whole genres of music into 'likes' and 'dislikes'. I tend to find there's normally something you like to listen to in every genre (Even if you might not always want to admit it!)

Check out my last.fm, if you really want to see in depth stats on my listening habits http://www.last.fm/user/icecoldtrashcan

I used Spazzy's Last fm to create this:
http://www.last.fm/user/Amanwithrifle

I actually listen to classical music most of the time, and I do often listen to music while playing bz. I'm not completely single-minded though (as some classical musicians are), I also like jazz, some rock, and a lot of Irish trad.

Once in awhile I'll listen to some music while playing bzflag... when I do its coldplay...

gmangrey wrote:Once in awhile I'll listen to some music while playing bzflag... when I do its coldplay...

Ah, a fellow Coldplay fan. Saw them in concert this summer. Breathtaking.

However, when I'm BZFlagin, I am strictly Credence Clearwater Revival, with the occasional swash of Modest Mouse. When I'm feeling particularly whimsical, I am liable to break out some Shins or other uplifting indie.

Strakowski wrote:Ah, a fellow Coldplay fan. Saw them in concert this summer. Breathtaking.

They are brilliant live, I've seen them twice now. The second time was a couple of weeks after MJ died, and Chris Martin played Billie Jean. It was pure genius.

Spazzy McGee wrote: They are brilliant live, I've seen them twice now. The second time was a couple of weeks after MJ died, and Chris Martin played Billie Jean. It was pure genius.

Wow, that's really strange, I saw them around the same time (2-3 weeks after MJ), but I was here in the states. I had a VIP Pass and got to check out all the electronics behind it; there are so many pieces that make that concert work, it's amazing everything goes according to plan. They end precisely at 10:53 or something every concert.

Yeah, I've had the chance to help a team set up and take down equipment for a good sized concert (3000 people). And it was truly amazing how everything works together... I'm a tech guy but even that stuff amazes me

Lessee, my bzplaylist has... the killers, owl city, e.s. posthumus, linkin park, rihanna, lady gaga, fireflight, rob thomas, some techno... o_O

Buraka Som Systema - Kalemba (wuege wuege) !

Dusturbed, Ozzy, Crazy Frog, Scooter, Offspring, AC/DC, Manson, Rammstein... to name a few

Listen to my pregame soccer warmup that has stronger by kanye, burn it to the ground by nickelback, run this town by jay-z, welcome to the jungle by scorpians, holiday by green day, and sugar and right round by flo rida.

Usualy when I listen to these songs I play worse, but it puts me in my "happy place" and I'll have fun no matter what is happening.

I am very serious about two channel audio, and I usually listen to music in the background while I play bzf. I like alternative pop, rock, soul, jazz, and alternative folk, although I usually listen to Led Zepplin, The Who, or other rock bands when I play bzf. When I am not playing bzf, female singers/songwriters and female vocalists are my favorites, such as the brilliant Martha Wainwright, Erin Bode, Shelby Lynne, Rachel Yamagata, Keren Ann, Mia Doi Todd, Eva Cassidy, Vienna Teng, Lucinda Williams, Feist, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, Sonya Kitchell, Priscilla Ahn, and Patricia Barber. I also like Neil Young, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye, among others. With the increasing conveniences in audio playback technology, I currently mostly listen to AIFF files from my computer's optical output through an external DAC, then into a tube preamplifier and either a tube amplifier or a solid state amplifier. I still spin a lot of vinyl because digital sources just can't compare to analog sources, mastering notwithstanding, in my opinion, and when an album that I like is available on vinyl, I buy both the CD and the LP.

crazystringgirl wrote:e.s. posthumus

Absolute Genius.

Boresnake, I couldn't agree more. Until about 6 months ago, I had never listened to vinyls - but just before I left for university, my dad gave me his vinyl collection. It amazes me how rich and warm it sounds. Even though the bitrate of CDs supposedly gives a high enough resolution that the human ear can't tell, they still sound so harsh and electronic.

With a good table, arm, cartridge, and phono stage, vinyl just gets even better. The clicks and pops that some people hear is usually just dirt on the records, and with a good cleaning, LPs can be dead quiet.

The clicks and pops are what I love about Vinyl! The sound a LP makes before the recorded song actually starts is so great!

For me nothing is better than the odd sound of shooting. I hate to listen to the music while playing BZ, or any other game. It makes me feel sick.
But, sometimes when I do listen, the songs vary from dance/techno - rock/rap..I'm an overall listener, well at least till the song is worthy to listen.

Spazzy McGee wrote:

crazystringgirl wrote:e.s. posthumus

Absolute Genius.

Boresnake, I couldn't agree more. Until about 6 months ago, I had never listened to vinyls - but just before I left for university, my dad gave me his vinyl collection. It amazes me how rich and warm it sounds. Even though the bitrate of CDs supposedly gives a high enough resolution that the human ear can't tell, they still sound so harsh and electronic.

A lot of the harshness and digital artifacts of CDs is related to the analog output of the CD player (and the components downstream, too). A good digital to analog converter (DAC) between the CD player's digital output, bypassing the CDP's internal DAC, and the preamplifier inputs will improve the sound from all but the best CDPs. There are also differences in the sound quality of transporters, whether CD transports or computer-based, but those are issues related to jitter, RMI/EFI, etc.

Top artists that I listen to while I play bzflag would have to be Gojira, Hendrix, Alpha Twins, Daft Punk, Wu Tang Clan, and Pearl Jam Something about them that puts me in the right mind set I suppose.

and esspecialy

Awesome question! Mostly I listen to my own music. (Yes, I actually am a composer, and it's one of the greatest things in the world!) It's mostly orchestrall, film scores; but some orchestral pop like Josh Groban.

I have a bunch of different genre stations on Pandora, and I pick one with a driving Rock beat and little to no slow stuff. Since Pandora attempts to play things "pretty much like" the band or song you specify, most of them are of that type, and it's great music to kill tanks by. Whenever Pandora goofs and the song is either slow or just not what I want for BZ, I wait till I die and then bring up Pandora and FF to the next song before I respawn.

Since my computer audio is playing both Pandora internet radio and BZ sounds, I have no problem with the audio quality -- a little like four wheeling with Creedence or Deep Purple or Boston or (etc) playing: a cassette tape is fine, since it doesn't skip, and the truck noise is too high to worry much about pristine cymbal work or other hi-fi music elements.

Of course, going on a rampage during the finale of the 1812 Overture is truly awe-inspiring... Do It Yourself Cannonfire.

I listen to trance

Eminem