I crave true silence, and it’s almost impossible to find

Rab discovers the aural pleasure of noise-cancelling headphones – blocking out the dreaded whine of the Full Metal Racket gardeners and deepening his appreciation for his favourite musicians

Iam retreating more and more inside my head. You say: “Don’t do that, Rab. It’ll be all fluffy and itchy.” That is a good point, well made. Perhaps I should clarify. I am retreating more and more into my headphones. I got a new set and they’re fantastic. Hitherto, for someone who loves music, I haven’t paid too much attention to how it’s delivered. I’d just play it through my laptop speakers, which I thought was fine. But, with headphones, you get a whole new aural experience.

Not only that, but they’re wireless. And they’re so soft and comfy. You can adjust the volume on the earpiece or, as I have done, just sit with it on “noise-cancelling”.

Music is important to me, silence more so. More than a house or a garden or a view, I crave silence – or at least quiet – and, in today’s world, it’s almost impossible to find.

Visiting two beauty spots within walking distance of the house recently, I’d to suffer the dreaded, air-splitting buzz and whine of horticultural ordnance from nearby houses.

It’s everywhere at present. I don’t think it even betokens horticultural care particularly. Some people treat their garden as if it were Vietnam and they were US Marines wading in with loud, fire-breathing artillery strapped to their bodies. You might as well give them flame-throwers. It’s Full Metal Racket.

All that said, I’m not sure total silence outdoors would be the thing. The sound of waves, wind, birds and bees soothes the soul. These are organic noises, intermittent and, with the exception of gulls and crows, not grating.

Strapping headgear to my bonce started with ear defenders which do, for better or worse, create a near-complete aural vacuum, where neither tweet nor buzz might enter. I found myself wearing them in the house as well as the garden. I started to think I might as well just wear them all the time, everywhere.

I could take them to football matches to filter out all the bad language in the crowd or to musicals if someone should again force me to attend such tortures.

From these, I graduated to the noisecancelling headphones, which have deepened my appreciation for some of my favourite musicians. Formerly, listening through headphones could be quite a clinical experience, with the instruments separated out from each other, creating a sparse effect and detracting from the feeling that one was listening to a band performing a collective piece.

This often happens with these “digitally remastered” albums, which I avoid, preferring the originals for all that the sound might be dirtier.

But this was the first pair of headphones I’d bought in 10 years, and the technology has improved considerably.

Wearing them, one cuts oneself off from the world, which may or may not be a good thing. I never really approved of people walking around city streets with them on. It seemed a tad rude.

But now I get it, and don’t blame them at all. Perhaps soon, like them, I too will head out with my head in a world of its own.