[Sca-cooks] Kitchen Music

[Wanda Pease]

I have to chuckle at the titles of most of the music listed (most, not all).
Here is a group, many of whom worry about the exact provenance of
ingredients, menus and recipes, who then cook them to some intensely
non-period audio :-).

'Lanie is correct that I like to have NPR on at home.  However that's mostly
because I like the voices in the background.  If I'm in a large kitchen with
a lot of people I want to be able to talk to the people I'm cooking with, or
at least hear them.  This tends to mean Classical (also non-period, I know),
and earlier (Tavener, various Medieval dance tunes, Anonymous 4, etc);
Modern "celtic" like Heather Alexander, Lorena MacKennit and bagpipes.  Rock
music, Heavy Metal, Blues, Jazz, etc. are Right Out!  I find that screaming
at people just exhausts me, and I don't choose to be screamed at by my
"entertainers" so a kitchen playing Meatloaf, Led Zeppelin, etc. would find
me making excuses to be elsewhere.  Fortunately few kitchens are so strapped
for talent that they would have to change musical accompaniment to pander to
me, and if it is they're already in trouble :-).

More important I have a problem actually hearing what is being said by
people around me with loud noise in the background (including Bach organ
concertos cranked up high).  I can hear that someone is speaking to me, but
I can't necessarily distinguish the words.  Things like: Stir the soap?  Why
stir the soap?  Don't want to see the dirty dishes?   Oh..... Stir the SOUP!
or:  FIRE!  Oh, I'm sorry.  Were you speaking to me?

Now for sewing I need the TV on, largely for the human voices.  I have a
fair tape library (including Elizabeth R in both tape and DvD and Black
Adder) so I can drop in and out of commercial TV.

Regina