Music,
especially choral music, has always helped me get through tough times, such
as the isolation we're all experiencing right now. Here's my prescription (hey, my Dad was a doctor!) for getting through this pandemic:
At least get some cheap earphones at the dollar store so you can get the full benefit of my Choir Zoom Hours (Wednesdays at 7 p.m.).
I've been scouring YouTube for the best choir and
classical music videos. I've been amazed at how many there are and at
the excellent musical quality.
Get a little OontZ speaker (see below) so that you can fill a whole room with sound and drive away the COVID 19 loneliness.
Get
the YouTube Music app and some (preferably Bluetooth) earphones. Then, keep your
smartphone with you and the earphones in your ears as you go about your
chores, listening to choirs and classical music from YouTube and Internet
radio stations. And, with the Oontz speaker, you can even keep listening in the shower!
I recommend these Internet classical radio stations: KDFC, WETA, WCPE, and CineMix (Movie soundtracks).
Information about the YouTube Music app, the OontZ speaker, and some great Bluetooth earphones.
The YouTube Music app for smartphones lets you.
Stream music videos based on artificial intelligence analysis of your tastes.
Create playlists for future listening.
Download for when you're not connected to the Internet.
Play with the screen turned off, if you get the $9.95 a
month version. With the free version, you still get all the other
features.
Speaker
OontZ
is the craziest company name I've seen. They are an offshoot of
Cambridge Sound Works, a respected company. The speaker is about the size of a soft drink can.
Through the magic of digital electronics, it puts out enough
distortion-free volume to fill a whole room. By "fill a whole room," I mean that if you turn the volume all the way up, it's too loud for a typical room.
The Oontz Angle 3 speaker is $26 on Amazon, and it's the #1 best-selling portable Bluetooth speaker on Amazon. Click here to go to the Amazon page for it.
It can be used either with
a normal audio cable or with a Bluetooth link. With the cable, just plug it into the earphone jack.
It has a built-in
rechargeable battery that lasts 14 hours.
The Bluetooth link is a
wireless connection that lets you move the speaker with you to other
rooms. It's even OK to use it in the shower! All non-stone-age
computers and cell phones have Bluetooth capability. Cell phones
actually have excellent audio quality once you send the audio to an external speaker.
I'd be glad to
help you over the phone to get started with Bluetooth. It's easy to use once things have been set up.
Bluetooth earphones
With all Bluetooth earphones, the audio signal is sent wirelessly from any Bluetooth-capable device to the earphones.
Mine
have a thin rigid strap connecting the two earphones together, which
lets me carry them around my neck when not in use. Best of all, there
are
no wires dangling from the earphones, seeing as how they are Bluetooth.
At home, I often keep my smartphone in my pocket and my earphones either in my ears or around my neck.
In
addition to listening to music, Bluetooth earphones are great for phone
calls. To answer, all you do is press a button on the earphones. You
don't have to fish your cell phone out of your pocket or your purse.
Same thing with hanging up.
Almost all Bluetooth earphones have a built-in microphone for use when making phone calls.
My earphones came with a goofed-up
assortment of rubber tips. I liked the earphones so much otherwise that
I ordered some replacement rubber tips. I'm glad I did, because the New
Bee Earbud Tips I ordered were made from memory foam--a huge
improvement over regular rubber. They're called earbud tips, but they're also for earphones that have rubber tips. Click here for the Amazon page.
