Rush Limbaugh? Dr. Laura? Well Jeff, I guess I've been in California too long because as Rush's exortations are wafting through your back office, I find myself here listening to some cool world music-type stuff from Bolivia or somewhere on KPFA, the leftist-leaning indy station from.................Berkeley!
But, all kidding aside, unlike Jeff, I find it nearly impossible to concentrate on design-type stuff in a dead quiet environment. I listen to the aforementioned kind of music from places like Peru and France to deep chill music and electronic jazz with artists like John Tejada, Funki Porcini, Mark Rae and Mr. Scruff and Moby. And oh, yes, Miles, Trane, Sonny Rollins, Dexter Gordon, Chet Baker and Louis Armstrong.
But, when writing letters, doing accounting stuff and the like, extreme silence is needed. As for music in the field, I don't know how that works. I'm almost always with others and the only thing I tend to stick in my ears are earplugs so as not to go deaf when around excavators, scrapers and dozers.