Listening to the radio in order to fall asleep

[kevinb1994]

I used to listen to smooth jazz CD 101.9 back when I was starting to grow up. That was in the mid-2000s. My dad used to listen to 102.7 WNEW between 1968 when it had just become a progressive rock station and when it started to lose out to its competitors in 1979 due to disco, new wave, and alternative music. What radio station did you use to listen to (or still listen to) at bedtime in order to fall asleep?

[abefroman329]

I could never master listening to the radio to fall asleep because I liked to use the clock radio to wake me up in the morning, and the radio needed to be a lot louder to wake me up than to put me to sleep.

[Flint1979]

Back when I was growing up I use to listen to Night Flight 760 with Jay Roberts on WJR and would wake up to either the Morning news center or the J.P. McCarthy Show.

I don't listen to it as much to fall asleep to but leave the TV on instead. If I do have the radio on I'll just leave it on 94.7 WCSX out of Detroit or 107.5 KGLK out of Houston, both of which I listen live with online although I could probably pull WCSX in on a good radio.

[KEVIN_224]

I barely have the radio on anymore. In the past, I would fall asleep to WCBS-AM 880 of New York City. More recently, I would listen to 740 AM of Toronto ("Zoomer Radio").

[ce929wax]

I switch between 92.5 WZUU and 96.5 now that it is Jack FM.  I am on 92.5 right now, because I was listening to the Michigan football game yesterday and haven't changed it back yet.

[Max Rockatansky]

Used to fall asleep to late night ESPN Radio when I was in college.  I didn't have cable or internet and my apartment was loud as all hell, not much else to bleed out the background noise.

[LM117]

I have shit radio reception here, so I just leave the TV on at low volume. My TV reception is sometimes shit too, so I usually pop in a DVD or Blu-ray and set the player to "repeat" . Having a TV or radio on is pretty much a necessity for me to fall asleep at night, otherwise I'm awake. My uncle is the same way. He wakes up and gets pissy the instant someone tries to turn his radio off while he's taking a siesta. I found that out the hard way when I was a kid. Never fuck with his radio.

Oddly enough, I can catch a catnap during the day without a TV or radio on, but not at night.

[hbelkins]

I'd rather have a fan on with a constant tone vs. something with changing volumes and tones.

smooth jazz

What's the difference between smooth jazz and regular jazz?

[triplemultiplex]

smooth jazz

What's the difference between smooth jazz and regular jazz?

More saxophone?

[kphoger]

What's the difference between smooth jazz and regular jazz?

Less dissonance, less improvisation.

To really enjoy regular jazz, you need to be paying attention.  Smooth jazz is more like Kenny G (hence triplemultiplex's reference to saxophone), is "easier" to listen to, is more like other mainstream music.

Watch this YouTube video, and tell me if you would in a million years call it "smooth":

[DTComposer]

I was home alone (parents out to dinner) and watched "The Day After" on TV, then had paranoid nightmares that we were being bombed. I had to listen to the news/talk station in order to convince myself we weren't under attack, and from that point onward I have usually had something on to help me fall asleep. For many years it was ESPN Radio (when the overnight hosts were a little more free-form in their content); after streaming became commonplace I bounced around between NPR, CBC, ESPN, and the BBC. Now I listen to podcasts so I can tailor the content to my mood.

[jon daly]

I'll add to kphoger's comments. Generally speaking, smooth jazz is slicker production-wise and more likely to use electronic or electro-acoustical instruments. I think that I know the difference when I hear it, but its hard to pin down. I'd say something about authenticity and rootsiness, but those are perhaps vaguer terms than slick.

I'm not sure if the analogy holds, but the difference might be similar to contemporary country versus an artist like Johnny Cash.

I fall asleep to silence, but there was a period where my wife would have a local classic rock station on and around 3 every morning, I swear I heard Steve Miller's "Fly Like an Eagle" night after night.

[US71]

I have NPR classical music running.

