I almost always have the pack radio off, unless we're out of camp or it's during the day and the camp is bustling. But, I have been known to play some tunes, but only loud enough to be heard from within our campsite. I get it, radios and the like can detract from the serene sounds of camping, even while in a SP or NP.
My rule is easy, I don't want sound, light, or smells going from one site to another. I do remember one night at Lost Maples State Park in Texas. A singer / guitar player was in the next campsite with his family sitting around the camp fire. I rarely speak up, I prefer to cowardly complain later on line. I finally walked over and asked him very politely to please play louder. We could barely hear him and damn he was good.
Something similar happened to me in Yellowstone several years ago. Next door neighbor was out playing while I was cooking dinner. I walked over with an extra beer in my hand and we started chatting about him playing. He asked for requests and could play them all. Turned out to be a well known musician on his vacation.
A co-worker once told us about a camping trip she and her husband took. She said that one night, her husband was playing his guitar and singing, and people would walk by and say "oh, I thought you had a radio turned on". She saw it as a compliment. She couldn't quite understand that people who walk by because they think your radio is on, aren't walking by to compliment you. They are walking by to identify your site number and go complain about the noise.
I think most people are a bit more tolerant of a live musician than they are a radio. They should be, anyway... singing by the campfire is part of the camping experience (not that I ever do it lol)
Yep, for them to come over, state "we thought it was a radio" and then walk away without another word, it appears they figured they shouldn't complain about the noise.
I'm not certain that live versus recorded or radio is really different. With taste in music being so individual any music could elicit complaints. While some folks may enjoy a live performance of Motorhead's greatest hits, others may not. I believe it's always OK to keep sounds, lights, and smells in your campsite. There is also the other extreme. In campgrounds there will be some noise. I was asked at a Texas State Park if the previous night's party kept me awake. I didn't hear a thing but apparently my neighbor was complaining about a group across the road from us. We were in our pup and the complainers were in a TT.
I'm with you on that. I remember hearing the adults trying to sing American Pie one night at summer camp while drunk. You'd hear a bit of mumbling, then some laughter, then a bottle or two rolling around, and then "Bye bye Miss American Pie, took my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, them good old boys drinking whiskey and rye singing this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die". Then there'd be more mumbling, more laughter and more bottles, and then a burst of "Bye bye Miss American Pie, took my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry, them good old boys drinking whiskey and rye singing this'll be the day that I die, this'll be the day that I die". It went on for hours because they got caught in a cycle of verses they couldn't remember.
I'm not advocating a full on amplified rock concert... but if there's a small group with a guitar singing folk songs, I think that's just fine. And I'm really not much into folk songs lol.
I think it falls into that grey area of consideration. If someone is playing quietly and they are enjoying it peacefully, I wouldn't have a problem. If they are loud and obnoxious about it, I will have a problem with it. If it's at my site, I would stop if someone walked over and commented with "I thought it was a radio", I would continue if they asked "can we join you".
By some of these comments it looks like some parks might should support and provide for a kareoke (sp) night.
We usually have music on but very low volume. DW makes sure of that. Last year we had a single girl tent camping next to us who was playing music kind of loud and dancing by herself. Was a little weird and I had to pretend I was not watching her so the wife would not hit me. Lol
Two of my kids play guitar and sing at the camp site. We frequent a camp ground, Green Meadow Camping Area, that is a little behind the times and doesn't advertise or have on-line reservations. Even though it is a great location, next door to Storyland and down the street from Mt Washington, sometimes it is completely empty during the weekdays. One day we were literally the only campers in the whole campground. We kept on hearing a weird noise like a flute playing. Two campers had arrived stealthily on bicycles and were sitting across from each other at the picnic table with one guy playing the flute. They were pretty far away but the sound really does travel. Probably would not of heard it with a full campground. Sound travels much farther than you think.
