Probably one night every trip, one of the guys I travel with in Quetico breaks out an I-pod and some speakers and he and the rest re-live their high school days with some Neil Young, Beatles, Jesse Winchester, John Prine, Dylan and the like.

It drives me crazy. Oh I like me some Neil Young ... but I go to Quetico to get away from phones, Blackberries, speakers, I-pods, I-pads, wires etc. I don't want ANY more reminder of civilization than there needs to be. And I'm always fearful that the music is carrying off to some other campsite (even tho we typically see very few others).

So I vote "no."

I love music, and under certain circumstances the right song played on a guitar or a harmonica would enrich an evening by giving a haunting, mournful feel around the flickering fire. No doubt.

But what if the dude starts singing, too? And the whole group decides to join in? Off key. Loud. And it was such fun, they decide to repeat? And karaoke night breaks out?

And shoot, since we're encouraging people to bring their instruments, how about a trumpet? Cuz a buddy of mine who played in the marching band way back in high school (and was hired by the local cemetery to play Taps at veterans' funerals) is still hung up on that kind of music, and he'd much rather bring his trumpet. He'd be a little rusty, but hey ...

Or drums? Someone could easily carve a few birch drumsticks, flip over an aluminum canoe and some soot-caked cooking pots and give a whirl at a pretty good Neil Peart impression. boom boom BAM boom boom RING BAM. (Let's not discriminate against drummers.)

Another good friend likes to rap to himself, or rather, out loud to himself.  Or could you imagine waking up to a singer practicing the same aria over and over and over and over at the next campsite?

What's music to some of us doesn't translate to others. We can't assume it does.

And with the music playing I can't hear the loons, owls, gulls, eagles, humming pine needles, clicking birch leaves, crackling fire and rustling waves.

Music creates a party atmosphere, and to me, that's not what canoe camping is about.

(That's my opinion, and I'm sticking to it.)



-- kypaddler

It's just really hard to find campsites with currant bushes, to plug in the amps....

Well, Jon, I am glad that your friend dragged his trashed guitar over every portage, because the alternatives would have been to throw it in the lake, hide it in the brush somewhere, or burn it up, right?  None of these are good environmentally sound options.   

And I TOTALLY agree with you about the canoe trip videos!  To the point that I now watch canoe trip videos, if I watch them at all, with the sound turned off.  If I ever made a video, or even a slide show, I don't think it would have any music.  It just distracts me from the beauty of the photos.

At one point, when I was younger, I knew a couple Voyageur songs.  I didn't even sing these out loud--just in my mind.  Silence is, indeed, golden.   

Is there anyone out there -- some historian perhaps -- who has researched and collected the old voyageur songs? 

I once heard somebody from North or South Dakota had collected a bunch of the old songs...but if I had his name I lost it.

prouboy

Thanks Lynda. 

If this winter drags on like I think it will, I'll certainly have time to do some research.  I think my first call will be to the Grand Portage National Historic Site. 

prouboy