Do you ever use random play?

[mikeweil]

I was just wondering if any fellow boarders here use the random play function of their CD player as often as I do. I like to listen in different playing order, as it sheds a new light on the music. Listening in the same order renders that feeling of familiarity, but develops habits that sometimes get in the way of unpretentious listening - at least this is what I experienced.

I also use the programming function to listen in recording order, or eliminate pieces or pick others ...

Well, what's your listening method? Always straight from the disc?

[vibes]

I convert most of the CD's I buy into mp3's. If I'm doing something else (listening at work, etc.), then I always just listen to entire albums, without shuffling or programming. If I'm sitting at home and have a little time to mess with playlists, then I'll select single tracks that I want to hear from various albums...But I don't select an entire album and then put it on shuffle. I find that I'm a lot more likely to be choosy about individual tracks when I'm listening to rock/pop music, since I feel that more of the music on most albums from these genres is "filler" than with jazz.

[Dan Gould]

When I first got my 5 disc changer, I used the random play function a few times, loading up, say, all of my Mobley discs. But then I started to realize that the random play wasn't really random-some discs were ignored for way, way too long. I mean, I know that if you are flipping a coin, you could get ten "heads" in a row but still have a fair coin being used, and that the odds of the next "head" is still 50/50. But when your "random play" function keeps selecting tunes from discs 1, 3 and 5 for thirty minutes, I think its fair to assume that the function isn't fully functional.

So, being a bit annoyed I stopped using it altogether.

Never got that much out of it anyway.

[BeBop]

Only on symphonies.

[Sundog]

I just usually just put on the source and let it rip. Once in a while a while I use the program function to remove consecutive alternate takes (but not always). I rarely use the random function on any of my CD players. If I want random I listen to the radio.

[LAL]

Gosh. Don't even know if there is a random play option on my player - never bothered to check. In any case I would always have the CD play in its proper order without skipping from track to track. Playing tracks in their sequence often reveals something new in the music on each album anyway, so I'll leave it at that.

[brownie]

No random play here. I take my CDs straight.

[king ubu]

No random play here. I take my CDs straight.

so do I.

ubu

[BeBop]

Personally, I see SOME CDs as a mini-work of art. Something constructed to carry a message. The construction includes the sequence of the songs. (Obviously the interjection of alternate takes disrupts.) Clearly, not all CDs are in this category.

I don't listen to a lot of rock/pop, but I see many of these CDs in the same way.

[Rooster_Ties]

Only on symphonies.

[Chrome]

But then I started to realize that the random play wasn't really random-some discs were ignored for way, way too long. I mean, I know that if you are flipping a coin, you could get ten "heads" in a row but still have a fair coin being used, and that the odds of the next "head" is still 50/50. But when your "random play" function keeps selecting tunes from discs 1, 3 and 5 for thirty minutes, I think its fair to assume that the function isn't fully functional.

So, being a bit annoyed I stopped using it altogether.

I'll use random on my non-jazz CDs if we're having some non-jazz friends over, but I've run into the exact same problem Dan mentions ... unbelievably frustrating.

I use the programming more often ... when I'm in a certain mood and I know exactly what songs I want to hear.

[DrJ]

Yes, agree that the "random play" functions on some CD players suck. On mine I've noticed that the pattern it follows depends on which disc you start with - e.g. if you start with disc 2 it'll go through one (predictable) sequence, with disc 3 another, etc. So not even CLOSE to "random" and there are some sequences where certain discs get ignored for 5-6-7 or even more selections. Annoying and hard to understand - how hard could it be to put in a random number generation program?

Anyway, with that frustration in mind - I actually DO use random play quite often. My favorite thing to do is put discs in there that either I haven't played all the way through yet, or haven't really explored in enough detail, and just let it go. I've found or rediscovered some of my favorite cuts doing this - stuff I have just overlooked for some reason. Good when you're working too, to play continuously for hours in the background.

[Joe G]

I'm with you Mike. I'll listen to a cd for a while as originally sequenced, then put it in random mode. I like the element of suprise.

[EKE BBB]

I sometimes use it, especially when I´m not in a proper CD listening (i.e. while working) or when I know I will not have time to listen to it entirely (that´s the only way to not listening the first few tracks again and again).

But when I´m in the mood for an appropiate, analytic, calm and joyful listening... I listen to the entire CD as it comes...

[jazzbo]

I don't have a random function on my Dynaco.

I do use program on occasion.

[JohnS]

Very occaisionally I use the random play function. Usually when the cd has a lot of tracks and I want to sample the artist.

Programming more often, to alter the sequence to hear alternates together or just to omit certain tracks.

[Noj]

My cd changer HAD a fantastic random function which would play every track from 6 cds in a completely unpredictable order. There were no recognizable patterns and every song would play once and only once.

Sadly for me, the machine began to malfunction a few weeks ago after years of steady service. Some of the slots suddenly will not read cds.

[JSngry]

Only when formulating guesses for the Blindfold Tests.

[JSngry]

But seriously - how does that function function anyhow? What are the mechanics?

[Morganized]

Only when it is one of the older Bluenote's that has like six alternate takes of the same tune!!

[couw]

But seriously - how does that function function anyhow? What are the mechanics?

all you need is a random number generator (RNG) with a uniform distribution. Now, don't ask me how those things work! That's a science per sé. You hardwire a RNG or programme a chip and you're set to go. Usually these RNGs need a seed value to start calculating. If they use some data from the CD itself (as some RNGs do), you will end up with the same sequence everytime you play a particular CD.

[catesta]

Never used the random function. I usually just play it straight, or I program the order.

[mikeweil]

If I had some crappy random play function like some of you described, I probably wouldn't use it either. Mine produces an entirely different sequence every time I hit the button, even when I leave the CD in the player.

I'm with Morganized as far as CDs with lots of alternate takes are concerned.

[neveronfriday]

That's the only button on my CD player(s) and the remote control(s) which is in mint condition.

The rest of the remote control(s) looks like Stevie Ray Vaughan's guitar at the end of "Third Stone from the Sun" on the "Live at the elMocambo" DVD.

Cheers!