Back in college, I was driving with a classmate and I turned the stereo to the local rock-and-roll station. "I can't listen to that when I drive," she said. "I start to drive like a maniac." I had never thought about the effect of music on driving, so I started experimenting a bit, and I realized she was right -- the faster and louder the music, the more aggressively I drove. Since then, I've always relied on classical music to ease the stress of driving.
Ken Elkinson, composer and self-confessed "super-angry driver," is a fellow Los Angelino, so he knows what a solid hour of bumper-to-bumper traffic can do to the soul -- not to mention the temper. His solution was to create Music for Commuting, a collection of soft and dreamy synthesizer compositions. Music for Commuting is not unlike the music you would hear when having a massage, and it has the same soothing effect. Some guy cuts you off in his ridiculously oversized pickup? Sure, you'll get mad... later.
To be honest, New Age music isn't really my cup of tea, and after my first hour of listening to Elkinson I knew that wasn't going to change. But then I flipped the stereo over to a classical station, and was jarred by the sudden rush of emotion and feeling. And that's when I realized that Music for Commuting really does work as advertised -- it kept me calm while fading seamlessly into the background so that I could concentrate on driving.
Music for Commuting consists of six volumes, two per CD, covering Monday through Friday (the sixth volume is titled "Beyond"). The songs are arranged by mood, from the gloom of returning to work on Monday to the joy of the coming weekend on Friday. (I preferred the discs for the end of the week; the Monday and Tuesday CDs were just a bit too depressing.) Two-volume CDs sell for $10 each; you can buy all six volumes in one box for $20 or download individual MP3s via Amazon for 99 cents each. Elkinson donates a portion of his profits to the ALS Association.
Should you purchase Music for Commuting? If you regularly find yourself getting aggravated when you drive, you might want to think about buying at least a couple of tracks. The concept of New Age music as a safety device may sound a bit silly, but the fact is that driving when you are angry increases your chance of an accident. Anything you can do to relax makes you a safer driver. I plan to keep a few of Elkinson's songs on my MP3 player. If you every cut me off in traffic and I just smile and wave in response, you'll know why. -- Aaron Gold
Purchase Music for Commuting at Ken Elkinson's web site or sample and purchase tracks from Amazon.com.
Disclosure: Review CDs were provided by the artist. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
