This question reminds me of Kraftwerk's method of using a phone. I'd love a mobile phone that did this;
>When the German electronic band Kraftwerk were in the studio, they refused to be disturbed. Working for hours on end, patiently perfecting their sonic arrangements, required zero interruptions. So much so that they even took the ringer out of the only telephone in the studio. So what happened when someone wanted to call them? Simple. If someone wanted to speak to them when they were working in the studio, the band would instruct that person to call at a precise time - not 2 minutes before and not a couple of minutes after, but exactly at that time. Then, at that precise time, a member of the band would stop what they were doing, walk across the studio, pick up the none ringing phone and say ‘Hello’ and the call would begin. That’s the only way you could get to speak to them. You made an agreement. You said what you were going to do and then you did it.
Intriguing, but in order to lift the phone at the precise time they'd need to have some form of alarm or notification. At which point, their concentration would be interrupted.
Even if they set an alarm, that is a lot less distracting than the phone being able to ring at any time. Besides, any time I set an alarm, I’m already aware of approximately when it will go off and the alarm is just to pinpoint the exact moment. Ie if the alarm is to go off at 2pm, I don’t think about it until maybe 1pm or later as the time starts to approach.
One known and pre-timed distraction is a lot less distracting than many unknown randomly-timed distractions.
As a kid my barber didn't have a phone. He figured if he was on the phone he wasn't servicing his customers so he never had one installed (he retired just a cell phone came down to where normal people could afford to use them for voice calls). A couple times a his family did call the bar across the street and the waitress would walk over and relay the message (he probably closed shop for the day every time that happened).
Telephones are useful for a lot of things, but they are not quite as critical as you think.
For me, when playing/recording, it would really distract me (more than e.g. having a phone in silent mode so that when flow mode ends, I notice I'm hungry and need to wake up to the outside world, I can see who has tried to call).
The Kraftwerk description sounds a bit eccentric to me. Their business model is about being eccentric, so no surprise there.
>For me, when playing/recording, it would really distract me
I think this might be easier if you are working as a group and have a big clock on the wall. I am a rubbish instrumentalist, but do hang around with a hell of a lot of musicians, and 'how long was that' does seem to be one of the most commonly asked questions of each other when they are in a studio. Also, if paying for a studio, they generally become very good at estimating the current time.
Sure, but I think things like "we can now do one take and then it's phone call o'clock" would set an unnecessary pressure to the performance. That's just me of course.
>When the German electronic band Kraftwerk were in the studio, they refused to be disturbed. Working for hours on end, patiently perfecting their sonic arrangements, required zero interruptions. So much so that they even took the ringer out of the only telephone in the studio. So what happened when someone wanted to call them? Simple. If someone wanted to speak to them when they were working in the studio, the band would instruct that person to call at a precise time - not 2 minutes before and not a couple of minutes after, but exactly at that time. Then, at that precise time, a member of the band would stop what they were doing, walk across the studio, pick up the none ringing phone and say ‘Hello’ and the call would begin. That’s the only way you could get to speak to them. You made an agreement. You said what you were going to do and then you did it.
http://www.youneedstandout.com/blog/2014/10/20/how-to-call-k...