Music to calm down kids?

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Anyone got any suggestions for music that might calm down kids?
Yesterday I was travelling with my two lovely but rowdy children and onto the in-car entertainment centre comes 'O Superman' - suddenly (while after a minute or so) all was quietness. I found Bach's solo cello stuff also works at feeding time.

Any parents out there? Any kids remember what got their attention?

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Sunday, 13 November 2005 18:37 (twenty years ago)

I'm-a try that soon.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 13 November 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)

(I mean "O Superman")

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 13 November 2005 19:43 (twenty years ago)

http://www.flicklives.com/Music/scott/soothing_sounds.jpg

― Brakhage (brakhage), Sunday, 13 November 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

My friend also recommended Bach. As I don't listen to classical music and I'm pregnant - no way of knowing whether the baby likes it or not - I can't really say. So uh yeah Bach, if you believe my friend.

― Nathalie is in Da Base II Dark (stevie nixed), Sunday, 13 November 2005 20:35 (twenty years ago)

i don't have any offspring, but i bet vashti bunyan's just another diamond day would do the trick nicely.

― spastic heritage (spastic heritage), Sunday, 13 November 2005 20:56 (twenty years ago)

raymond scott (ANY raymond scott) works great. kids calm down when they have something cool they can engage with.

― stockholm cindy is in your extended network (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 13 November 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

Ok, thanks. Raymond Scott sounds very interesting. How have I missed him anyway?

I should perhaps point out that they (the kids) are 8 and 4. I bet the Vashti Bunyan would work, I'm going to try that when raucousness next occurs.

I put on Towers of Dub by The Orb this evening at dinner and they were very good. I need an hour version of that.

And all the best to Natalie - Hope it all goes well for you :-)

― Ned T.Rifle (nedtrifle), Sunday, 13 November 2005 22:58 (twenty years ago)

my 4 year old loves the Ramones, the Killers & the Kaiser Chiefs but it never seems to quieten him down (that might be no surprise, however). G n R's 'Patience' came on the car radio yesterday tho' & he was strangely captivated, tho' he kept telling me to stop whistling all the time, he couldn't believe it was on the track

― Bill E (bill_e), Monday, 14 November 2005 00:24 (twenty years ago)

Toru Takemitsu's chamber music tends to calm down adults in my experience, to the point where they tell me to take it off because it's too sad and melancholy. It may well have the same effect on children, I haven't tried.

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Monday, 14 November 2005 00:25 (twenty years ago)

whitehouse at high volume

― john p. irrelevant (electricsound), Monday, 14 November 2005 00:27 (twenty years ago)

"hot-box" them and make them listen to harvey mandel's "cristo redentor" on repeat

― corey c (shock of daylight), Monday, 14 November 2005 09:40 (twenty years ago)

i have a friend whos kids love ravi shankar or any other classical indian

― anthony, Monday, 14 November 2005 09:46 (twenty years ago)

mozart ot make them smart, bach to calm them down? does beethoven make them easier to potty train?

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 14 November 2005 13:45 (twenty years ago)

The Jukes' "A Thousand Dreamers" stopped Amber and Alice in their (bickering) tracks, one time.

― mark grout (mark grout), Monday, 14 November 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

Enya usually puts my daughter to sleep.

― bsj30 (bsj30), Monday, 14 November 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago)

i don't have any offspring, but i bet vashti bunyan's just another diamond day would do the trick nicely

To be honest, I think I'd rather have my child screaming in my ear than have to listen to dear old Vashti ever again.

― NickB (NickB), Monday, 14 November 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

My seven-month-old loves sharp sounds, like banjo or acoustic guitar - he loves watching bluegrass, for example - and two albums that consistently put him to sleep are Sufjan's Illinois ("Casimir Pulaski Day" does it for him) and especially XTC's English Settlement - the rhythms on "Nearly Africa" and "Yacht Dance." His little brain is really wound up, and those songs hold his attention and help him calm down and go to sleep.

― save the robot (save the robot), Monday, 14 November 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

Edith (7 months) likes Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, as well as my own composition, "Bring Back Daddy's Nose".

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Monday, 14 November 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

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