Classical Music as Punishment?

Smokler on October 21, 2008

The Associated Press reports that a judge has sentenced a hip-hop fan, cited for paying said music too loudly, to a 150$ fine or 20 hours of listening to Bach and Beethoven.

Andrew Vactor, 24, lasted only about 15 minutes, a probation officer said.

It wasn’t the music, Vactor said, he just needed to be at practice with the rest of the Urbana University basketball team.

"I didn’t have the time to deal with that," he said. "I just decided to pay the fine."

So it probably wasn’t the music itself but being forced to sit and do anything against your will for 20 hours–even eat chocolate, pet kittens or deflower virgins–probably gets old fast.

It did compel me to ask however…

What would be my own sonic torture?

No one musical genre offends me enough that i couldn’t hack 20 hours of it (blues isn’t my favorite, say. But after a day’s worth, I’d probably don a somber expression and a twelve-bar scale my damn self). My issue is sound quality not sound type.  Even my favorites played at a screeching volume or through static would drive me batty after maybe 15 minutes.

What is the soundtrack to your musical nightmare? Lay it on me down below.

Reader interactions

6 Replies to “Classical Music as Punishment?”

  1. Jessa October 23, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    The only thing I can think of is gangster rap – and that’s only because of the content of the lyrics upsets me, not due to the music per se.
    I’m with you on overly loud or bad speakers being an issue for even music I love.
    Also, this reminds me that I had some neighbors in college who played loud music (can’t remember what it was, anymore) and I had my revenge on them by playing opera at high decibel levels. Oh yes, singing and all. It seemed to work, too.

  2. Jessa October 23, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    The only thing I can think of is gangster rap – and that’s only because of the content of the lyrics upsets me, not due to the music per se.
    I’m with you on overly loud or bad speakers being an issue for even music I love.
    Also, this reminds me that I had some neighbors in college who played loud music (can’t remember what it was, anymore) and I had my revenge on them by playing opera at high decibel levels. Oh yes, singing and all. It seemed to work, too.

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