If you love your music as much as I do then there are some things you need to know and do. There are times when music is your absolute saviour and sometime you need it fresh, clean and not thumping from clubs speakers under your dorm room. There are a lot of situations you find the need for music, here’s a few:
- bus journey in South East Asia where VIP means you get windows
- sleeping in a 16 man dorm in Brisbane
- night trains
- starting a party
- impromptu dj session
- making friends
So you can see there are some pretty varied times you need some tunes. Here is what I recommend:
Purchase good earphones
– if you can afford noise cancelling then brilliant else I would go for some that do a good job at blocking out noise
– nothing flashy, don’t be a target
– don’t break the bank, these will go through a lot so be prepared to have to replace them
– try and get ones with an in-line remote so you don’t have to pull your device out everytime you want to change a track – again don’t be a target
– I say earphones as they are more discreet and you can sleep in them, making them act as earplugs when you need them to.
My recommendation – Sennheiser MM70s – approx. £60
Use a device with lots of storage
Phones are now used more than stand alone music players and phones cost a lot of money if they have more storage. Look at the new iPhone 6, it’s £620 odd for a 64gb iPhone but it’s £230 for the iPod. These are still really expensive bits of kit but consider having a separate music device e.g. a 160gb iPod classic for £80 if you already have lots of music, else –
Use Spotify Premium
You have to be careful with this.
I love Spotify and have used it for years. I pay for premium because I hate the ads when I’m in a flow and it let’s me play music offline. This is huge! Download anything from their library and play it without the internet. When roaming, data charges are nuts. Streaming is not an option, so downloading and playing is the best solution. This way you can play offline until you get some free wifi and then refresh your playlists to listen some more. If you are a student then you can get NUS discount. Spotify does’t work with iPod classics so you have to make that decision.
Build a party playlist
This is great way to make friends and get you motivated when you just can’t be bothered to do something with the day. For a lot of us, we only get to do the travelling thing once and you have to seize everyday. Listening to this playlist should get you and your companions in the mood to conquer. It will become a go to when people are pre-drinking or getting ready for the fun times ahead.
Recommended track – LMFAO – Party Rock Anthem
Build a chill out playlist
Naturally after the party playlist, people will look to you to nurse the pain you will be held responsible for after the awesomeness of your party playlist, so build something resembling the Ministry of Sound Chillout Sessions but with some unknown music so people remember you are cool and worldly. Also build this for you. You will need it more than anyone else. Times get tough and music is the answer.
Recommended track – Nitin Sawhney – Sunset
Buy a bluetooth speaker
I can’t recommend one of these enough. I love mine and take it everywhere with me. However I am that guy, the one who finds a place for music in every situation. If you are not that way inclined then don’t just buy one for the sake of it. If you do buy one then only use it in situations where you won’t get smacked over the head with it.
Recommended Speaker – Bose Soundlink Mini – £160
Take a 35mm to 35mm jack cable
This will let you connect to other speaker systems and others to your speaker if you have one. Example
Take a 35mm jack splitter
This way you can share your music quietly with someone else – a great way to make friends. Or use more than one portable speaker with more wires. Example