Writing to music.

thats interesting, i seem to get quite a lot of pretty good ideas when listening to them three

and on occasion, Nightwish have been known to help some of my writing

 

Can honestly write to just about anything. I really enjoy all the different kinds of music that's out there (or at least some bits of all of the different kinds) and I can write to any of them as long as they fit the mood of what I'm writing. I don't have that one song that I can write to no matter what. I can't write a fighting scene while I've got a slow song in the back of my mind. But I can listen to anything from Adele to Linking Park to Vivaldi.

 

I do the same thing! I feel so silly about it, but it's a lot of fun. I mostly just listen to specific playlists when I'm drawing my characters or brainstorming certain scenes. It helps me get into ~the zone~ so to speak.

 

Video game and anime OSTs.

 

I listen to all the Final Fantasy piano soundtracks, loved them since I was kid.

 

I prefer silence, or ambient noise. You know those CDs you can buy with rain sounds or jungle sounds or the like? Those work okay for me.

I'm a musician, and that means if music is playing somewhere in the house, I'm paying too much attention to it. If I'm trying to write, the rhythm of the music spoils the rhythms of my sentences.

I can't stand rap or hip-hop or electronica. I guess I'm too old for that kind of thing. When I listen to music, it's usually classic rock, folk-rock, straight folk, blues, or jazz.

If I'm writing, and I have to tolerate music, it has to be instrumental. I like most classical music, especially solo instruments - classical guitar or piano sonatas work well for me. Some movie soundtracks are good, too. I've also had good luck writing to Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, Sketches of Spain, or Bitches Brew.

 

Daft Punk is my soundtrack to everything. For lyricless electronica, try RATATAT and Deadmau5.

 

I listen to the same thing. the music seems to put me in a writing trance, and the funny part is that I don't play the games. just listen to the music when I write.

 

I love the games too--well, from XII and below anyways. But, Nobuo Uematsu is the man, I love his music.

 

This just gave me an idea for an app...now only if I was a huge nerd and could write code.

 

What's your idea? I work at nerd/coding central. Let's make it happen, unless there's already an app for that.

 

If you are writing an epic battle scene (fantasy or modern) I recommend Two Steps from Hell

 

i say i tend to listen to a lot of Progressive Metal, but i do also use Trivium as another band who i can pull ideas from, if you look at some of their lyrics, then you will see what i mean

 

I used to feel silly about it now I don't so much any more. I think the massive amount of fan mixes for different shows and fictional characters people have made on tumblr got me over it for the most part. haha

 

Always. I always have a jam to help me with my writing. I listen to a lot of genres; however, most of the time my preference is Metal and Rock. Those two can drift from Hard Rock to Pop Rock, and from Heavy Metal to Screamo (although I rarely listen to screamo, it doesn't accomodate my ears in an okay fashion).

I find that bands like Iron Maiden and Metallica really bring out some Philosophy and Psychology to my written piece / characters, whereas Hard and Pop Rock help me with the development of the story, if that makes sense.

As for writing in silence, I've tried it. I must admit that with true silence, no noise penetrates your brain, thus your own ideas, both genius and crap, surface fully. To write in complete silence is a magnificent thing; yet, with what our world has become, with a TV noise coming from every side and chattering people being on your mind at all times, not to mention with parents yelling with a gargoyle-like yawp, I really can't find any decent silence.

Music, for one, helps me drown those noises with sweet, incredible guitar tunes.

 

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Checked this just now. Awesome tracks, especially the one titled Dragon Rider. I thank ye for introducing me to this amazing, er... band, artist, composer?, ser.

I like to listen to video games and anime music, too. Anime, I usually listen to One Piece as it has a lot of epic tracks commonly associated with massive badass-ness. If you won't entirely dismiss it for being anime music, get on grooveshark.com and look up the following: Facing 3 Admirals, Luffy vs Ratchet Round 1, Giant Thor Axe, and the Very Very Very Strongest. As for games, try Persona, especially Persona 3 and 4 (Reach Out to the Truth and Burn My Dread), as well as the Persona Music Live Band album.

Nightwish is pretty awesome, but I sometimes think that the music would do better without the singer. =\ I listen to a lot of other instrumental songs and even songs commonly associated with boxing; Eye of the Tiger, Can't be Touched, Hall of Fame...

... I swear I don't write fighting scenes all the time. They just get me into a writing mood far easier than if I were to listen to say, Taylor Swift or Bruno Mars, both of whom positively kill my writing mood.

 

Writing my first draft, as i mentioned before, Bach and Beethoven helped me put most of my words on paper. Now, on my rewrite, I am more in the mood for a change and I have found an enemy. I call her Pandora and she is an obstinate b*tch. I tell her play Johnny Cash, she plays Joaquin Phoenix. OK, how about we make a station based on The National?
"I'll just make you a Widespread station instead." she says.
"Sam Cook?" I ask
"No, how about Elvis?"
"Robert Johnson?"
"Who? Never heard of her"
"Argh! Why are you playing Midnight Oil on my Pink Floyd station?"
"Oh, are they not similar?"

So, I am back to streaming my local classical station. They do a good job mixing it up and don't talk unless it's a pledge drive.

 

Ah, good point. A few of my friends make fanmixes, and they can spend weeks looking for just the right songs. I guess there's not much difference between a story/character playlist and a fanmix, except that one is technically "canon"

 

True.

 

Do any of you listen to music while writing? Or do you find it too distracting?

I know several people who absolutely cannot write with any background noise and other distractions. I find that sometimes listening to music helps me get in the mood of the scene I'm writing (if the song is right). Other times the song is just too good to be 'background music' and I end up getting distracted. What are your opinions?

 

Yes I do. I can listen to pretty much anything while writing but I prefer to listen to orchestral music...but I understand why people would get distracted.

 

I usually listen to music when I do just about anything. However when I try to write fiction, and I'm serious about it, I do not listen to music. I need the characters in the story to drive the mood and the music I may be listening to will slowly conflict with that.

Sometimes if there is a scene that is very hard to write I will play music to try to mimic the mood of the scene so it flows more readily. But then when I go and edit it I do not listen to the music again.

 

I seem to remember we had another similar thread going a short while back, about listening to music. It was fun to read.

Yes, I often listen to music, but it HAS to be classical, and is usually classical guitar or chamber music. I love classical music (and lots of other kinds of music as well) but when I write I need something that will A) drown out distractions, and B) not interfere with my ability to think.

Classical guitar is great for this, as is chamber music. It's relatively even-toned, without the sturm and drang of things like symphonies, but it also lacks 'catchy tunes' which will be distracting.

I can NOT write with anybody singing. Anything.

Funny, because I'm also an artist, and find it wonderful to listen to all kinds of music while I'm working on drawings or paintings, and that includes singing. Everything from rock music, traditional music, reggae, world music, classical music. It helps me to concentrate on what I'm doing! Go figure...