[kphoger]

I'll add to kphoger's comments. Generally speaking, smooth jazz is slicker production-wise and more likely to use electronic or electro-acoustical instruments. I think that I know the difference when I hear it, but its hard to pin down. I'd say something about authenticity and rootsiness, but those are perhaps vaguer terms than slick.

I'm not sure if the analogy holds, but the difference might be similar to contemporary country versus an artist like Johnny Cash.

As far as sound goes, smooth jazz is to regular jazz what light rock is to classic rock.  However, in terms of musicality, that analogy cannot be made.

[abefroman329]

I was in Austin last night, in a bedroom under a flat roof, and it was pouring buckets. Slept like a log.

[hotdogPi]

I was in Austin last night, in a bedroom under a flat roof, and it was pouring buckets. Slept like a log.

Rain is a relatively constant noise compared to music of any type.

However, the metal buckets hitting the roof...

[busman_49]

In years past, I would listen to the local country station that would usually have an Indians/Browns/Cavs (loved listening to Joe Tait!) game on, or it would be "Costas Coast to Coast" on Sunday nights.  But when a team wasn't playing, it was country music.  I quit that when I went to college because I knew a roommate would likely not listen to the radio.  In recent years, I've tried falling asleep to smooth jazz when I'm traveling, but I found myself focusing too much on the music and would still have trouble falling asleep.

I'd rather have a fan on with a constant tone vs. something with changing volumes and tones.

This.  About 7 years ago we moved into a house with no central air and would have a box fan on throughout the day and into the night to somewhat cool the house.  The first night we didn't need the fans, it was way too quiet.  We turned them back on and have slept with box fans on ever since, no matter the temperature, to help us sleep.

[abefroman329]

I was in Austin last night, in a bedroom under a flat roof, and it was pouring buckets. Slept like a log.

Rain is a relatively constant noise compared to music of any type.

However, the metal buckets hitting the roof...

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

[ET21]

I had a period of insomnia during my high school years, so I would listen to the radio frequently to fall asleep. Most times I'd listen to a playlist and usually by the 3rd song I'd be passed out

[abefroman329]

I've now lost enough weight that I shouldn't need to treat my sleep apnea with a CPAP anymore, and may be able to get away with using a mouth guard instead (I have to have another sleep study early next year before a decision can be made), but I've stopped using the CPAP in the meantime, and I am having trouble falling asleep without the white noise generated by the machine.

[Henry]

I used to listen to smooth jazz CD 101.9 back when I was starting to grow up. That was in the mid-2000s. My dad used to listen to 102.7 WNEW between 1968 when it had just become a progressive rock station and when it started to lose out to its competitors in 1979 due to disco, new wave, and alternative music. What radio station did you use to listen to (or still listen to) at bedtime in order to fall asleep?

Funny you should mention that, because I used to like WNUA 95.5, the Smooth Jazz station in Chicago; before that, my go-to station was WLS-AM 890, before it went news/talk. Nowadays, my wife and I will use Warm 106.9, the "lite rock" station in Seattle and home station for the Delilah show (WLIT 93.9 Lite FM in Chicago is similar), to go to sleep.

[nexus73]

Music plays when I need something to distract a churning brain, otherwise I leave it off.  When younger I would almost always have the radio playing the Top 40.  Today it is Music Choice (on cable) or a local golden oldies station.  My paternal grandmother loved to listen to KGO (talk radio) at night.  No one else in our family played a radio at night besides us two.

Rick

[jon daly]

IANAE, but it seems like smooth jazz doesn't swing as much as rough jazz; syncopation is less of a factor.

[hbelkins]

I have NPR classical music running.

Or you could listen to the dry, droll delivery of NPR commentators. Not much different. One of the reasons I don't care much for NPR (among many LOL) is that their hosts rarely show any emotion or passion.

[US71]

I have NPR classical music running.

Or you could listen to the dry, droll delivery of NPR commentators. Not much different. One of the reasons I don't care much for NPR (among many LOL) is that their hosts rarely show any emotion or passion.

Just the facts without the hyperbole. As a former newsman surely you understand that?